The field of accounting services is actively gaining momentum. There is a growing number of small businesses and organizations in the country, the number of which does not exceed 10–15 people. The specifics of the work of many small businesses are such that it is not profitable for them to have an accountant on staff, employ him full-time and pay high wages. It is much more profitable to hire an external accountant. Or use the services of specialized accounting and reporting companies.
Undoubtedly, a well-organized business in accounting services cannot but be profitable. Even 30 - 40 regular customers will allow you to earn monthly from 100 thousand rubles. Large investments are not required to start a business: often the starting capital is no more than 300 thousand rubles. The main difficulty in the organization and, at the same time, a component of business success is the creation of a professional team of employees, including experienced accountants and lawyers.
Market situation
The main competitors of specialized accounting are similar firms and private accountants. Moreover, private owners occupy a decent share of the market. But recently, enterprises and organizations are increasingly resorting to the services of professional accountants.
Why do companies turn to specialized organizations providing accounting services for help? The answer is simple: trust. In professional companies, everything is put in its place: strict control is established over all employees, all legal norms and changes in legislation are taken into account. The work is done efficiently and on time, even if it costs a little more. You shouldn’t expect the same return from accountants working from home. A person gets sick or something else happens - no one can replace him.
Investments - how much does it cost to open a business?
Opening an accounting firm does not require a large investment. The main investments in the first stages are related to the rental of office space - 50 thousand rubles, the cost of its arrangement - 100 thousand rubles, the purchase of office equipment and software (1C-accounting) - 120 thousand rubles. and advertising of services - 50 thousand rubles. You may need to invest money in creating your own website, business cards (from 40 thousand rubles) and create a budget for an advertising campaign in Yandex-Direct (from 30 thousand rubles). But such costs are justified only in major cities.
Search for premises
To provide services, you will need to rent a room with an area of 25 square meters. m. The required size of the room should be calculated based on the number of employees of the organization. According to SNiP standards, at least 6 square meters should be allocated for one office worker with a computer space. m of room area. Accordingly, for 25 sq. meters you can accommodate no more than 4 workers. If your staff is larger, then you need to look for a room of a different size. Rates for renting office space in large cities start from 1,000 rubles per sq. m. meter.
The most advantageous location office - a place in close proximity to the tax office. In this case, with just one bright banner you can attract large number clients. It is also profitable to rent an office in the central parts of the city, surrounded by office buildings where many small trading firms and offices operate. In this case, you need to look at the availability of convenient access roads and parking.
How do private accountants make money?
The list of services that a company can provide is quite wide: preparation and processing of primary documentation, maintaining an accounting program, generation and submission of reports to the Federal Tax Service, preparation of declarations, calculation of salaries and taxes, office work, accounting audit, consulting services. At the same time, the profile of the company and the corresponding staff allows you to earn money not only from accounting services. The company is also able to offer clients tax optimization, opening bank accounts, registration services for individual entrepreneurs or LLCs, business liquidation services, amendments to the charter and the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, personnel services and much more.
It can be said that good company I definitely won't be left without work. For example, filling out a 2-NDFL certificate costs 300 rubles, and a declaration for an individual entrepreneur using the “classic” version costs at least 3,000 rubles. Some clients may seek assistance in preparing documents for LLC registration. You can charge 15 - 20 thousand from such people.
If you accept at least 15 clients a day, you can count on a monthly turnover of 100,000 - 200,000 rubles. The main expenses will be associated only with the payment of accountants and office rent. Costs for paper and stationery are minimal.
But one-time services are not all that you can make money from. A more profitable direction is outsourcing work, that is, accounting for individual companies and firms.
For small companies, it is more profitable to hire an external accountant than to hire a full-time person. For example, the cost of maintaining an accountant on staff will cost at least 30 thousand rubles (salary plus insurance). While the services of an independent accountant will cost a maximum of 15 thousand per month. At the same time, savings are not the only advantages of outsourcing. Independent accountants, unlike full-time employees, do not have disputes with their superiors, requests for increased wages, time off, maternity leave, etc.
More and more companies are learning about the benefits of outsourcing, so this type of service is gaining momentum. The market, especially in large cities where there are tens of thousands of small companies, is very attractive. If you outsource 50 companies, this will already ensure a monthly turnover of 750 thousand rubles. 5 - 6 hired accountants can handle this volume.
Personnel requirements
For such a business to generate income, you need to assemble a staff of professional workers. The profession of “accountant” is widespread in our country, but, as usual, there are not enough literate people. Therefore, it is advisable to form a staff by hiring one or two former chief accountants who have worked for several years in serious companies. A number of novice accountants can be hired under them. In this case, you can save on wages and at the same time recruit the required number of company employees.
The ideal hired accountant would be a girl between 25 and 35 years old, constantly improving her skills, knowing how to work with a computer, and always keeping abreast of the latest changes in legislation.
It is important to take into account that a competent and responsible employee will require appropriate remuneration. Most ideal option for beginning accountants: salary + percentage of services provided. In this case, you can always count on increased employee motivation. Those accountants who have already built up a client base can be transferred to a net percentage (30 - 40% of turnover).
- What are the prospects for such income?
- Company registration
- Premises and equipment
- Staff
- Advertising
- Income and expenses
In each of our articles dedicated to how to open a small business from scratch, we advise our readers to hire an outsourced accountant. This is really very convenient and allows you to save money on a full-time employee. If you yourself decide to organize a business in accounting services, then we will tell you where to start and how to promote your company!
What are the prospects for such income?
Accounting services as a business are a rather promising area, because... most entrepreneurs, when they open a small business from scratch, deal with reporting and the rest of the paperwork on their own. This is due to the fact that not all businessmen initially have enough start-up capital to hire an accountant. Therefore, the manager himself begins to understand zero reporting and other matters, devoting less time to his business. As a result, there comes a time when a lot of paperwork accumulates and you urgently need to look for a specialist who will help solve the problem.
In order not to complicate doing business, remote accountants have recently become popular; they handle company reporting from home or in their own office, earning slightly less than a full-time employee. The benefit is mutual - the businessman saves time and money, you get the opportunity to earn money on accounting services. Interested in the idea? Then read on to learn how to open your own accounting for a woman!
You may also be interested in our article: Ready business plan for a law firm.
Company registration
If you want to organize a business providing accountant services, first decide on the organizational and legal form. You can open an individual entrepreneur or LLC. To make money on accounting services, it is better, of course, to register an LLC, but opening an individual entrepreneur will require much less documents and, accordingly, initial costs. We still recommend registering yourself as an individual entrepreneur, and in the future, when you are able to build up a client base and earn solid money, expand your office and open an LLC.
Also at the registration stage you need to select the type of activity. For our own accounting, we recommend OKVED code 74.12 – “Activities in the field of accounting and audit." It is better to choose the tax regime “simplified taxation, simplified tax system”.
You might be interested in: Stages of opening a profitable cleaning company
As for the areas in which you can earn money, to begin with it will be enough to provide the following services:
- Registration and liquidation of enterprises.
- Accounting.
- Preparation of reports to the social and pension fund, as well as the health insurance fund.
- Personnel accounting, as well as payroll for company employees.
- Zero reporting.
- Development of accounting policies.
- Maintaining a book of sales and purchases.
To begin with, this will be enough to organize a business in accounting services. In the future, you can also provide the services of an auditor, a lawyer (if you hire the appropriate employee) and even conduct accounting courses.
Premises and equipment
To organize a business providing accounting services, when opening an individual entrepreneur, it is not necessary to rent an office. At first, you can open an accounting office at home and meet clients on their territory. When the volume of work increases and there is a need to attract new employees, you can already think about an office with an area of 40-50 square meters. Such a room will be quite enough to accommodate 5 computer desks for your accountants.
The best office location is close to potential clients. In addition, you should conduct a competitor analysis so as not to rent premises next to some well-promoted company that also provides accounting services. Another very good idea would be to rent a room next to the tax office so that clients can do several things related to the company’s reporting in one place at the same time.
As for equipment, if you work from home for the first time, you will only need a computer, Internet, office equipment and licensed programs. For an office, you will have to allocate money to renovate the premises and purchase furniture.
Staff
Opening your own accounting department at first may be possible without involving partners, but when business starts to improve, you will need to hire several qualified accountants. A mandatory requirement is work experience, because... Your little-known company should not be tarnished by unskilled workers. You can even find employees via the Internet. Many female accountants are interested in how to earn extra money while on maternity leave on your knowledge. Look for appropriate forums and offer cooperation.
How to open a company providing accounting services? First develop a business plan, calculate the amount of initial capital, determine all the pros and cons. Find out the demand and prospects for this type of activity.
Business demand
Accounting services is a promising and in-demand business. There are a huge number of people for whom accounting and tax reporting, and simply any documents, are a dark forest and they do not want to climb into these jungles at all.
A person may be an excellent professional in his field, but registering as an entrepreneur or preparing a simple report to the tax office seems like an impossible task.
I have entrepreneurial friends who cannot (do not want) prepare zero declarations themselves. They turn to companies that provide accounting services and pay 3,000 rubles for 1 zero report. It’s easier, more convenient and calmer for them.
Undoubtedly, firms providing accounting services will be in demand. Our main clients are individual entrepreneurs and small LLCs.
Companies (not all) in which business is developing normally prefer to employ an accountant on a permanent basis. And this makes sense: your accountant, in addition to accounting and tax accounting, you can hang everything - both personnel records and a bunch of management reports.
But this won’t work with accounting outsourcing - the company will only do what is agreed upon in the contract. Did the client want an additional report? Pay for an additional service.
Large companies also turn to accounting firms, but they focus primarily not on the cost of services, but on the recommendations and business reputation of the company. Getting a large and financial client for a start-up company will not be easy at all.
Before starting to provide accounting services, the question may arise: does an entrepreneur need to have the knowledge of a professional accountant?
As in any business, knowledge of the specifics is a definite plus, but not a requirement. You can entrust the control function over the work of personnel to a highly qualified accountant; the main thing in this case is to find him. The cost of paying such a specialist is a minus.
Licensing
Do I need to obtain a license to provide accounting services? No, don't. Accounting services are not subject to licensing. If you decide to provide audit services, in this case a license is required.
What permits are needed for an accounting services business? No special documents are needed, regular registration with the tax office, as an entrepreneur or legal entity, and that’s all.
The services of professional accountants are in demand by private entrepreneurs, and sometimes by large companies. It is possible to maintain financial documentation in order and conduct a competent audit only by using the services of an accounting company. Below is a business plan for an accounting firm. The example is designed for organizing activities in a large municipal center.
Legal information about the company
The company offers accounting services: calculation and preparation of a balance sheet, filling out financial statements for tax purposes, calculations before audits and other financial services for entrepreneurs and individuals.
Legal form: LLC, since it is planned to work with large companies.
Location: the company's office is located in the central part of the city, has several access roads, nearby parking, and public transport stops.
Target clients: large and small companies, individual entrepreneurs.
Work space: office area of 70 sq. m, with a waiting room for clients and three small offices. The premises are rented, which is confirmed by the rent agreement.
The provision of accounting services is organized due to the high demand for accounting outsourcing.
To achieve its goals, the accounting company, in accordance with the statutory documentation, offers the following types of services:
- Preparation and maintenance of balance sheets for individual entrepreneurs and LLCs.
- Producing zero reporting for legal entities and individuals.
- Calculation of wages for employees.
- Consulting services for accountants.
- Preparing the company for an audit.
- Supporting financial issues of legal entities and individuals.
As a bonus, regular customers are offered a free courier service, sending reports to the tax office, and oral consultations.
Of the potential clients, 80% are legal entities, the remaining 20% are individuals. The main difficulty in organizing work is high competition. Large companies have long been regular clients of competitors, of whom there are many in large cities. Implementing a business plan is beneficial for accountants with already established clients who have decided to break away and organize their own business.
Price list for services
Preparation of accounting with zero reporting:
Filling out a tax return:
Support and maintenance of accounting with the entry of primary documents based on the simplified tax system:
Support and maintenance of accounting with the entry of primary documents on the basis of ORN:
Each operation is calculated taking into account one document being created, including documents in the tax service.
Working with employees, calculating wages, drawing up orders for dismissal and hiring of workers, counting shifts and output is carried out depending on the number of people:
- Staff from 1 to 25 people – 450 rubles. from one personnel unit.
- From 26 to 45 people – 400 rubles. per unit.
- More than 45 people - by agreement.
Consultation on accounting and labor law issues – 500 rubles/hour.
Project costs
The accounting firm business plan with calculations presented below will help you plan expenses and prepare initial capital. The business project estimate consists of the following items:
The estimate includes the purchase of inexpensive furniture and computers with full software. Additionally, the cost of maintaining the software by the company to which the product was provided is added to the estimate. Average cost software support in regional centers from 5,000 per month.
Also added to the estimate is an item of expenses for the financial maintenance of the project in the first few months, until several regular customers appear and monthly expenses can not be paid from profits. The estimate also includes depreciation of equipment, which will amount to another 3-10 thousand rubles.
Project implementation planning
It is possible to implement a business plan along with paperwork in two months. Since seasonality does not affect the provision of services, any convenient month is taken. The plan provides for the period from April 1 to June 1. Each stage is outlined according to specific numbers, so it will be easier for the entrepreneur to control the organizing process:
The implementation of each stage is controlled by the owner. It’s easier to describe the stages in more detail for specific dates, then the time lag will be minimal and the time will be optimally planned.
Office equipment
To equip a small accounting company, the following furniture and equipment are purchased:
- Computer tables (3 pcs.) – 45,000 rub.
- Filing cabinets (3 pcs.) – RUB 25,000.
- Computer chairs (3 pcs.) – RUB 12,000.
- Chairs for visitors (6 pcs.) – RUB 35,000.
- Coffee table for the waiting room (1 piece) – 5,000 rubles.
- Computers (3 pcs.) – 100,000 rubles.
- Printer-scanner (1 pc.) – 10,000 rub.
In total, you will need 232,000 rubles for furniture and equipment for the office. These expenses are supplemented by consumables: computer software, paper for printers and records, reporting journals, customer logs, office supplies. On average, you will need another 10-15 thousand rubles for consumables. per month.
In total, the cost of a small company providing accounting services is 247,000 rubles.
We select personnel
There is no need to recruit a huge staff for the initial launch of the project. The accounting company's staff includes the following employees:
- Chief accountant (1 person).
- Accounting consultants (4 people).
- Cleaning lady (1 person).
The chief accountant also holds the position of company manager. Typically this position is occupied by the owner of the company. Accountants are hired with at least 10 years of experience (to save money, you can hire two experienced accountants and two young specialists at a lower salary with the prospect of training). Every year, workers are sent to retrain and improve their knowledge. Monthly costs for paying employees and payments to various government funds are presented in the table:
Employees need to allocate 221,000 rubles per month for salaries. In addition to the basic salary, accountants will receive a percentage of the transaction in the amount of 3-5%, depending on the wishes of the owner. At the end of the year, an incentive bonus is paid in the amount of one salary.
Company working hours: Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 19.00. On Saturday and Sunday, 1 accountant works from 10.00 to 15.00. This employee can be registered as a part-time worker. If the order is urgent, the employee can stay outside of working hours. The staff includes a cleaning lady as support staff. Her work schedule: in the evening from 17.00 to 19.00. The payment is salary, and a bonus is issued as an incentive.
Planning consumption
A small company providing accounting services will require the following financial contributions from the owner on a monthly basis:
- Salary for company employees and payments to funds – 221,000 rubles.
- Payment of utilities (specified in the rent agreement) – 15,000 rubles.
- Purchase of consumables – 15,000 rubles.
- Needs (unforeseen) – 10,000 rubles.
- Software maintenance – RUB 5,000.
- Depreciation of equipment – 10,000 rubles.
Total to keep the project afloat you will need to invest in it per month: 276,000 rubles. The percentage of monthly expenses is presented in the form of a graph:
The graph shows that 80.1% of monthly expenses are on employee salaries. Therefore, this type of business is beneficial to people who are willing to provide accountant services themselves and have solid experience in this industry.
Advertising
As an advertisement, it is effective to place an ad in periodicals of the city. But the most productive way will be to promote the group on social networks and create your own website. Initially, you can provide free oral consultations to clients through social media. This will increase your reputation and attract the attention of users.
If the work is completed on time and with high quality, then regular clients themselves will recommend you to their friends. In this area of the market, word-of-mouth advertising is effective.
Project payback
If the company has several regular customers, its income will initially be about 350,000 rubles. From this amount you need to subtract monthly expenses for the company in the amount of 276,000 rubles. As a result, the net profit is 74 thousand rubles. This amount will increase with the arrival of new clients. It is initially recommended not to overestimate the cost of services, since the company must win its place in the market niche. Net profit by the end of the first year of operation should be at least 320,000 rubles. per month. Net proceeds will be divided into parts:
- The company's fixed capital is 20%.
- Return on investment – 40%.
- Expansion of production – 30%.
- Depreciation and contingencies – 10%.
With this division, a minimum of 30,000 rubles will be spent monthly to return the investment. 80% of the proceeds in the first six months of work will be used to keep the project afloat. Investments in the project amounted to 465,000 rubles. Payback, on average, is planned in one and a half years. Profitability will increase, so the payback period will shorten. The main fund and the expansion item are necessary for the further growth of the company without additional financial injections. In a year and a half, it will be possible to rent space and open a full-fledged center for the provision of legal and accounting services.
In the end
With an initial capital investment of 465,000 rubles, an accounting company is able to generate income in the amount of 350,000 rubles per month. Of this amount, 270,000 rubles. will be used to pay employees and other company needs. Net profit initially amounts to only 74,000 rubles. The project will pay for itself in a year and a half. Profitability will increase due to the expansion of services and the growth of the customer base. With growth in 4 years from a small office it is planned to transform into large company for the provision of legal and financial services.
What do you think, what, according to the tax office, is the main responsibility of a businessman? Making a profit or perhaps paying taxes? It seems to us that neither the first nor the second, but simply submission of reports. Judging by the attention to this issue from tax authorities, an LLC or individual entrepreneur may not even work and, accordingly, not pay taxes, but reports must be submitted on time, according to.
If legal entity does not show signs of life, that is, during the year does not submit reports and does not carry out any transactions on the bank account, then according to Art. 21.1 of the Law “On State Registration” N 129-FZ, it is recognized as having actually ceased its activities and receives the status of inactive. Such a legal entity may be excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities at the initiative of the tax inspectorate. The founders (participants) of the company will be charged with violating the submission of a tax return under Art. 119 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and failure to submit tax authority necessary information under Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
For some reason, they decided to control individual entrepreneurs who do not submit tax reports much more strictly than other entities entrepreneurial activity. Part 11 has been added to Article 14 of Law No. 212-FZ, according to which if the Federal Tax Service does not have information about the income received by the entrepreneur, the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation will collect from him the amount of insurance contributions calculated according to the formula 8 minimum wage * 26% * 12, which in 2016 will be 154,852 rubles.
We hope that those who go to court will eventually be able to fight off these claims from the Pension Fund, but we advise you to save your nerves and time and simply submit your reports on time.
Who needs accounting?
Here you will have to understand a little terminology: what accounting and reporting are, and how accounting and reporting differs from tax reporting. Accounting as a concept is a continuous process of collecting, recording and summarizing information, and reporting is generated on the basis of accounting data, that is, these are two closely related components. Thus, accounting is the collection and continuous reflection of information about the organization in special accounting documents.
Incorrect accounting will lead to the formation of unreliable reporting, and vice versa, incorrectly compiled reporting will distort correct accounting data. It is very important to identify such errors in a timely manner, so we recommend that all business owners periodically arrange a general check accounting documents. And for those who don’t have time to figure it out on their own, turn to the free audit service:
Now - what is the difference between tax and accounting and reporting? Tax records are maintained absolutely all taxpayers, regardless of the organizational and legal form and taxation system, and it is necessary for the formation of the tax base, that is, the monetary value of taxable income. The main forms of tax reporting are the tax return and books of income and expenses.
As for accounting, in a nutshell its object can be called business transactions, obligations and property of the organization. We deliberately do not present complex professional definitions and terms here; those interested can find them in the Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 N 402-FZ, PBU and other official documents.
All organizations, including LLCs, are required to maintain accounting records. Keeping accounting records for individual entrepreneurs is not required.
We have given the difference between tax and accounting accounting due to the frequent confusion between these two types of accounting. An individual entrepreneur who is looking for accounting services actually means tax accounting, that is, filing tax returns, maintaining KUDiR, collecting and storing supporting documents, bank and cash documents, etc. High-quality accounting services, of course, will include everything that is required by law, even if the business owner does not see the difference between accounting and tax accounting.
Accounting services are a range of services for continuous accounting, preparation and timely submission of all necessary tax and tax forms. financial statements in strict accordance with legal norms.
Thus, ensure the maintenance of accounting, which means settlements with the budget, contractors and employees, banking and cash transactions, accounting and storage of documents, submission of reports, work with accounts receivable, feedback from regulatory authorities, etc., is the responsibility of every taxpayer. We can say that accounting services, in their everyday understanding, are necessary for absolutely all business entities, including those temporarily unemployed.
Open an account with Tinkoff Bank and receive free online accounting, as well as:
- issue of KEP as a gift
- 2 months of account maintenance free
- reminders about due dates and payments
- automatic completion of declarations
How can you organize your accounting?
To avoid negative consequences for business, each newly created (registered) business entity needs to solve the primary task - organize accounting.
How can you solve the issue of accounting? There are several options here, and they will depend on a number of factors:
- The activity of your business. In the terminology of accounting services, this is called the “number of transactions”, it means any business actions (income/expenses) that changed the ratio of your income and expenses even by a ruble;
- Diversity of areas of your business. What we mean here is how similar business transactions will be when doing accounting;
- Seasonality or cyclicality of business activity;
- The taxation system, because, for example, accounting on OSNO is much more complicated than on;
- The number and categories of your employees. The more there are, the greater the volume of accounting services will be required for reporting, payroll and other mandatory payments;
- Availability of export-import activities (or foreign economic activity);
- And finally, the amount you are willing to spend on quality accounting services. However, it’s not even worth spending money on low-quality ones, because... they are guaranteed to result, in the end, in financial losses.
The types of accounting services include: services of an accountant (full-time or even an entire department); incoming or remote accountant; online services, as well as, that is, specialized companies or firms providing accounting services. We invite you to consider these options in more detail.
Who needs accounting services?
You can, of course, try to do the accounting yourself. Not a bad option for a single individual entrepreneur, especially if he works on a simple USN Income, UTII or acquired a patent. But an individual entrepreneur who has at least one employee becomes an employer, which means he is obliged to pay wages twice a month, withhold personal income tax from it, and pay for the employee insurance premiums, submitting every quarter is not the simplest reporting RSV-1 (to the Pension Fund) and 4-FSS (to the Social Insurance Fund). Further, if necessary, you need to be able to calculate and pay vacation pay, sick leave and maternity pay.
There is nothing to say about LLC. Each legal entity is automatically registered with the funds as an employer (even if the only founder, who is also a director), which means the need to submit quarterly reports. If you are thinking about doing your own bookkeeping for your company, but don’t know where to start, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with it.
So, with the exception of a small number of businessmen who submit zero reports due to lack of activity, and those business owners who have sufficient qualifications to independently understand accounting and reporting, accounting services are needed by all business entities.
- Your accountant may be full-time, that is, an employee who is fully supported by you. According to russia.trud.com, the salary of an ordinary accountant as of January 1, 2016, on average in Russia is 40 thousand rubles, and the chief accountant is 50 thousand rubles. For this salary, the employer must accrue and pay at his own expense insurance contributions to the Pension Fund and Social Insurance Fund (in the amount of 30% of payments to the employee) plus the accountant, like any employee, has the right to paid leave, and, if necessary, sick leave and maternity benefits. In addition to wages, you must create technical conditions for accounting, that is, you must have a separate computer with Internet access, office equipment, accounting programs, their updating and maintenance, consulting and legal systems. Let's add here programs for submitting electronic reporting, if the method of submitting a specific declaration or report dictates only this option. Believe me, this is not the whim of an accountant; current accounting is impossible otherwise.
- It could be visiting or remote accountant who works part-time for you or provides accountant services as an individual entrepreneur. In this case, you save on wages, and if the accountant turns out to be an individual entrepreneur, then there is no need to pay insurance premiums on wages. Very often, such accountants have their own software, computer and office equipment, because provide accounting services to several clients. What should you know about these two bookkeeping options?
Firstly, the specialist providing accounting services may not have experience in a particular area of accounting. For example, you need to complete a one-time export transaction, but your permanent accountant does not have any experience in this.
Secondly, your accountant may suddenly refuse to provide accounting services because... will find best conditions labor or a more profitable client. Do you have the right to condemn him for this?
Thirdly, an accountant, like every person, may become ill or find himself in force majeure circumstances that will not allow him to conduct his activities.
By the way, do you know what accounting restoration is? This is a crisis situation for saving the accounting document flow, if the previous accountant did not conduct business correctly: he incorrectly took into account primary documentation, did not maintain accounting registers, did not submit reports on time, or even lost or damaged documents. Not every applicant for the position of accountant will agree to clear away the rubble after his predecessor; you may have to turn to a specialized accounting company for this.In addition to the disadvantages, a permanent accountant also has advantages: such a specialist, if he is a professional in every sense, will worry about the success of your enterprise, primary documents will be issued immediately at the workplace. You can contact him for advice on issues beyond the scope of an accountant’s services, and in some cases, the accountant’s personal connections can help you in business matters and in dealing with regulatory authorities. In small enterprises, a full-time accountant can combine the functions of a cashier, personnel officer and office manager. You just need to remember that the accounting services of such a professional cannot be cheap, so this option is justified, first of all, when there is a larger volume of work at the enterprise.
- Services that provide online accounting services, may become good decision for those who are comfortable with a computer, have a good understanding of taxation systems and accounting rules and are willing to spend their time on accounting. Here, however, it’s worth thinking about the fact that it might be better for the business owner to devote his time, which he will spend filling out form fields in an online service, to activities that are more promising in terms of generating income. For example, analyze the results of the latest advertising campaign, improve the quality of a product or service, evaluate the work of competitors, etc.
In addition, such services are still nothing more than an auxiliary tool for accounting, and if you enter incorrect data or are late in submitting reports, there will be no one to blame. But it is worth noting that the number of clients increases every year.
- Well, the last option, which is gaining more and more popularity, is . These are specialized companies or firms that provide comprehensive accounting services. According to the Expert RA rating agency, in 2009-2014 the volume of the Russian accounting outsourcing market grew two and a half times - to 9 billion rubles. An even larger volume of related accounting services is tax consulting, which is often provided by the same specialized accounting firms.
By entrusting accounting to such a company, you relieve yourself of the burden of responsibility for incorrect accounting. The accounting firm enters into a professional liability agreement with you and provides guarantees of full compensation for material damage. And, unlike an accountant - individual, is able to actually pay off this damage immediately, while recovery of damage from an employee is possible only within a certain proportion of his salary.
Good accounting companies value their reputation, have a staff of highly specialized employees, their own software, extensive experience in various situations and areas of accounting, including tax audits and compilation audit reports. In this case, you will not have to worry about your accountant’s illness, vacation, maternity leave, or any personal misunderstandings with him.
The cost of accounting services in such firms can often be more advantageous than regular services due to a flexible pricing system. The calculation can be based on the number of documents drawn up or business transactions. You can outsource not all accounting, but, for example, only the preparation of reports, leaving behind the maintenance of primary documentation, or outsource only the management of personnel and payroll, in cases where the owner handles the remaining issues himself.
So that you can try the option of outsourcing accounting services without any material risks and decide whether it suits you, we, together with the 1C company, are ready to provide our users month of free accounting services:
Comparison table of accounting service options
Quality of accounting services | Financial responsibility | Cost of accounting services | ||
Staff accountant | Recovery of proven damage in full is problematic, because limited by the requirements of the Labor Code | High, because includes not only employee support, but also technical support for accounting | It makes sense if the organization has a lot of work for an accountant, but business operations are not diverse |
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Incoming accountant | Depends on the professional experience of a particular specialist | Recovery of material damage in full is possible only from an accountant - individual entrepreneur | Varies depending on the workload of a part-time accountant or on the prices of an individual accountant | Not a bad option if the activity is not intensive and you are confident in the constant availability of a specialist for you |
Online accounting service | Depends on your understanding of accounting and ability to spend your time on it | Absent | Suitable for few operations or no activity |
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Accounting company | The maximum possible, because The accounting company has a staff of employees with different specializations and experience in various areas of accounting | Full financial liability that can actually be recovered | Good firms offer clients a flexible pricing system for accounting services | A good option that allows you to outsource only part of your accounting services |
It only makes sense to evaluate the benefits of each option for accounting services in relation to your specific company, but we still want to show a small example of comparing the services of an in-house accountant and accounting outsourcing. As an example of a specialized accounting company, we suggest taking a well-known company in whose reputation we are confident - “1C: BukhService”.
A business entity began trading and intermediary activities in Yekaterinburg. The chosen taxation regime is quite complex to account for. There are specifics here not only in accounting individual species expenses, but the approach to confirming expenses is the same as for income tax.
The activity is assumed to be active, so we will assume 50 business transactions per month. The workload is considerable, which means that hiring an accountant on staff will be quite justified. Average salary for an ordinary accountant in Yekaterinburg as of January 1, 2016 is 27,000 rubles, let’s add to this amount insurance contributions for salaries (8,100 rubles), that is, maintaining an accountant per month will cost the employer 35,100 rubles. If we take into account that the accountant will go on paid leave, that is, he will actually work not 12 months a year, but 11 months, then his services will cost the employer 38,290 rubles per month.
The cost of technical equipment for the accounting department is given as an approximate cost, in our opinion, the minimum possible:
- Computer and printer - 30 thousand rubles;
- Accountant's workplace (table, chair, paper rack) - 20 thousand rubles;
- The cost of the basic version of 1C: Accounting per year is 3,900 rubles;
- Cost of the 1C-Reporting service for the Sverdlovsk region. per year 3900 rubles;
In total, one-time costs for creating conditions for accounting will be 57,800 rubles, but, of course, the owner can spend a large amount on this.
Now let’s look at how much accounting services from “1C:BukhService” will cost in Yekaterinburg with the same 50 transactions per month and the simplified tax system Income minus expenses. You can choose three tariff options:
Individual entrepreneur without employees | Comprehensive service 1C:BO | 1C:BO Reporting |
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Description | Oral consultations. Archive storage. Courier services. Note: Individual entrepreneurs do not keep accounting records, so accounting registers are not prepared. | Collection and control of execution of primary documents. Entering data into the client application in 1C: Accounting 3.0 in the 1C: BO service. Calculation of taxes, generation and submission of reports. Personnel accounting and payroll calculation (only for the number of employees according to the tariff). Oral consultations. Archive storage. Courier services. | Checking the data entered by the client in 1C: Accounting 3.0 in the 1C: BukhService service. Drawing up accounting registers. Calculation of taxes, generation and submission of reports. Oral consultations. Archive storage. |
Price | 8,805 rubles per month at 1 visit of the courier. If necessary, additional courier visits are paid separately. | 23,813 rubles per month with 1 courier visit and reporting for 3 employees. If necessary, additional courier visits, as well as personnel reporting for more than 3 employees, are paid separately. | 4,925 rubles per quarter |
And what volume of accounting services from “1C:BukhService” in Yekaterinburg can be obtained for an amount equal to the cost of a full-time accountant’s salary of 38,290 rubles per month?
Conducting 80 transactions per month and reporting for 4 employees will cost close to the amount of 38,925 rubles per month. Whether one full-time accountant can cope with such a volume of work is another question. The choice is yours, and you can find out the cost of 1C:BukhService accounting services in your region
