Many small business owners attempt to conduct their financial activity on their own. Alternatively, they may hire a part-time bookkeeper to come in and make sure that their transactions are logged. But what most business owners really need is a CPA -- even those who have small or medium-sized businesses. Here are a few of the principle advantages of hiring a CPA rather than relying upon a bookkeeper or other professional.

Owning and operating a small business can bring you a great deal of job satisfaction and financial security. However, you do have to contend with the business side of things, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, billing and payroll (if you have others working for orwith you). Managing small business accounting can be treacherous, especially if math was never your strong suit or balancing a checkbook is difficult enough. Here are some challenges you may face with this part of your business and how to fix each of them.

Maintaining good financial records is essential when it comes to keeping your small company solvent. Although you might hire an accountant to handle vital tasks like payroll or the filing of taxes, there are some accounting tasks that you should be doing on a regular basis. Use the following schedule to help you stay on top of your small company's financial health in the future. Daily Accounting Tasks Taking the time to perform a few simple tasks each day will help ensure that your company's financial health is never placed in jeopardy due to errors or oversights.

Many tax filers pay education expenses for themselves or for their children. There is more than one potential tax treatment for the cost of education. Tax filers can usually obtain the most advantageous tax outcome by conceptualizing a hierarchy in which the various options are ranked relative to their financial benefit. American opportunity credit The most preferred tax benefit for the cost of education is usually the American opportunity credit, also known as the AOC.

Whether you do direct marketing or sales for a popular product brand or have a skill that you provide for local clients, your small business is important to you. Equally important are the profits and expenses your business accumulates over time, but these profits and expenses can make things confusing during tax season or cause you to lose track of how much money your company is actually making. A small-business accountant can help you keep your finances in order and keep your financial records accurate, even if your home business doesn't look like a traditional brick-and-mortar company.

If you have been able to quit working for another employer and work solely for yourself as an e-book writer, you need to make sure that you have your finances together. As an e-book writer, you are essentially running your own business with yourself as the sole proprietor, and you need to to treat your writing and productivity as a business. Here are four tips that will help you keep your finances together as a professional e-book writer.

If you have always been self-employed with your own business and you worked as a one man team, but you know you're going to expand and create a larger business for yourself, there are some experts you want help from along the way. You want to make sure you are doing everything the right way, and it's important to know your finances are in order. Here are a few things you'll want to consider doing before you add more people to your staff.

Do you run a small retail store? Is keeping up with the bookkeeping a struggle? If so, don't feel bad. You know your business and can be successful with your sales, but you do not have to be an accountant, too. Outsourcing your accounting is smart business! Why Outsource Your Accounting? Letting a professional take care of your accounting will allow you more time to focus on sales. On top of that, here are some more benefits you will reap.

Are you worried about your tax bill but don't know what to do about it? Strategic tax planning isn't just something for high earners or the inherently rich. It's also something that middle income families can put into practice to lower their tax costs. So, what strategies can you do in your own situation? Here are 5 tips to help lower taxes both now and in the future. Use Tax-Advantaged Accounts.

As the end of each tax season approaches, tax preparers get a lot of questions from worried or procrastinating taxpayers. One of the most common is what to do if they haven't filed taxes in recent years. Once you miss a year filing your income taxes, the problem can often balloon into several years and may become overwhelming. The good news is that it's often not as hard or as expensive as you may think.