Accountants have a reputation for being expensive. Admittedly, for a smaller business, accounting fees are a tough pill to swallow. A grudge payment if you will. But affordable accounting is not entirely out of reach. Some accountants will charge you for their time and rightly so. However, this can become very expensive with respect to the value they add to your business.
Cost-effective accounting that adds value
Having said that, there are many accounting firms, such as BC Accounting Services, that are changing the perception of accounting firms.
We are doing this by adding value to you and your business. We are doing this by charging fees that are relative to the duties they perform. This makes it a cost-effective way of keeping your business in tip-top shape.
Most businesses say that they cannot afford to outsource their accounting function. A fair assumption considering what they see in the bank account.
Having said that, the question is this: can you really afford not to have your accounting, tax and payroll taken care of correctly?
Let’s do some basic maths to work this out:
Let’s say your charge out rate is R300 per hour. (Please work this out to be more accurate).
On average, you spend about 4 hours a week on doing your invoicing, looking at bank accounts, doing payments etc.
R300 times 4 hours a week times 4 weeks (average month) is R4 800 per month.
Look for the value a retainer offers
Many business owners do this paperwork after hours or on the weekend. According to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, this work should be charged at between 1.5 and 2 times your charge out rate. This skyrockets the amount you are paying per month.
This R4 800 does not include any submissions made to SARS for tax returns, payroll taxes or VAT returns etc.
Another large invoice that will payable will be for the preparation of your annual financial statements. These are required for tax returns. This invoice can range from R4 500 to R30 000, depending on the size of the business and what is required from SARS or your banks.
Depending on what services you require, this will far outweigh what you would pay monthly to an outsourced accounting firm. BC Accounting Services offer a monthly retainer which includes all the monthly and annual requirements with no additional “surprise’ invoices”*. We make sure that we offer affordable accounting
Although accounting, tax and payroll fees can be scary and something you may not need, they are necessary for every business. They don’t have to be exorbitant.
They can be affordable and help you run your business at the level that you want to.
Whilst this is written in South African Rands, the numbers are for the purpose of examples, they will change and can be changed to suit your countries currency
*Terms and conditions apply, and are available on our website www.bcas.co.za