We’re going to say something that might sound like sacrilege to some accounting firms, who want to keep it a guarded secret under lock and key.

Here we go; it is possible, and potentially viable, for a small business to handle their own accounting.

With the rise of accounting software and increased availability of resources, businesses that have fairly simple accounting can handle a large chunk of it themselves with relative ease.

This newfound ease of operations begets an important question – when should you engage a professional? There isn’t a “right” answer to this question – every business owner will be comfortable doing different levels of their accounting. However, a good general rule is that you should keep it simple. If a shop owner wants to do their bookkeeping themselves, then why not? The software solutions are there, and they aren’t difficult to use. However, once you get further than that, into the realms of VAT, corporation taxes and beyond, the benefits of doing it yourself rapidly start falling down against the complexity of the tasks, and the penalties for doing them wrong. At that point, you need the help of an expert – accountants exist for a reason, and it’s quite literally their job to know about the complicated parts of tax and financial management.

So, if you own a small business, you can certainly do parts of your accounting yourself – but once you start feeling even slightly out of your depth, it’s wise to call in the professionals who can make sure it’s done right. For out part, here at AIMS we make sure we work with our clients to provide an accounting solution that fits what they want to be doing. Whether they want to handle the bookkeeping themselves, or leave everything to us, we’re here to provide!

Find your local AIMS Accountant today.