You Might Be Wasting Time and Money On Accounting If...

8 min read

June 9th, 2025

Business owners are tenacious, fast learners and hard workers. They have ideas that turn into dreams, and then they manifest them into reality. Business owners are absolutely capable of doing their own books. But should you do something just because you can? Simply having the ability to do something doesn't automatically make doing it the smartest idea. Like playing with matches, managing your own bookkeeping and accounting doesn't always go so well. 

Many business owners assume that the more processes they can handle themselves, the more money they will save. Small and medium-sized business owners, however, almost always lose money and waste time when they try to handle their books in-house. Many are not even aware of all the expenses that add up. They then operate without knowing the true cost of their in-house bookkeeping and accounting. The back office is both a financial engine and compass — a vital part of any business — and managing it yourself, not only drains resources, but also puts your business at risk of operating with limited employee knowledge and experience and renders your business vulnerable with outdated systems and insecure processes. 

Initially, when business owners first start out, they might have no extra cash, making it necessary for them to handle their own bookkeeping and accounting. As businesses grow, however, owners should actively research bookkeeping and accounting solutions that will be both affordable and effective because there comes a time in every burgeoning business's life when muddling through, with a DIY approach to the back office or with a limited bookkeeping staff, simply no longer cuts the mustard. 

Still Juggling Your Bookkeeping and Accounting In-House? You Might Be Wasting Time and Money If: 

1. You Think Your Time Is Free When You Have Better Ways to Spend It

As a business owner, your focus should be on your company's core competencies. Unless you're an accountant, you probably didn't go into business to think about bookkeeping and accounting systems. Every minute, hour, or day you spend focused on payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, taxes, or data entry, you are missing opportunities to improve and grow you business. 

Still not convinced? With a professionally organized and implemented bookkeeping and accounting system designed to perform accurate job costing, you could calculate the exact cost of your time to the minute (or second, if you want to be specific). Then you'd know exactly how much money you waste when you waste your own time on the books. 

Read More: CEOs, You're Making These Time Management Mistakes

2. You're Using the Same Software as Always (or You're Not Using Software)

When business owners handle their own back offices, these vital functions wind up getting the short end of the stick. As a result, businesses managing their own back offices are usually using outdated software that has not been optimized to improve efficiency. These businesses operate with clunky bookkeeping and accounting systems that require extra time from all employees, lead to inaccuracies, expose the business to fraud risk, and also limit financial intelligence, hindering the ability to make smart, data-driven decisions. 

3. You Have a Limited Bookkeeping and Accounting Department

Two heads are always better than one, but educated and experienced bookkeepers, accountants, and CFOs are expensive. Small and medium-sized businesses cannot afford to staff entire full-time bookkeeping and accounting departments, which means they operate with limited staff, knowledge, and experience. In addition, operating with only a handful of back office employees causes coverage problems anytime one employee takes a sick day, vacation, or resigns. 

Read More: The Pros and Cons of Outsourced Accounting Services for Businesses

4. Your Books Are Inaccurate 

You might think of inaccurate books and accounting mistakes as small, fixable problems. While most mistakes can be fixed and some are small, mistakes in bookkeeping and accounting can also be seriously expensive. Whether you consistently accrue late fees on payments, rack up bank fees for overdrafts, or overlook submitting your payroll taxes, accounting mistakes cost you money, create stress, and require valuable time to fix.  

5. You Use an Out-of-the-Box Chart of Accounts

Accounting software typically provides charts of accounts tailored to different industries. These one-size-fits-all charts of accounts, however, are usually only geared toward tax preparation and filing. A knowledgeable and experienced management accountant will establish a business with a highly detailed chart of accounts organized in a way that will help you track expenses, job cost, and manage profit margins. 

6. You Think Bookkeeping and Accounting Are for Taxes and Payroll

If you think your bookkeeping and accounting department exists for managing day to day money matters and recording the past only, then you are missing out on maximizing  profits. While paying taxes and covering payroll are essential functions of your bookkeeping and account system, a robust back office should also be equipped to look into the future, managing cash flow, optimizing prices, and helping business owners make strategic decisions for their company's future. 

7. You Don't Read Your Financial Reports or Follow Your KPIs

Business owners who manage their own bookkeeping and accounting often focus on items with deadlines, such as taxes, bill payments, and payroll. As a result, they often overlook the most valuable part of their back offices, financial insights. Every business owner should be carefully reading and tracking  financial reports, in addition to measuring and monitoring KPIs. Like vital signs for a business, these numbers provide direct insight into your company's financial health. Simply glancing at the numbers month to month or checking your bank balance from time to time will not give you a clear picture of your company's financial state. 

Read More: Customizing Sage Intacct Dashboards for Better Financial Insights

8. You're Not an Accountant and You Don't Seek Expert Advice

Sure, most business owners can research and learn their way through the basics of small business bookkeeping and accounting. They can figure out how to file a tax return and submit payroll taxes. They can follow the prompts given to them by their accounting software. They can't, however, come to the table from day one with knowledge of experience, like an expert accountant or CFO in the industry. Seasoned accounting professionals have the experience and insights to help business owners read and understand their financial reports, predict and avoid pitfalls, prepare for and overcome challenges, and to build sound bookkeeping and accounting systems designed to support future success and business growth. 

Access a Complete Bookkeeping and Accounting Department without the Outrageous Expense

Just because your business is not yet big enough to house an entire floor of bookkeepers, accountants, controllers, and CFOs doesn't mean you can't access them. Outsourced client accounting services provide all the benefits of a billion-dollar business's back office without the billion-dollar overhead. With an outsourced partner, like GrowthForce, you can access an entire team of bookkeeping and accounting professionals and their expertise, while receiving accurate financial data delivered on-time. Plus, with scalable services designed to grow with your business, your back office will always be exactly what you need.