Some people are instinctively good with money. They saved from the time they were sixteen until they were twenty-one and bought their first homes with their savings or paid for college without having to borrow. Others put all of their spare dimes into investments and are sitting on nest eggs that make others jealous. Then there are those who cannot figure out why their checkbooks do not balance every month and why they are getting hit with late fees from their credit card companies. If you are part of this latter group, it may be worth the added cost of hiring tax and accounting services and/or an accountant. Here is why.
The Firm or Person You Hire Can Zero in on Your Accounting Errors
If you made an accounting error three months ago, none of your checkbook records are going to balance going forward. It would take hours and hours for you to discover where this error is, too. However, the person you hire and put in charge of your financial matters has all the time in the world to go back through a year's worth of financial records and resolve all the issues and make a clean record of every purchase and every deposit until your checkbook balances perfectly, right up to the date the process is finished. In the meantime, all you have to do is make sure your bills are paid and that you are presenting or forwarding receipts to your tax prep person/accountant so that he/she can add these entries at the end.
Keeping the Person/Firm on after Everything Has Been Set Right
After everything has been set right in your books, the person/firm can continue to manage your financial records for you (if you want). It is advantageous to do so in that he/she knows your records forward and backward now, and can take all of that information and process it into your tax forms next tax season. He/she can even process the information into online software so that it is even easier to transfer to your tax forms when the time is right. Then your tax prep and financial records professional can file your taxes for you, and print or save a copy of the tax documents for your records. There may even be some money left over every month that you can invest, save, or make a small personal purchase with once the records are all on track.
Reach out to your tax and accounting services professional for more help.
