There are many examples of entrepreneurs who came up with a great idea and pursued it to success. While focus and good old-fashioned hard work may seem to be all that you would need to see an idea blossom – in fact it is much more involved than that! Getting your invention or service off the ground is just the first step. Keeping track of the myriad of local, state and federal tax requirements and associated accounting tasks is often what causes even the greatest of ideas to fail. What to do? This is where utilizing a consulting firm that specializes in small business accounting will come in handy and potentially save the day. What follows are just a few examples of the services you may want to take advantage of on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis in order to watch your business blossom.

• Bank account reconciliation. Although paper checks have gone the way of the horse and buggy that doesn’t mean you don’t need to keep track of your accounts. Electronic banking is the new paradigm and it can be as challenging as paper was. Simply put, bank reconciliation is a process. It involves checking all records from the balance sheet to the general ledger to ensure they are accurate. The procedure involves comparing the recorded amounts on a company’s ‘books’ with what is shown on the monthly bank statements. Any discrepancies must be accounted for.

• Income statement generation. The income statement is one of three primary financial documents. It is a report of a company’s financial performance over the duration of a time period specified by the company principals or the organization assigned to oversee its production. The assessment that is the outcome of this task is a summation of a business’s revenues and expenses – from the operational and non-operational perspective.

• Balance sheet generation. The balance sheet is an explanation of a business’s assets & liabilities, and capital up to an identified date. It reports a company’s income and expenditures. This information is provided for an identified prior time frame.

A consulting firm may also provide simple clean-up of a ledger. Ultimately, businesses may be better poised for fiscal success if they hire out business responsibilities for which they may not have the same level of expertise as a professional organization that focuses solely on finances.

Contact the seasoned professionals at ORT Consulting to learn more about the small business accounting services we can offer you.