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by batoure 4500 days ago
Hire a book keeper as a contractor. We went through this with our startup we spent time researching various platforms considered automating some of our processes our selves and then ultimately hooked up with a book keeper quite accidentally. It changed our whole perspective on the process. Think of it this way if you were a group of front end developers who turned out to need a high powered backend database solution and hit a wall with internal implementation you would immediately go out and find a dba to be part of or advise your company on the path forward. Think about your books in the same way. Accounting has purposeful redundancy built into it and many constructs that will make a logical programmer want to cry. Getting setup in the right way from the beginning will help you later.
2 comments
matryoshka 4500 days ago
I agree that having a human who specializes in your kind of business accounting will make your life much easier down the road. That was one of first things I did when I started my business. Better be safe than sorry. You so don't want to mess with IRS.
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batoure 4500 days ago
probably good to also point out the difference between book keepers and accountants in the united states. A book keeper is pretty much a literal title they are experts at going through and organizing your accounting. They are a cheaper first step before eventually getting in front of an accountant. They will generally also point out things you should take to an accountant. A book keepers time is generally significantly cheaper than an accountants. To make another example think a SQL developer could get you started with a plan and a DBA would come in to do really deep low level work.
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rahimnathwani 4500 days ago
That's roughly the difference in the UK as well. My sister does accounts and tax for a number of small-ish businesses. She provides a part-time book-keeper for those businesses who don't do it themselves (either on-site or remote). That way (i) the business is paying only the rate necessary for the service they need and (ii) she has a decent starting point for remaining work (accounts preparation, tax calculations etc.).
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