When you handed your small business’s books to a bookkeeper or accountant, you probably thought of it as hiring for one job. In reality, accounting is several different jobs rolled up under one label, and very few people are equally strong at all of them.
Think about everything your business needs from its accounting. There’s the day-to-day work of keeping the books current, running payroll, and filing sales tax on time. There's the tax work that includes planning during the year, preparing an accurate return, and keeping up with filing deadlines. Then there's the forward-looking work of managing cash flow and deciding when and how to grow.
At Dillon Business Advisors (DBA), an outsourced accounting and advisory firm for small businesses, every client gets a dedicated specialist for each of those areas. This Team of 3 covers your business’s present, past, and future, and on average, costs about 70% less than one full-time hire. This post explains how those roles divide the work and what to look for if you're considering an outsourced accounting team of your own.
Is an Outsourced Accounting Team More Expensive Than One Accountant?
Your first thought may be, “So, I’d be covering three salaries?” An outsourced team doesn’t work that way.
Instead of paying salaries (and everything else that comes along with a full-time hire), you pay one firm that staffs your account with specialists. Those specialists serve several clients, with each one paying only a portion of what it would cost to hire that person full time. That’s how the whole Team of 3 comes in well under — 70% under, on average — than the cost of one full-time hire.
The comparison also goes beyond salary. Bringing someone in-house means recruiting and training them, then finding coverage when they’re sick or on vacation. If they leave, you start the search over and lose much of what they know about your business. With an outsourced team, that cost and risk sit with the firm instead of with you.
What Does an Outsourced Accounting Team Do?
At DBA, every client gets what we call a Team of 3: three people, each responsible for a different part of your accounting. One keeps your day-to-day books and payroll current, one handles your taxes and compliance, and one helps you plan for cash flow and growth. The roles share information as they work, so nothing stays stuck in a separate lane.
The Client Service Manager focuses on the present. This is your day-to-day contact for bookkeeping in QuickBooks Online, payroll, and sales tax. Your Client Service Manager also handles the routine questions that come up each week, like how to add a new employee or what to do with an invoice that doesn't match a payment.
The Client Controller focuses on the past. Your Controller is the team's tax and compliance expert. They prepare your annual tax return and run tax projections during the year. Along the way, they look for tax savings and track your filing deadlines, so you keep more of what you earn.
The Client CFO focuses on the future. Your CFO is your partner for cash flow and growth. They turn your goals into a plan and keep an eye on profit as the business grows. Every quarter, your CFO meets with you to review the numbers and plan the months ahead.
Benefits of an Outsourced Accounting Team
The difference shows up in everyday service as much as in big decisions. Here's what clients notice first.
- Information doesn't get stuck with one person. Everyone on the team serves the same client, so information moves with your business instead of sitting in one person's inbox. What your Client Service Manager sees in the books this month reaches your Controller at tax time and your CFO when you plan.
- You know who to call, and you hear back fast. Everyday questions go to your Client Service Manager, while tax and planning questions go straight to the person who owns them. DBA's team responds to requests and questions within 24 hours.
- Your service continues if someone leaves. When a solo accountant leaves, you start over with someone new. On a team, the people who stay already know your history and keep the work moving.
- Each person does the work they do best. Your CFO's time goes to planning instead of data entry, and your Client Service Manager can focus on keeping the books clean.
- The team keeps improving. At DBA, Client Service Managers learn from each other, and so do Controllers. When one person finds a better way to handle something, the whole group adopts it.
Case Study: How a Dental Practice Owner Took Bookkeeping Off His Plate
Sometimes the one person handling everything is the owner. That was true for Dr. Derek McKaskle, who owns McKaskle Family Dentistry in Katy, Texas. For years, the practice’s bookkeeping and bill paying landed on him, usually late at night after the patients had gone home. “I used to spend a lot of nights up here doing all the bookkeeping and bill paying,” he says. “It took time away from my family.”
The work wasn’t beyond him. It simply took hours he would rather have spent with his patients and his family, and he describes those years as being stuck in a rut. After partnering with DBA, that work moved to his Team of 3, with a Client Service Manager keeping the books current and running payroll while the rest of the team covers tax and planning.
His measure of success now is simple: “To me, it’s best if payroll happens and I don’t really even know about it.” The switch itself was easier than he expected, and he says the change of having DBA on his team felt “like a weight was just taken off my shoulders.”
Next Steps: How to Tell If Your Accounting Setup Still Fits
Start with these:
- Map who handles what specialty. Write down who handles your day-to-day books, your taxes, and if anyone, helps you plan. If the same name is on every line, or nobody is helping you plan, you've found your first gap.
- Notice where your questions stall. Think about the last few financial questions you asked and how long each one took to answer. Long waits are a sign that one person is carrying too much.
- Ask what happens if your accountant leaves. Find out who else knows your account and how much of your history is written down.
- Look at how often you talk about the future. If planning only comes up at tax time, the rest of the year's decisions are happening without it.
If several of these sound familiar, you may be seeing some of the signs your business has outgrown its accountant.
Get Help Building Your Outsourced Accounting Team
DBA's first step is a free business analysis. The team walks through your finances with you and shows what your Team of 3 would tackle first. Get your free business analysis to talk through where your business is headed.
