See an Accounting Consultant
One of dozens of strategies listed and linked to here:
How to Make More Money
From Your Business
By Steve Gillman
You can use your own tax professional as an accounting consultant
if he is good at what he does. Otherwise you might want to consider
paying for this kind of help as a way to find additional profits
in your business. How can a consultant help with this merely
by looking at your books? Lets consider a few examples.
Given that you're reading the pages in this section on how
to make more money from your business, you are likely to be more
educated than most small business owners. You are probably aware
of the normal ratios and other numbers that are normal in your
industry. But it is amazing how many people jump into business
without a clue about these things. I know of a local restaurant
that at one point had 47% labor costs. There is something wrong
with that, as any accountant with experience could have pointed
out just from looking at the books of this company. Many restaurants
get by with labor adding up to only 25% of sales, so this business
is probably over-staffing or misallocating their employees. They
might be able to double their profits just by doing a better
job scheduling.
That is an example of what a good accounting consultant can
tell you. He or she will recognize immediately if your numbers
are within the normal ranges for your industry. If they are not,
he can look deeper to see what you can do to cut costs. Any savings
you get on your expenses tend to go straight to the bottom line.
She might also suggest ways to boost your profits by boosting
sales. For example, if she sees that you are spending less than
normal on marketing, this could indicate that you need to invest
in getting more customers. You might not be aware of the option
you have for doing this, whether that means online pay-per-click
advertising, yellow pages, or piggy-back ads (putting your flyers
in mailings with those of other companies. A good accountant
will be aware of these, because she sees the expenditures
made by others in your industry.
When you hire an accounting consultant, be clear about what
you are looking for and be sure that he can deliver. You don't
need advice about deductions you missed (although that would
be nice too). You need specific suggestions on how to make more
money based on an analysis of what you are currently doing compared
to what other successful businesses in the industry are doing.
If you feel the cost is too much, you can at least ask your
own accountant or tax preparer for suggestions. Even if he has
not done this kind of analysis before, he may notice some abnormal
numbers in your books based on what he has seen in others. At
that point you can investigate to see if there is a problem to
be solved, or a way to do things differently and more profitably.
|
