1. What Is the Difference Between Bookkeeper and Accountant?
An accountant looks at a company’s financial big picture. He analyzes, interprets and provides subjective advice based on the data. He assesses the particulars from the ledger, finalization of year-end statements, adjusting journal entries and advises on financial strategies. Accountants can have more advisory positions, performing audits, managing reports, and offering advice to the business owner.

Bookkeeper manages the day to day finances and helps you stay in compliance. It involves handling of customers & vendor invoices, processing and categorizing expenditures. They also organize deductions, regulations and taxes.

2. Why to outsource Accounting & Book-Keeping Services?
In today’s scenario, it is very good to be your own boss and startup your business. But due to lack of correct financial information and Heavy Paperwork and time barring compliance of various Government Taxes, it is essential for every successful business enterprise to outsource it Accounting & Book-Keeping service to some qualified Chartered Accountants Firm. Outsourcing is an arrangement by which an entity hires another entity to delegate some of the business projects.

It helps an organisation to focus on key business activities, reduce the cost of infrastructure, involving experts of Indian Accounting Standards, On-time Compliance, Minimum Supervision and Involvement of management, resulting in the reduction of errors and frauds which assists more effectiveness and efficiency in the working.

Accounting and Book-Keeping is one of the requisite business activity of an organisation which requires a large number of human resource involving the hiring of experienced Accountants, Bookkeeper, Graduates etc. There are several CA Firms in India which provides expert Accounting and Book-Keeping services with minimal cost. By outsourcing the said services, an organisation gets a team of expert personnel without hiring any employee on its own. This arrangement helps an organisation to maintain proper accounting records, establishing good banking relations, effective tax planning, timely compliances, reduction in penalties, frauds and errors and most importantly to avoid unnecessary government interruptions.

2.1 Focus on Core Business: A business from time to time gets stuck in these accounting related work and compliance which diverts the minds and essential time of the management from core business activity to other small activities resulting in loss of revenue, unsatisfied customer and negativity in the minds. Once these services are outsourced, it saves the precious time of the management and all the minds then been kept at the core business activities and functions thereof.

2.2 Experts at your service: The outsourced Firm generally has a specialised team of personnel which involves experienced Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, Intellectual Property Right Experts, Lawyers and other professionals having the breadth of experience in providing of accounting and book-keeping services, Incorporation Services, Services related to the filing of various forms, GST Returns and Income Tax Returns, Corporate Restructuring, Statutory and Tax Audits, Internal Audits, Due Diligence, Investment Guidance, Income Tax Services, BPO and KPO Services, ROC related Compliances, representations before Assessing Officers, Appeals before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), FDI related services, Bank Reconciliation, budget planning etc. Hence, an enterprise may get a CA Firm professional support just by outsourcing its secondary activities.

2.3 Reduce Cost and avoid Tax Penalties: Smart outsourcing always results in better work management and thereby increases efficiency in operations. One of the main advantages is the reduction of the cost that is involved in employing professional human resource and subsequently ensuring timely compliance thereby avoiding tax penalties, late fees, and unnecessary Government interruptions.

2.4 Fraud Preventions: One of the requirements of outsourcing the accounting and book-keeping services is the prevention of frauds in an organisation by regularly examining accounts and flow of money in the business. Many times a successful ongoing business gets destroyed when fraud occurs in a business. These outsourced agencies work as a whistle-blower within an organisation, its called proprietor audit report in which outsourcing Chartered Accountants Firm prevents such frauds at an early stage and remedy its consequences on the behalf of the proprietor.

Written by
Vikrant Seth & Madhuri Prajapati
Articled Clerk