Should I Get An Accounting Software Or Hire An Accountant? Definitive Answer For Nigerian Businesses

“Should I get an accounting software or hire an accountant?”

Undoubtedly, every organization as long as it is dealing with inflow and outflow of resources needs someone to handle its financial reports and operations. And, the Accounting or finance department plays the vital role in tracking income and expenditures, and provide investors with detailed financial information which can be used in making business decisions. However, many business owners go it alone when it comes to managing their money.

According to this recent report, 53% of small business owners don’t use an accountant at all. And even more shocking, 27% of the respondents simply use pen and paper to keep track of their finances. While we can’t conclude that these businesses are worse off for not keeping proper accounting records, we can’t underestimate the depth of knowledge and experience an accountant or an accounting software can provide. The job of keeping track of numbers requires accuracy and professionalism. Both of which these two agencies provide.

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The Use Of Technology In Accounting

Technology has become a necessary tool in making our lives more convenient even in business. This is inclusive of the accounting, and has made it easy for business owners to manage their business and finances. Some Businesses prefer to hire professional accountants while others rather have electronic accountants do the job for them. Whichever service you choose would still have an enviable result with varying efficiencies.

Software like Peachtree and Sage 50 and so forth has emerged to made the accounting process much easier. There is less work to be done because the software will do your numbers without errors. These Softwares are are built with accounting models to effectively take up the roles of an accountant.

However, This article will compare which financial service is better, between humans and robots.

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The Comparisons

From basic invoicing and billing, to tax calculations and project management; an accounting software is an essential tool for your business’ financial data. It helps manage clients, reconcile bank accounts, and generate insightful financial reports that help your business grow smoothly. Additionally, an accountant refers to a person who performs accounting functions such financial statements and has substantial experience.

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Hiring An Accountant

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(A) Advice on Tax Matters:

A Traditional professional accountant can issue advise on tax matters and other financial problems whereas an electronic accountant cannot. A professional accountant has the ability to guide the company on tax related matters ranging from taxable income, tax percentages, how to reduce tax burdens and advice the management on the way they can use their resources in the proper manner.

(B) Advice on Financial Targets:

An accounting software cannot find solutions to company’s financial problems and underachieved goals, only a traditional professional accountant can. They are aware of the company’s financial goals and can find quick solutions where the financial statements are not matching up or are not meeting up to standard. Also, when a software prepares accurate financial reports very fast, who would interpret them?

(C) Higher Valuation:

If your business is scaling, having an accountant on your team can increase your startup valuation. When your business is being valued, the competence of the team is measures and the weight of worth your business would have because you have a professional accountant on your team is substantial and pronounced In compared to having a team without a professional accountant using just software.

(D) Targeted Programming:

Apps are designed on a garbage in, garbage out sequence. It is what is programmed in the software that would work. Although these software have been built with perfect algorithms to calculate a “1+1”, there may be cases where financial information cannot be recognized by algorithms and would need the input of a traditional professional with human intelligence to tackle the problems. Hence another importance of traditional accountant.

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Using An Accounting Software

(A) Automation and Speed:

With accounting software a business can achieve accurate automated calculation. All processes, formulas and reports are automatically calculated and this produces an accurate outcome in a matter of minutes or even seconds. Reports that would ordinarily take a traditional accountant weeks are generated with just a single click. This helps to save time and energy.

(B) Low Cost:

The cost of hiring a professional accountant is higher. If you operate a startup with very little funds, it would be more cost effective to use an accounting software instead. You only pay extra for training and upgrades. But if you have a really smart team, then trainings would not be so frequent as they will learn on the job.

(C) Minimal Human Errors:

With an accounting software, you can be sure that you are getting output only for the data provided. You will not accrue external random errors such as misplaced documents, errors due to parallax, tardiness and other false convergence problems.

(D) Simplicity:

If your business is a simple sole proprietorship, you may be better of with an accounting software that only helps you draw up WYSIWYG charts and easy to understand statements.

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