Hiring an accounting firm is one of the smartest moves you can make for your business. But what actually happens behind the scenes once you’ve signed on?
It’s easy to think of accounting as “tracking expenses” or “filing taxes”, but for businesses that work with us monthly, there’s a whole lot more going on. Your numbers aren’t just recorded — they’re reviewed, analyzed, and turned into decisions you can act on.
Let’s walk through what that looks like.
When you first start working with your accounting firm, they’ll begin with onboarding — the deep-dive process that sets the tone for everything that follows.
During onboarding, your accounting firm will typically:
The goal here isn’t just to “get set up”. It’s to understand your business well enough to give you relevant, strategic guidance from day one.
(Want to see the full process? Check out our onboarding breakdown here.
Each month, your accounting team handles the work that keeps your financials accurate and actionable. This includes:
Bank and credit card reconciliations – making sure transactions are recorded and matched correctly.
Payroll review – checking accuracy and categorization.
Expense tracking – noting where your money is going and why.
P&L review – understanding where you stand for the month.
It’s not just about recordkeeping — it’s about making sure you can trust your numbers when it’s time to make decisions.
Once the transactions are clean and reconciled, we shift into review mode. This is where numbers become a story about your business performance.
Financial accuracy check – verifying the data so we’re working from facts, not guesswork.
Trend spotting – comparing month-to-month to see what’s changing.
Goal tracking – checking progress against the financial goals you’ve set.
Advisory insights – pointing out opportunities, potential issues, and adjustments to consider.
If we spot something that needs attention — like a spike in expenses, a drop in revenue, or a cash flow crunch — you hear about it now, not months later.
A good accounting firm doesn’t just “close the books” and call it a day. Every month is a chance to make your business stronger.
Tax planning tweaks – identifying moves you can make now to improve your year-end position.
Operational insights – showing how your spending patterns or pricing might be affecting margins.
Growth planning – helping you prepare financially for new hires, equipment, or expansion.
These small, steady adjustments compound over time — and that’s how you stay ahead.
This is all about avoiding unwanted surprises when it comes to taxes. These business owners will work with an accounting firm to just nail down what needs to be paid, but without paying too much. Estimates for taxes will be paid, your financial team will also go over unexpected purchases that may have come up (or may be coming up soon), or any other oddities or irregularities.
This might sound simple, and if you hire a good accounting firm it is, but making sure that you’re set come tax season makes it absolutely VITAL to your business plan.
If you’re getting ready to sell your business, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. That mainly involves scrubbing up your financials. Are they properly identifying fringe benefit expenses that may not be incurred by the next owner? That can include things as small as an iPad or company phone, or as big as a company car. They'll also look at nonrecurring expenses, having them tracked so that they can show any prospective buyers where (and why) they occurred - since these transactions are not generally factored in the value of your business. Your accounting firm will provide bottom line support and help you come up with a realistic exit price.
Some folks don’t want to pay for back office tasks, or they only want to pay them once a year. While we understand the thinking, we honestly can’t recommend it. When you do that, you’re leaving any potential accounting firm a mountainous job with one hand tied behind their back.
If you wait until you drop off your tax papers in February, you’ll be less flexible with taxes, have less options in general, and may even pay taxes you could have avoided with year-round planning.
On top of that, the general future of your business will be muddy and your goals will be harder to reach. That’s why we recommend so much that you move to a monthly, ongoing relationship with an experienced accounting firm that will take a comprehensive approach to your business. They’ll give you a clear, focused picture and a monthly game plan of how to create your dream business. Ready to start?
In the meantime, here's an article we wrote to help you brush up on → how to read your financial statements.