Bookkeeping Services Small Business - Assignment Example

? Bookkeeping Services Small Business Plan Executive Summary The firm d ‘Accuracy’ is a sole proprietorship. The activities and operations of thefirm are managed as well as supervised by the ‘Certified Public Accountant’ (CPA). The firm offers tax operations services, management and cost accounting services, QuickBooks Pro Advisor services and has planned to expand its operations to provide bookkeeping services to small businesses as well. The recent market conditions are seemed to be unfavorable for accounting and bookkeeping service providers due to recession and increase in unemployment rate. However, in terms of long run perspective it can be argued that the business environment is favorable for bookkeeping and accounting firms due to the presence of large number of corporate sectors and rapid business development within the country. The small businesses usually appoint accounting firms for maintaining financial transactions of their business operations effectively and in a cost effective manner. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 History 4 Description of the Business (Bookkeeping Services) 4 Definition of the Market 5 Description of Product or Services 6 Management Structure 7 Objectives and Goals 7 Financial Data 8 References 9 History ‘Accuracy’ is a small and one-person owned business which operates under a ‘Certified Public Accountant’ (CPA) in Los Angeles, United States of America (U.S.A). The firm usually offers tax accounting as well as management accounting services for small business firms. The firm in its initial stage of the commencement of its business generally rendered tax services to small business firms. Later on, the business offered management and cost accounting services as well. Additionally, the business also started offering QuickBook services on acquiring QuickBooks Pro Advisor certification. These are the various services which are offered by the firm to small business firms. In relation to tax facilities, the firm renders tax preparation and planning services. The firm also offers audits and financial projection services dealing with management and cost accounting facilities. With respect to QuickBook services the firm has been involved in rendering QuickBooks sales as well as setup and training services. The CPA has planned to expand the business operations of the firm dealing with its bookkeeping services for small businesses. In this regard, investment is required to be made in marketing and staffing process in order to develop the bookkeeping business in an appropriate manner. The business plan has been formulated with the intention of identifying and implementing appropriate strategies required for the expansion of the firm’s business. Description of the Business (Bookkeeping Services) The expanded business of the firm will offer bookkeeping services for small businesses. Bookkeeping is an approach of recording financial transactions of business operations on a daily basis. Small businesses with bookkeeping services will be able to maintain their daily business transactions in an accurate, comprehensive as well as up-to- date fashion (E-conomic UK, 2013). In this respect, bookkeeping services that will be offered by the firm to its clientele will ensure that their financial transactions are managed accurately and in the most efficient manner. The firm will offer bookkeeping services to small businesses under the supervision of the CPA. The bookkeeping services will be offered at an affordable rate to its clientele. Employees or staff will be hired which will entail undergraduate students to act as bookkeeper. Additionally, a graduate student will be appointed who will be entrusted with the task of managing the activities or operations of the bookkeeping segments. Definition of the Market The firm operates in the market segments of the US where there is a huge demand for bookkeeping service providers as large number of small businesses are significantly involved in appointing accounting and bookkeeping firms with the objective of saving time as well as money for other relevant activities. In the present scenario, it has been observed that due to recession and rising rate of unemployment, there is a considerable fall in the demand for bookkeeping firms as the small businesses have developed in-house accounting services to cut cost due to recession in the US (IBISWorld, 2013). Despite the economic downturn, the small businesses have expanded to certain extent which has created greater need for these firms to acquire auxiliary services in order to prepare and manage accounting and tax services to improve competitiveness and efficiencies. Correspondingly, there are various auditing and accounting firms which renders services related with corporate accounting such as auditing facilities, personal accounting and small business accounting. In this perspective, it can be comprehended that the firm is faced with increased market competition. Accordingly, the firm may face major competition from KPMG International, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, Ernst & Young and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu among others (Krabeepetcharat, 2013). In this context, the firm should target small and medium size businesses with the objective of executing business operations effectively and competitively in the US markets. Moreover, the firm should adopt certain marketing strategies with the intention of creating better impact in the market segments of the U.S.A. The firm will develop website for meeting the requirements of its clients through online basis in the most economical way. The firm should also adopt promotional strategies including online advertisements and hoarding among others for creating better awareness amid small businesses concerning with the various services rendered by the firm. Description of Product or Services The firm offers various services including tax services, management and cost accountant services, QuickBook services and bookkeeping services. In relation to tax services, the firm offers services such as tax preparation and planning along with other tax related facilities. In addition, the firm offers auditing services, financial projection as well as cost and margin analysis to its clientele. Additionally, the firm also offers QuickBook sales, training and setup services. The firm with the expansion of operation will offer various bookkeeping services which will include preparation of payroll, accounts payable and receivable, bank reconciliation statement, inventory management and preparing financial statements among others. These services will aid the small businesses in improving its competitive position amid increasing competitors for better sustainable growth. Management Structure The business of the firm is a sole proprietor firm as the operations are solely managed and executed by the CPA individually. Sole proprietorship is a common form of business structure. The CPA is entrusted with the responsibility of conducting all the activities of the firm. Additionally, the CPA is the only individual who will be entitled with the profits, loses or any other liabilities or gain arising thereon from the operations of the firm. With the expansion of the business operations, the firm will hire experts for managing and supervising tax operations. In the bookkeeping segment there will be a manager who will be entrusted with the task of monitoring the various activities that are executed within the firm. The appointed manager is required to have minimum qualification of graduate degree for acting as supervisor for monitoring the activities of the bookkeepers. Moreover, a certain number of undergraduate students will be hired for maintaining business transactions of small businesses. Objectives and Goals The objective of the firm with the expansion in bookkeeping services is to maintain daily business transactions of small businesses and generate better profit margin thereon. Moreover, at the initial stage, the bookkeeping services will be commenced by three bookkeepers and later on with more customer base the number of bookkeepers will be increased according to the business requirements. The key objectives or goals of the firm are to provide small businesses with adequate tax as well as management accounting services along with bookkeeping services profitably. The firm also aims at offering the aforementioned services in a cost effective fashion to its clientele or small businesses. Financial Data Revenue Forecast The revenue forecast figure as mentioned above depicts that the revenue for the firm along with its service quality will increase gradually with the passage of time and increase in customer base. Capital Budget The firm in order to expand its business operation will require additional capital of 15,000 US$. The budget to be allocated is depicted below: References E-conomic UK. (2013). Bookkeeping - what is bookkeeping. Retrieved from http://www.e-conomic.co.uk/accountingsystem/glossary/bookkeeping IBISWorld. (2013). Payroll & bookkeeping services in the US industry market research report from IBISWorld has been updated. Retrieved from http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/1/prweb10356412.htm Krabeepetcharat, A. (2013). Accounting Services in the US. Retrieved from http://www.eksh.com/repository/Documents/Articles/IBIS%20Accounting%20Industry%20Report%202013.pdf Read More