Is Your Bookkeeper Embezzling?

As a business owner, what are you currently receiving on a daily, weekly and monthly basis from your bookkeeper?  Are you in communication about where you stand financially?  Are your bank accounts reconciled and financial reports processed at the end of every month? 

In watching the news and seeing how many bookkeepers embezzle funds each and every day, it is not surprising that most business owners do not even have a clue where they stand financially.  In fact, The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimates that in the U.S. alone, occupational fraud has cost employers $400 billion through larceny of cash, skimming and fraudulent disbursements. 

If you are not receiving timely financials, I hate to inform you that you are at risk for the above scenario.  You may trust your bookkeeper implicitly…in every embezzlement case this was true. 

I recently uncovered embezzlement by a receptionist of a medium-sized firm who was pocketing cash on a daily basis.  Why didn’t the owner or the CPA catch this earlier?  Trust.  The owner stated “I would not in a million years have suspected her.  We had this relationship built over five years.”

As a business owner, you should be reviewing your financials and asking questions, especially in small firms where one person handles everything from managing the office to doing the bookkeeping.  In this situation, we understand the difficulty of maintaining controls as you would in larger organizations. 

OSI Business Services, LLC not only closes your books each and every month, but your CPA/Manager consults with you reviewing your financials, answering your questions and training you in areas you may not be familiar with.

Contact us http://www.OSIBusinessServices.com/contactus.html today for a free, no obligation proposal.  We will be happy to speak with you regarding your needs and concerns.

Outsourcing Makes Sense For Any Business

Take a look at your own personal life and you will see that you outsource many tasks on a daily basis.  Perhaps you have someone clean your house, you pay someone to watch your children while you work, and you have an exterminator spray for insects.  You don’t cut your own hair do you?  How about changing the oil in your car? 

Why is it that you do not handle all of these things on your own?  First of all, if you’re anything like me, who can barely even check my oil much less change it, you’re smart to let the experts handle it.  You pay someone else not only for their expertise, but because you have other obligations such as supporting your family through working.  There are only 24 hours in a day and there is simply not enough time to get everything done and spend quality time with your family and friends. 

As far as your business is concerned, it makes sense to outsource your accounting for several reasons.  If you are spending too much time managing your books and not enough time growing or running your business, your profits go down.  Your quality of life goes down as well when you are constantly working.  You end up making unnecessary mistakes with your accounting when you do not have the time to dedicate to it.  You might not even understand how to read your financial statements but you are interested in learning. 

The benefits of outsourcing your accounting with OSI Business Services, LLC are unsurpassable on so many levels.  First off, OSI is entirely U.S. based.  All staff is highly knowledgeable in the practices of accounting and follow very detailed company procedures.   

Each and every client is assigned not only a bookkeeper, but a controller to oversee the account.  This is a daily accounting and bookkeeping service working in real time.  Each client has access to their staff daily by telephone, email and instant messenger. 

We encourage you to visit our webpage, especially the Frequently Asked Questions page http://www.osibusinessservices.com/faq.html to gain more knowledge on why your business would benefit from accounting and bookkeeping outsourcing.  Contact us today for a free quote!

Statistics On Your Company Survival Rate

 A couple of years ago, a client of mine handed me three large boxes in September, and asked that I prepare their books in order to have their CPA prepare their year-end taxes for their personal and business returns.In these boxes were a years’ worth of unopened mail including bank statements, credit card statements, literally thousands of receipts, unopened cards for their children with cash inside (yes, indeed) and a variety of other documents unrelated to their accounting.

Simply opening each and every piece of mail and organizing everything by date took me over three entire days to complete.  At the end of this project which took me months to input into accounting software, I was still missing numerous bank and credit card statements.

Statistics show that both the frequency of your accounting and the quality of the records you keep can dramatically affect your company’s survival rate. How frequently you do your accounting can affect your company’s survival rate. How well your records are kept can also affect your company’s survival rate.  (Source: The Small Business Book; Robert Hamilton and John English)

Frequency	Survival Rate
At Least Monthly	79.7%
Quarterly	71.5%
Half-yearly	49.9%
Annually	36%

Accounting Records	Survival Rate
Excellent/Good	63%
Average	49.8%
Inadequate	20.1%
Poor/Non-existent	2.5%

As a business owner, you should be taking an active role in the finances of your company.  Perhaps you are a small business owner who handles your own finances and the scenario above is not too far off from your situation.  You need help and you know it.

To learn more about how OSI Business Services, LLC can help you improve your financial situation, please visit our website at http://www.OSIBusinessServices.com.  You may call or email us to discuss your needs or fill out the Contact Form on our website.

The True Cost Of A Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers are not as inexpensive as one might think.  When you think about hiring someone to handle one of the most critical aspects of your business - your money, you want someone who is not only honest and reliable but someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

Unfortunately, we know first-hand what an inexperienced bookkeeper can do to a business because companies hire us all the time to clean up their accounting.  Let’s start out by looking at what your bookkeeper is really costing your business.

The median hourly rate for a bookkeeper with 5-9 years experience is around $15 at 40 hours per week.  Health insurance for the employee with no dependents we’ll estimate at $350 per month.  Add on two weeks of vacation per year, ten paid holidays and for some companies, sick leave, and you’re looking at an additional $2,000 - $2,500.  Other expenses include payroll taxes, workers’ compensation and retirement plan/401K match. 

Now, let’s take a look at what you probably never really have taken into consideration.  How many hours do you spend when you’re first hiring a bookkeeper placing advertisements, doing interviews, calling references, etc.?  How many hours a week do you spend initially training your bookkeeper and then how many hours on a weekly basis afterwards?

Typically, most companies both large and small have a CPA (wise idea).  Perhaps you hire your CPA to close out each month or quarter or you simply have that person prepare your year-end tax returns.  If you are lucky enough to have a bookkeeper who actually knows how to prepare financial statements (most don’t) then this may not be an issue. However, we’ve found that companies spend an exorbitant amount of money on CPA’s to clean up mistakes bookkeepers have made.  This is simply unnecessary.

So in summary, if you add up all the costs, you are looking at well over $4,000 per month in comparison to the initial assumption that you’re paying a flat $15 per hour or $2,600 per month.  If you would like to calculate costs based on what your company is currently paying for your bookkeeper, visit our website using this link and plug in the numbers: http://www.osibusinessservices.com/calculate_cost.php

Our concern is the success of your business and we are here to answer any questions you may have with regard to your accounting.  Please feel free to send us an email or give us a call.  We look forward to hearing from you. 

OSI To Donate Outsourced Accounting Services to Children’s Charity

 In response to a plea from children’s charity for accounting services volunteers, leading outsourced bookkeeping services provider OSI Business Services will donate outsourced accounting solutions.

New York, NY (PRWEB) December 20, 2007 — When AAA Academy for Children sent out a plea for accounting help in order to get the necessary funding to grow the children’s charity organization, OSI stepped up to help.

OSI Business Services (http://www.osibusinessservices.com), an outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services firm, will donate monthly expert accounting services for the organization.

AAA Academy for Children provides a variety of services to low-income families including childcare, tutorial care, amateur Taekwondo, and more. Working with a limited budget, the organization needs a loan to grow, but needed to get their books in order before obtaining a loan will be possible.

OSI’s U.S. based staff of professional outsourced bookkeepers and accountants will work through the organizations 2007 record to prepare a comprehensive set of financial records and reports using Intuit’s QuickBooks. OSI will continue to provide monthly bookkeeping services on a pro bono basis as a way to support the charity.

“Our goal is to help businesses grow to their full potential through better accounting. When a company’s books are organized by an expert accountant, the company is in a much stronger position for rapid growth,” says Dennis Najjar, CPA, partner and Managing Director of Client Services.

Growth plans for AAA Academy include expanding to new facilities in order to provide more services for more children and families.

“Timely accurate financial information helps organizations better manage their finances. We’re excited to play a part in growing such a noble non-profit organization,” says Bill Gerber, partner and Managing Director of Sales and Marketing.

Bill Gerber was recently honored with CPA Technology Insider’s ‘40 Under 40′ award designed to recognize the accounting industry’s up and coming leaders. OSI accounting is considered one of the nation’s leading outsourced accounting services provider.

About OSI Accounting Services:

OSI Accounting Services (http://www.osibusinessservices.com) utilizes a 100% U.S. based staff providing outsourced online bookkeeping and accounting services to small, mid-size and fast growing businesses. The company is passionate about its mission to provide a high-level of customer support, deliver services in a timely, efficient and precise manner, and to continuously exceed client expectations.

Forbes Press Release

OSI Business Services Earns 2006 Forbes Enterprise Award

Winners of the prestigious of Forbes Enterprise Awards were formally announced today. From a field of thousands of nominees, only 72 companies were selected to win the coveted award—among those chosen for this select group of extraordinary companies was OSI Business Services, LLC.   OSI is a leading outsourcing firm, providing bookkeeping and accounting services to companies across the United States. Using only U.S.-based employees operating out of home based offices, OSI is on the cutting edge of professional outsourcing.

Pompton Plains, NJ (PRWEB) March 9, 2007 – OSI Business Services was recently honored with a 2006 Forbes Enterprise Award. The award, one of the most prestigious small business awards in the country, is a capstone on an impressive start for the New Jersey-based firm, which provides outsourced accounting and bookkeeping services to small and medium sized businesses.

“We are extremely proud to be recognized by Forbes, a legendary name in American business,” said Bill Gerber, partner in OSI. “This award recognizes our company’s explosive growth and the quality of our U.S.-based workforce. OSI proves successful outsourcing need not mean off shoring.”

Since 2004, OSI has witnessed a stunning 736% increase in gross sales and grown to include 18 full time accounting and bookkeeping professionals. Those professionals, all hired full-time by OSI, are employees. The arrangement with OSI allows every employee to work from their home located anywhere they live in the United States. It also allows OSI to choose from among the best of the best nationwide. The company fosters a corporate culture among their tele-workers that encourages employee suggestions aimed at helping the business grow.

OSI Business Services provides a full range of accounting and bookkeeping services to small and mid-sized businesses. It’s the best of both worlds for the hiring company; while freed from the need to employ and oversee an in-house professional, each client company still works closely with an account-specific bookkeeper, who is readily available to discuss questions or concerns about specific issues. Those accountants and bookkeepers are matched to the specific jobs they are most suited to perform and work under a controller’s guidance. Some of the services OSI can provide include sales invoicing, accounts payable, payroll, account reconciliations and financial reporting.

About OSI Business Services

OSI Business Services was formed in 2004. Co-founders Dennis Najjar, CPA and William Gerber began with a vision for how technology could transform accounting and bookkeeping for small and medium sized businesses. Since then they have turned that vision into a successful, rapidly growing, nationally recognized firm. With a proven business model, remarkable demand for its services, and now a Forbes Enterprise Award, OSI is a true leader in its field.

OSI is happy to offer free analysis of accounting databases to companies who inquire about services. OSI also considers good corporate citizenship vital; the company contributes a portion of all client fees charged to the Alternating Hemiplegic of Childhood Foundation.