According to a recently released small business accounting report by Wasp Barcode, 52 percent of respondents reported that they pay too much in taxes or are undecided on the matter, with 49 percent reporting that they felt their tax burden was fair, lending important insight into the mindset of small business leaders this year.
The Wasp Barcode 2015 Small Business Report for Accounting surveyed 393 small business owners and decision makers across a wide range of industries to identify the challenges and opportunities they face going into this year’s season, and how this will all impact the remainder of 2015.
Additional topics covered in the survey included overall accounting challenges and outsourced accounting services, as well as how individual business leaders were going about preparing for the tax season. Here are some of the main takeaways from the Wasp Bee accounting report.
- Most businesses outsource tax preparation: Around 71 percent of small businesses outsourced their tax preparation accounting services, and most are happy with their accountant’s work. A surprising 74 percent of small business leaders didn’t understand how ghost assets (which can have a major impact on the company’s tax and insurance liability) are impacting their books, which may account for the high level of outsourcing. Regardless, accounting outsourcing has actually become an important trend of late, with 50 percent of companies outsourcing payroll, 40 percent audit activities, and 30 percent tax planning.
- Businesses are generally satisfied with their accountant’s services: In fact, 67 percent of all business leaders surveyed reported they were “very satisfied.” Across the board, 21 percent reported being “somewhat satisfied,” 9 percent “neutral,” 3 percent “somewhat dissatisfied,” and 0 percent “very dissatisfied.” In addition, of the SMBs surveyed, 62 percent don’t blame their accountant for the tax amount they pay, 24 percent are undecided, and only 14 percent report unhappiness with the work of their tax accountant. The top complaint about accountants among all those surveyed was that they were more reactive than proactive.
- Accounts receivables and collections is the biggest challenge facing small businesses: Interestingly, 51 percent of small business leaders cited this as a top challenge. Other major accounting challenges include cash flow (44 percent), managing paperwork (33 percent), closing the books each month (28 percent), and managing payroll (27 percent).
References:
King, Steve. “Small Business Owners Don’t Like Taxes.” Small Business Labs. 3/19/15.
Sutter, Brian. “2015 Small Business Report – Accounting.” Wasp Buzz. 1Q 2015.
Wasp Bar Code. “2015 Small Business Report – Accounting.” 1Q 2015.
