Sure, you can do your own accounting – but should you?
Businesses are built on passion and talent, not hours spent reconciling accountancy or stressing over balance sheets.
Accounting is more than just balancing the books—it’s an opportunity to save on taxes, make smarter decisions, and grow your business. Without expert guidance, though, mistakes and missed opportunities can quickly pile up.
At Patrick Accounting, we’ve helped hundreds of small businesses take control of their finances and focus on what they do best. We’ve seen what works—and what doesn’t—and DIY accounting often leads to more trouble than it’s worth.
Here are six common issues we see with DIY accounting:
- Limited value
- Bookkeeping mistakes that snowball
- Penalties
- Incorrect financial statements
- No audit protection
- Poor use of time and energy
Limited Value
When you work with an expert – especially year-round – you don’t just get accurate accounting; you get real value.
Most people think accounting is just about being correct or incorrect, but there’s more to it. It’s a chance to reduce your tax liability and make smarter decisions for your business throughout the year.
If you’re handling it all yourself, you’re missing out on those tax savings and growth strategies that could take your business to the next level.
Bookkeeping Mistakes That Snowball
Bookkeeping errors are like weeds: ignore them, and they don’t just go away – they spread. A small mistake can quietly take root and grow into a much bigger problem over time.
If your books were wrong in January, they're still going to be wrong in December if they weren't fixed right away.
It’s easy to fall behind on bookkeeping when you do it yourself. Once you’re behind, you’re stuck fixing old mistakes instead of focusing on the current month. If you’re struggling to keep up now, imagine how overwhelming it’ll feel in a few months.
Catching mistakes early – or having an expert handle them for you – can save you from a financial mess down the line.
Penalties
Whether you make a mistake or fall behind on taxes, you will be facing penalties. The IRS hands out penalties like candy.
Miss a filing deadline? That’s a failure-to-file penalty. Forget to pay? That’s a failure-to-pay penalty, too.
Filing for an extension can help, but wouldn’t it be better to have everything done right and on time?
Incorrect Financial Statements
Your financial statements are the backbone of your business decisions. They show you where you’re excelling, where you’re falling behind, and what trends to act on. But they only work if they’re accurate.
DIY accounting often results in these common issues:
Negative balances: A red flag that’s usually an error, like overpaying a loan or misclassifying transactions.
- Shareholder loans: Loans between you and your business need proper agreements, or the IRS might treat them as taxable income.
- Income mismatches: Numbers from your balance sheet and profit-and-loss statement should always line up – discrepancies can spell trouble.
- Suspense or clearing accounts: These temporary accounts should zero out every month. Leaving balances here can cause long-term confusion.
- Miscellaneous expense accounts: Large, uncategorized amounts make your financials look messy and raise questions.
Working with an accountant helps you understand your statements and make sure they are clean, clear, and useful for decision-making.
No Audit Protection
Even if you’re careful, audits happen – sometimes at random. Audits are time-consuming, stressful, and can feel overwhelming if you’re handling them alone.
With an accountant, you’ll have support – and fewer mistakes to attract IRS attention in the first place.
If you do your own accounting, you can make mistakes that trigger audits. Plus, you’re on your own whenever the random ones come around.
Poor Use of Time
You already wear a dozen hats as a business owner. Adding “accountant” to your job list means giving up time you could spend growing your business.
Accounting and bookkeeping will take longer if you don’t have a background in it, and every hour you spend on it is time you could use ON your business (not IN it).
You could be paying an accountant for fewer hours at a lower rate than what your time is worth. Some small business accountants have a fixed, monthly fee that is also a much better value–see for yourself here.
Think about it… How much could you grow your business’s profitability if you had more free time to brainstorm, plan, and execute?
Ready to Leave DIY Accounting Behind?
Your business began with passion—not the desire to wrestle with spreadsheets or stress over tax season.
When you outsource your accounting, you free yourself to focus on the work you love, while leaving the financial details to professionals who specialize in getting them right. At Patrick Accounting, we’ve seen firsthand how outsourcing can transform not just a business, but the way business owners feel about their work.
If you’re ready to get back to doing what you love,
Need more info first? Check out our guide to monthly accounting costs to learn more.
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