Small business owners have a lot on their plates, from marketing their products or services to ensuring an optimal customer experience to strategizing on how to grow their company in cost-effective ways. They may not have extra hours to spend poring over industry insights on a daily or even weekly basis.
And that’s why we’re here! At All In One Accounting, we take pride in supporting our small-business clients as they grow and strengthen their companies. While that typically means providing outsourced accounting services and financial leadership, we also like to be a set of eyes and ears for small business owners, keeping them up to speed on the latest research, resources, and regulations.
Read on for six insights affecting small businesses this year, along with tips on how to use this information to protect the company you’ve worked hard to grow from the ground up.
1. More than half of small business owners (51%) say they have an accountant for their business, according to new survey data from QuickBooks.
Small business owners site peace of mind, accurate tax preparation and filing, improved financial decision-making, better budgeting, and better cash flow management as the top benefits of working with an accountant. More than 1 in 4 small businesses who use an accountant said their business is experiencing high growth. Among small businesses that don’t use an accountant, only 1 in 10 report high growth.
If you’re a small business owner who’s contemplating hiring an accountant but you’re not sure you need one full-time, outsourcing some of your accounting tasks can be a great way to test the waters. By partnering with All In One Accounting, for example, you can use only the services you need, scaling up or down at any time.
2. QuickBooks’ survey also found that more than half (53%) of small business owners say they’re using AI tools to run their business.
These tools save them time and money, increase productivity, reduce errors, and improve customer service experiences. Small businesses looking to get started with AI may explore tools, applications, and plug-ins that help:
- Automate routine, time-consuming tasks
- Create written and visual content
- Execute more targeted marketing campaigns
- Deliver 24/7 customer support via an automated chatbot
- Forecast monthly and quarterly sales figures
- Analyze data to produce actionable insights
- Detect fraudulent behavior
The best part: exploring AI doesn’t have to break the bank. Look for AI-powered features popping up in the platforms you use every day, such as QuickBooks, Google Ads, Microsoft Outlook, and Zoom.
3. A quarter of all U.S. employees work remotely at least part of the time, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
While this is nowhere near the number of people who worked remotely during the pandemic, it’s still higher than the pre-pandemic norm, a good indicator that remote work is here to stay for years to come.
That said, many types of businesses cannot function without in-person work, and many of them are small businesses like your local coffee shop, credit union, or car dealership. According to the Chamber, the highest propensity for in-person work exists in the hospitality and food services, transportation, and retail trade industries, where nearly 80% of staff work fully on-site.
To navigate the labor shortages that come with a heightened focus on remote work, the Chamber encourages small businesses to grow their hiring pools by removing barriers to entering the workforce. For example, provide access to childcare, expand benefits packages, participate in second chance hiring, and extend upskilling and reskilling opportunities to all employees.