For as long as civilizations have been engaging in trade, methods of record keeping, accounting and accounting tools have been in use.
Though the concept of accounting is relatively easy to follow, the methods used to perform these essential tasks are constantly evolving. The improvements of this vital business function are to make life easier for businesses—but business owners can struggle to keep up with constant changes in this one part of their bigger business picture.
Seasoned professionals are familiar with the old-time ways of balancing a checkbook on paper. There’s actually traces of accounting being done in ancient times. Some of the earliest known writings discovered by archaeologists are accounts of ancient tax records on clay tablets from Egypt and Mesopotamia dating back as early as 3300 to 2000 BC. Historians hypothesize that the primary reason for the development of writing systems came out of a need to record trade and business transactions.
The ways in which bookkeeping is done have changed significantly since then, thankfully, and the evolution is far from over. Just as technology is changing dentistry, it is also breathing new life into the role bookkeeping can play for small and mid-sized businesses.
Today’s accounting firms are all about keeping on pace with technology. Artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain technologies are poised to transform how bookkeepers work and serve their clients.
The Cain Watters and Associates in-house accounting organization is no different—in fact, they make it their mission to continuously look ahead for new opportunities to provide exceptional service and results to their clients.
“We are staying up to date with all the latest cutting-edge technology and software to ensure our accountants leverage their arsenal of tools for data entry,” Accounting Manager Tammy DeVinny said. “These new skills, coupled with the experience in monitoring clients’ monthly financial statements and coordinating with their financial planning team, helps keep clients and their employees accountable.”
All too often, the average bookkeeper or office manager spends all their time just trying to keep up with the day-to-day and get all the data in. Then as soon as the data is in they move onto the next month and do the same process over again. Not only is it overwhelming to input the data and get everything else done, but employees in this situation may be so overwhelmed looking at the data, they don’t have the time to make sense of it.
Not using the data to your advantage can bring along a whole new host of problems. Perhaps accounts receivable has been running too high and has gone unnoticed, or lab supplies have gradually creeped up over the past six months—then of course there are bigger issues such as practice embezzlement. Having a quick and easy way to view the front line of your practice’s finances is essential to its long-term success, and you meeting your long term personal goals.
“It’s critical to have a few sets of eyes on your books,” DeVinny says. “At CWA, our accounting clients have our seasoned accounting team and their financial planning teams working together to identify areas of improvement.”
Managing your practice and personal bookkeeping is hard and time consuming for you and your office staff. Our team of dental accountants provide compilation accounting services to take the burden off you and get you back to what you love. And they are a cohesive extension of your planning team, working seamlessly to make your job easier.
If you have not engaged our accounting team yet, it’s a great time to start—we are now accepting new clients. Contact us here, or reach out to your CWA planner to initiate.
