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How to Know When You Need an Accountant (and When You Don’t)

How to Know When You Need an Accountant (and When You Don’t)
Photo by Mediamodifier / Unsplash

Back in my first post, Why Would You Want an Outsourced Accountant?, I jumped right into what an outsourced accountant can do for you and why getting one can be a game-changer once you’re ready.

This one’s for the folks who read that, nodded along, and then thought:

“Okay… but am I there yet?”

Maybe not.

Probably not, unless my marketing is way more targeted than I planned.

And that’s okay!

🧮 The truth is, not every business needs an accountant right now.

If you’re still in the early, scrappy phase – experimenting with offers, juggling part-time work, or keeping your books inside a Google Sheet and your brain — what you probably need is clarity, not commitment.

You might not need someone to take over yet. You might just need someone to:

  • sanity-check your setup and your systems
  • help you pick the right tools
  • tell you what actually matters versus what’s nice to have

That’s where my concept of a reasonable portion of an accountant comes in:
a mix of education, guidance, and gentle accountability for people on their way to needing full service.

✏️ Signs You Might Be Ready

If these ring familiar, it’s probably time to get actual outsourced accounting help vs just guidance (I do that too!):

  • You’re dealing with reporting to a third party (e.g. banks, investors, etc).
  • You hire your first employee that you didn't know personally beforehand
  • You’re spending more time categorizing expenses than actually running your business.
  • You can’t confidently say how much you made last month.

If that list stresses you out: breathe. You don’t have to fix it all at once, but if you give me a call I'd love to talk through things and help you come up with a gameplan.

🌱 And if you’re not ready yet…

Great! I'm excited to watch you grow, and in the meantime I’ve got you covered for this, too!

I’m building out free resources, newsletter tips, and upcoming workshops that will help you DIY smarter — without the panic spiral or the 2 a.m. QuickBooks tears.

You can subscribe to the newsletter for early access to those and join me when I announce the first round of Ask an Accountant sessions.

🧭 The Big Picture

Whether you’re outsourcing now or later, the goal’s the same:
Know your numbers well enough to make decisions you actually believe in.

So keep learning, keep peeking at your books, and when you’re ready to hand them off — you’ll already know what to ask for.

Until then, consider this your reasonable portion of an accountant:
a little context, a little humor, and one more step toward feeling like a functional grown-up business.