In-house accountant or accounting firm. Pros and cons

In-house accountant

Such a specialist is always “at hand”, and that is convenient, especially when a decision has to be made quickly. An in-house accountant can also perform certain additional tasks, provided, of course, that you manage to agree on this. That is where the advantages of this option end.

You should bear in mind that if things do not work out with the accountant, dismissing the specialist can be quite a difficult matter. It is good if you manage to part amicably, but it is also possible that you will have to prove the employee’s incompetence or pay them severance. Incidentally, if an employee is incompetent, the company owner bears responsibility for their mistakes.
In this case, the accountant’s training is paid for by the company. And since the profession requires continuous professional development, attendance at seminars and the study of specialised literature, the investment in education can turn out to be considerable. It will be particularly frustrating if the accountant then finds a new job and you have to train a new employee.

Finally, there is the financial question, which means so much to young companies. An in-house accountant has to be paid a salary, social security contributions have to be paid, accounting software has to be ordered, and then there is office equipment and stationery. All these expenses seem insignificant at first glance, but when added up it turns out that having your own accounting department is not a cheap pleasure, and far from always a justified one.

Accounting firm

This option has quite a few advantages over an in-house accounting department.
A contract concluded with a company can easily be terminated. If the accounting firm’s work does not suit you, you simply end your relationship with it and look for an option that suits you better.

The training of an accounting company’s staff is handled by its management. As a rule, each specialist deals with their own area — for example, salaries and social security contributions or taxation. Narrow specialists gain extensive experience and do not make mistakes, unlike in-house accountants, who have to master all the subtleties of the profession at once. And in complex cases, the staff of an accounting firm will find the right solution more easily, thanks to the large number of competent consultants.

If one of the accounting firm’s employees goes on holiday or falls ill, this will not be a problem for the client — other accountants will answer their questions, all reports will be filed on time and documents drawn up correctly.

And once again we return to the cost of the matter. If you add up all the expenses of an in-house accountant, it becomes perfectly obvious that working with an accounting firm is the more advantageous option. Moreover, the price usually depends on the volume of work, and if it decreases, you can negotiate a discount with the firm. With your own accountant such an arrangement is not possible — the salary and social security contributions must be paid regardless of the volume of work.

The choice is therefore obvious: working with an accounting firm in Bulgaria is a more advantageous and promising path than looking for an in-house specialist, especially where small and medium-sized businesses are concerned. In some cases this option is preferable for large businesses too, although big companies more often opt for an intermediate solution: they hire a specialist to handle routine tasks and turn to an outside firm in all other cases.

The staff of Bulgarian Expert are always ready to help you resolve accounting matters, either on a one-off or an ongoing basis. Contact us — it is advantageous, convenient and reliable.

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