Recents

Can your accountant pay bills on your behalf?

While it may seem like a rudimentary part of bookkeeping, disbursements are a high-risk area for your business.

WRITTEN BY: TONY  |  June 22, 2026

An external firm managing your books can certainly help organize and manage your bills online, prepare them for disbursement, and ensure all relevant documentation and support (such as a vendor W9) is obtained. But the business owner (or designated contact within the business) should always review and approve any disbursement. Once funds are sent out, it can be very difficult to recover them, and having this layer of review by the business is essential to prevent errors or mistaken disbursements.

We offer paperless billpay support, W9 and 1099 management, and accounts payable tracking for small businesses, in addition to our other bookkeeping and tax services. You can learn more about the services we offer and book a consultation on our website, lilacfinancial.org.

Do you need to keep receipts for all business expenses?

It's one of the more tedious parts of owning a business.

WRITTEN BY: TONY  |  June 15, 2026

The answer is: yes!We offer full-cycle accounting, bookkeeping and tax services for our clients. During the course of the year, your transactions are posted to various ledgers and organized by category to ensure proper accounting treatment during the year, and to facilitate a smooth transition onto your tax return. This is done using various source document information, including receipts, invoices, or bank statements and transaction logs. However, you are responsible for maintaining copies of all receipts in case of an audit by federal, state, or local tax authorities. Businesses ultimately need to maintain evidence for any deduction taken on their tax return.We help clients stay organized and maintain proper support for their business records during the year. This is crucial for tax and regulatory compliance. You can learn more about the services we offer and book a consultation on our website, lilacfinancial.org.

Granting access to your accountant for business accounts

To save you time (and fees), it is essential to grant the right kind of user access for your accountant.

WRITTEN BY: TONY  |  June 8, 2026

Accountant access is a common separate user access level in many business accounts and portals, including bank and government account portals.We offer full-cycle accounting, bookkeeping and tax services for our clients. To ensure smooth facilitation of your records, it is imperative to provide accountant level access (or read-only access) to your business accounts. This minimizes the amount of back-and-forth required between you and us during the year, especially during busy periods where time is of the essence. Fees are lower for clients who use accounts and portals that allow us to independently pull reports and data. It saves time and reduces the administrative burden needed to manage requests.Most financial institutions offer integration with QuickBooks and accountant level access in their online portals by now. If your financial institution still uses a very old website and does not offer these services, we will have to manually request bank statements each month to perform reconciliations and record transactions, which significantly increases the administrative time spent on bookkeeping during the year.Some financial institutions or other business accounts require 2 factor authentication (2FA) from the business owner that can also create an administrative burden. For these accounts, we will determine a strategy that is most time efficient and ensures we can access your accounts as regularly as needed.Government portals and accounts typically require a power of attorney form to be on-file in order for your accountant to represent you and access your information. Depending on which apply, we will typically request power of attorney forms from you during the onboarding process.We help clients stay organized and maintain proper support for their business records during the year. This is crucial for tax and regulatory compliance. You can learn more about the services we offer and book a consultation on our website, lilacfinancial.org.