New Infographic: The Burden of Small Business Accounting, Taxes and Payroll

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Jan 28, 2015, 09:20 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SCORE, – www.score.org - mentors to America's small businesses, has gathered statistics concerning how much time and money small businesses spend each year on accounting and tax preparation and each month on payroll administration. Owners were also surveyed on their opinions of the most burdensome small business management tasks.

Significant Time and Money Spent on Tax Preparation

SCORE, - www.score.org - mentors to America's small businesses, has gathered statistics concerning how much time and money small businesses spend each year on accounting and tax preparation and each month on payroll administration. Owners were also surveyed on their opinions of the most burdensome small business management tasks.

According to data presented visually in the infographic, the majority of small business owners spend more than 41 hours on tax preparation each year. The breakdown of responses reveals that of the small business owners surveyed,

40% spend 80+ hours/year
18% spend 41-80 hours/year
15% spend 21-40 hours/year
28% Spend <21 hours/year

The annual monetary costs of the administration of taxes, internal costs, legal fees, etc. can be substantial as well, with the majority spending at least $1,000. Of the small business owners surveyed,

23% spend $1,000 or less
31% spend $1,000 to $5,000
18% spend $5,000 to $10,000
12% spend $10,000 to $20,000
16% spend $20,000 or more

The Worst Part of Business Ownership

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 40% of small business owners say bookkeeping and taxes are the worst part of owning a business. Specifically:

47% dislike the financial cost
13% dislike administrative headaches and time
13% dislike the complexity of compliance
10% dislike changing regulations and confusion
8% dislike all the paperwork
8% dislike inequity of the tax code

Costs of Maintaining Payroll

Many small businesses choose to perform payroll duties in-house in order to keep costs down. Of those small business owners that do,

21% spend no time at all
26% spend 1-2 hours/month
26% spend 3-5 hours/month
17% spend 6-10 hours/month
11% spend 10+ hours/month

And payroll costs vary greatly from 8% paying less than $50/month to 5% paying $5,000+/month.

Download this month's SCORE Infographic to access all the data regarding the time and costs associated with accounting, taxes and payroll for small businesses.

DOWNLOAD HERE: https://www.score.org/resources/infographic-look-accounting-and-taxes

About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 10 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE provides small business mentoring, workshops and education to more than 375,000 new and growing small businesses. More than 11,000 business experts volunteer as mentors in over 320 chapters serving local communities with entrepreneur education.

For more information about starting or operating a small business, call 1-800/634-0245 for the SCORE chapter nearest you. Visit SCORE at www.score.org. Connect with SCORE at www.facebook.com/SCOREFans and www.twitter.com/SCOREMentors.

Contact Information:
Aliana Marino
800/634-0245
[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150127/171684-INFO

SOURCE SCORE Association