Like it or not, keeping a clear view of your business’s financial records is essential to your business’s success. Good accounting practices may not be as sexy as six-pack abs, but they sure do a better job of paying the mortgage. (Ab models out there: congratulations on paying the mortgage with your washboard stomach. Clearly this post isn’t for you.)

Every year millions of small businesses fail, and often it’s because of poor financial management. So why not make a resolution to finally take your financial records out of the shoebox and keep track of your income and expenses this year, so you can know what is going right or if anything is going wrong?

Last year’s resolution

Using accounting software used to be a horrible experience for most business owners. So Wave Accounting made a resolution last year to create the simplest accounting software anywhere. Our mission: to support business owners in their success by showing them, quickly and easily, where they stand at any time of the year. We envisioned an easy, “that makes sense” accounting system that doesn’t make you want to pull out your hair, or suck away time that you’d rather spend on other things. And we’re proud to say that we succeeded.

Our resolution for 2011

This year, our resolution is to add even more functionality, and make our free accounting software even easier for small businesses to use. If your 2011 resolution is to shed the extra 5 pounds or finally finish off that project around the house, good luck to you but you’re on your own. If, however, you resolve to have the best business year ever, Wave will be proud to help you get there, with no wasted time, and better results than ever.

Enter the virtual assistant, or VA. I caught up with Sophie Zollmann, a Tennessee-based VA who’s been “helping entrepreneurs get out of overwhelm and back to doing what they love most” for 10 years.

Q. What are the most common tasks you do for your clients? Is that common for VAs?
A. The top 3 tasks I do for my clients are project management, email, calendar and social media management and website/blog management. These are common tasks for most VAs. Some VAs specialize in a particular area such as social media while others cover the VA task spectrum. I have a team of VAs working with me to be able to cover as many different tasks as may be needed by my clients and to help as many people as possible.

Q. Is there anything that really doesn’t work as a task to be outsourced to a VA?
A. In general, VAs can do almost anything a client can ask of them. Most VAs will have specific tasks they don’t do for various reasons and therefore don’t offer them. However, it doesn’t mean they cannot be done by another VA willing to do those particular tasks. That’s another way specialization comes into play for some VAs.

Q. What do people not understand about working with a VA?
A. VAs are your partner in business. They’re not just an assistant. They can help you in ways that a regular secretary cannot. One of the biggest advantages of hiring a VA is no overhead. We are independent contractors. You do not have to pay for office equipment, office space or benefits. We take care of all of that. By giving a VA the day-to-day tasks, the business owner can focus on the business itself. That means business growth and higher income potential. Plus, they can have more time for self-care, family and friends.

Q. When it comes to accounting or financial tasks, what do people most often look to VAs for?
A. VAs can set up and maintain a company’s bookkeeping software. We can create reports within that software to help them better manage their money especially the outgoing cash flow part. We can pay their bills, balance their check book, send out invoices to their clients, receive payments, and update their accounts accordingly. We can also manage collections for clients who get behind on their payments. We can research purchases and services they may need to locate the best quality and price before they buy.

Q. What financial tasks do small business owners most overlook, that a VA could help with?
A. Maintaining their books on a regular basis to keep them from a time-crunch situation at tax time each year.

Q. What about you? Do you outsource tasks for your own business?
A. Currently, I outsource the design and maintenance of my website. I also outsource any design changes I make to my Facebook pages as well as logo, business card and stationary design/updates. I have an accountant who handles taxes but I maintain my own books.

For more information about virtual assistants, or Sophie’s business offerings, visit SophieZo.com.

As a nighthawk, I can’t say I love their conclusions, though I take some consolation in the author’s assertion that nighthawks are “smarter and more creative, and have a better sense of humor.”

I’ve always loved getting stuff done at night. But the truth is that at night I’m usually cleaning up messes and getting on top of a backlog. That’s a good thing, in its way. But the early risers appear to be the sort to initiate actions, rather than just respond to situations.

Where do you stand in the continuum? Are you morning or night? Are you starting actions and charting new courses, or do you spend your energy steering the ship to keep on track? I wonder if, in order for a morning person to be proactive, he or she needs a nighthawk to take care of the housekeeping details.

(This entry originally appeared in an earlier version of the Wave Accounting blog for small business.)