I have started a small business on September 6th 2007. I have two sweet shops and four curry points in Hyderabad. To my surprise my turnover has reached 60-70 lacs/year in less than two years. Apart from manually keeping track of my cash flows, I haven't yet hired an accountant or a book keeper. I have also not prepared any financial statements for my business till today. I know its pretty late and should get done with creating financial statements for my business as soon as possible. My questions are,
1)I know nothing about the financial documents that are required to be maintained by small businesses in the food industry. How do I go about starting with this accounting stuff for my business? What am I required to do stepwise?
2) Should I myself enroll in an accounting course and maintain my own accounts? If yes, which is the best course and institute in Hyderabad? I am a B.Sc(comp) graduate and have no accounting knowledge.
3) How to make sure I hire a reliable accountant who will actually do his job and not just fake that he is doing it? Should I go to a CA for preparing my year end statements??