A good accountant is vital to your business operations. Not only for planning accounting and tax, but for advice on almost all aspects of your operations. Therefore ensuring that you have a good relationship with your accountant is critical.
So how can you increase your chance of getting what you need from your accountant to grow your business?
1. Recognise your strengths and limitations
There will be some areas of accounting that you are naturally good at or take more of an interest in. Make sure you have an accountant that can pick up on and do those things that you neglect.
2. Help your accountant to help you
The best thing you can do for your accountant is to be prepared. Make sure you have all the necessary paperwork, statements, invoices, reports that they need. This will ensure that things are efficient. Give them access to your cloud accounting system so that they can have a good look at everything. They will probably pick up on something that you didn’t. They can also ensure that everything has been applied correctly so that there are no nasty surprises at tax time or worse when you are audited.
3. Take advantage of free consultations
You can learn a lot during a 30 or 60 minute consultation with an accountant. If you are looking for a new accountant most will offer a free consultation. This will give you a good chance to understand whether you are a good fit with each other. You want to ensure you have the ability to develop a long term trusted relationship with whoever you chose to work with.
4. Look before you leap!
Changing accountants can be a nerve racking experience. So make sure you have invested the time in getting it right. We recommend being as open and transparent about your needs as possible so that you feel confident you have covered all aspects of your personal and business accounting affairs before making a final decision. A professional firm will be up front on it's fees and you should expect an engagement tailored to your business.
5. Choose an organised accountant with a personalised touch
If you aren’t getting the most out of your current relationship please give us a call. We are happy to give you advice and point you in the right direction. A business owners relationship with their accountant is critical and often long lasting so you need to make sure that you have the right partnership to help your business grow.