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When To Hire An Accountant For Your Business

Hiring an accountant for your business can be a tough decision, and knowing who to choose and when to hire is not easy. However, it does pay to hire an accountant, even when your business is relatively small. Chartered accountants can help you to cut business costs and negotiate the minefield of complex financial rules that are in place today. If you need help finding an accountant, then this article can help you to ask the right questions before hiring someone, and explain what an accountant can do for you.

What can the right accountant do for me?

A good accountant can help with a number of things, including:

Tax planning

Accountants help with more than just tax returns, and can help you to set up finance and bookkeeping systems, as well as negotiating leases. When your business is running, the accountant can give you advice and help produce financial reviews and reports.

Business planning

A good accountant will also act as a business consultant. Through their ability as an accountant they can tell you if business decisions make sense or not, and how to make changes to pricing and cash flow. Often, an accountant is the most trusted business advisor you will have.

Networking

Another way that an accountant can help you is by putting you in touch with potential clients or business partners. You may need financing, and your accountant may know someone who is look to invest, and can help put the two of you together. Your accountant may even be able to refer new customers to you. If you pick an accountant with the right connections then you will benefit from this.

How to choose

Now that you know what a good accountant can do for you, how do you go about choosing one? Accountants are going to handle all of your money, so choosing the right one is a very important decision. Here are a number of factors you should consider when choosing an accountant:

Experience

Accounting rules are complex and change regularly, so you want someone who has enough experience to deal with these complex issues. Look for someone who has been practising for at least 5 years. Also, you want to find an accountant who has experience within your specific industry, because laws can vary depending on the industry.

Response time

You want your chartered accountants to respond to you quickly, because tax issues can weigh heavily upon your mind. Pick an accountant who will keep in regular contact, and will call you promptly to let you know of any progress. 

Firm size

Even though large accounting firms can handle small businesses, it is not often advisable to go for a huge company if you are only a small business. You will not get the same attention as you will from a smaller firm, and there is a greater chance for mistakes. Generally you should try to pick chartered accountants that are about the same size as your own company.

Knowledge of accounting systems

To make sure that the accountant can work quickly and efficiently, you want them to be familiar with the computerised accounting systems that you use. That way they can do your books and send them back much more quickly.

Comfort

One other crucial element you should consider when hiring an accountant is whether or not you feel comfortable with them personally. You are going to have a relationship with them, so you need to feel that they are the right person and that you believe in their ability. They may be very skilled, but if you don’t believe that they understand you and your business then you should choose someone else.

Interviews and references

You should treat an accountant like you would anyone else you were going to employ or buy from, in that you should seek referrals, interview them, and check their references. You should ask them how they would handle hypothetical situations, and also ask them to explain the relevant industry experience. This will give you some idea of whether or not they are right for your company

Fees

The final thing you should consider is fees. The fees of chartered accountants vary greatly, and can even vary within the same firm. Although simple tasks such as bookkeeping or tax returns might be at a low rate, for consultancy and business advise the fees might be higher because more senior staff will carry them out. If you find the right accountant then they will charge fairly, and will even tell you when you should move on. At some point your business might become big enough that it is too expensive to continue using an accountant for certain things, and you will need to use people in-house to do them. A good accountant will be honest with you and tell you this.

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