How to find an accountant to suit your business.
There are many different reasons why you might want to find an accountant for your business. Perhaps you’re just starting out with your new venture and need to make sure that the financials are handled by an expert? Perhaps you are used to handling the accounts in-house but have grown the business and now need some additional help? Or perhaps you have an accountant already but are unhappy with the service they are providing and want to find a better option?
Whatever the reason for your search, choosing the right accountant for your business can make a big difference to your organisation. A great accountant can help you with expert advice and business insights, as well as taking all of the hassle and stress of your accounting, tax returns and financial regulatory obligations, helping save you time and money. We’ve compiled some tips to help you assess whether an accountant might be the right fit for your business.
Check on the range of services that the accountant offers
It might be that you’re planning on keeping your day-to-day bookkeeping in-house for the time being and only want an accountant for preparing your year-end accounts and tax returns. Or you might be looking for an accountant that offers a full range of financial services that also include things such as tax and VAT advice, management accounts, auditing, budgets, forecasting, payroll and auto-enrolment pensions for your staff. Letting your accountant deal with many of these things can take the burden off the in-house team or the business owner and can bring additional benefits of the accountancy firm’s experience in many areas of business, which can influence your business strategies and help drive better results.
It’s also worth considering what your future needs might be. Right now, you might only want standard accountancy and tax services, for example. However, if you look further down the road ahead, your business growth might mean that you’ll need additional services before too long. Choosing an accountancy firm that can handle it all will mean less disruption when your requirements evolve and can even save you money as many accountants will be able to offer great rates to businesses that take several services from them. It’s a win all round!
Ask about their experience of working with other businesses in the same industry or sector
On the surface of it, accountancy might seem to be fairly standard across every type of business, but there can be real added value brought by an accountant that understands the unique challenges and market environment that your specific organisation operates in. Ask a potential accountant if they have worked with other businesses in your industry before and what contextual knowledge they can bring to your company if you work with them.
Are they proactive communicators?
There are few things more frustrating for business owners or managers than having to constantly chase their accountant for updates or news. Find a firm that takes client communication seriously and will regularly contact you about things such as:
- What they next need from you and when
- When they expect to next have something to show you
- Any upcoming changes to legislation or accounting/tax requirements, or any other regulatory changes that are likely to affect your business
- Any industry developments that they are aware of which could benefit your business
Can they provide expert business insights?
A good accountant does more than just crunch the numbers. Experienced accountants can provide insight along with reports that can actually help businesses make strategic decisions, effectively forecast and highlight areas for focus that can help the organisation grow and evolve over time in the most profitable ways possible. Having access to this wealth of knowledge and insight can make a real difference to business direction.
Understanding exactly how a good accountant can help your business, now and into the future, means that your choice is important to get right.
Why choose Pennington Williams as your accountant?
With more than 45 years of experience in assisting a wide range of different businesses with their bookkeeping, accounts, tax, VAT, auditing, forecasts, payroll and more, we’re ideally placed to help organisations of any type and size in any of these areas.
With specialist advice as well as practical services, our team can help businesses not only fulfil their legal obligations, but also offer strategic support and ensure that your organisation has all of the information you need to make informed decisions in the best interests of your company and financial future.
Get in touch to find out how we can assist you.