Having a great accountant is critical to every business
Having a great accountant is critical to every business. Sadly, small business owners are quick to choose an accountant without checking the different ways they can help their business or their knowledge of your industry.
Getting the right accountant means you can focus on running the company and make well-informed decisions based on accurate and timely financial information (not a year’s worth of history!)
Unfortunately, many owners see their accountant as an expensive nuisance, to only sort out your taxes. The truth is that a great accountant can do so much more for your business. If your accountant isn’t helping your business team, it may be time to move on to someone new. After all, it could be costing your business more than just accounting fees.
5 easy questions to see if you are basically being ripped off by your accountant
- Does your accountant ask to meet to about your goals and the results needed to live the life you want – at least once a year, but preferably more often?
- Does your accountant prepare your financial statements in the same accounting system you use for your management reporting? One example: you use Xero for your management reporting, so they also use Xero for everything for your end financials – i.e. they do not swap systems (into their own system) at any stage, including the final Financial Statements?
- Does your accountant have systems that automatically populate your tax returns from your financial statements electronically (rather than needing to hard key the numbers into their tax return system? (NB: the tax returns and associated IRD forms still need to be checked by a human to check a sensible approach around tax planning).
- Have your accounting fees for year end financials and tax returns either decreased, (via efficiencies) or at least stayed the same in recent years? (Or, if they have increased, is there a good reason such as asset/tax planning?)
- If your accountant prepares your GST returns for you, have they offered to give you access/training to an online accounting system so you can access management reports, (and if preferred, teach you how to prepare your GST returns yourself and/or suggested an overall better alternative to your current systems /processes?)
If you have answered ‘No’ to any of the above it may be time to consider moving on to a future focused, proactive accountant.
We’ll be going over each of the above questions in detail over the next few weeks. However, if you have any queries, give us a call on 04-972 4182 or email: info@lovetogrow.co.nz.
Contact Love to Grow for a free one hour first meeting.