Whether it is a small or large business, one cannot ignore the importance of hiring an accountant. He helps the business from bookkeeping to maintain accounts and tax planning to filing returns. A good accountant also participates in major business decisions and guides company management for financial conditions. Based on crucial information provided by accountants, the company takes major decisions like marketing budget, deciding product cost per unit, mergers and amalgamation etc. hence we can say an accountant is an irreplaceable part in any organisation.
Knowing the importance is easy, but the major issue is to find the best account that suits your business needs. For this, here we will 7 ways to make your good accountant search process easy.
1. Know What You Need
Before, looking for an accountant, first, you need to decide what will be your purpose of accounting. Like whether you want to hire a person for the day to day bookkeeping or for monthly financial statements, a non-qualified accountant can also suit your requirements. But, if your aim is to prepare financial accounts, filing tax returns, accounts auditing, surely you will need a certified accountant. Who can handle all the details.
2. Look For Accountants With Similar Industrial Experience
An accountant with similar industrial experience is always considered as the best choice. He can easily guide you for major industrial challenges and how to cope with them. You can also hire a small accounting firm like accountants gold coast QLD that have professionals with rich accounting experiences. Because a team off accountant always proves better than looking for an individual person who takes care of your accounts. In addition, a person with similar industry experiences has good knowledge about changing rules in a particular area. Hiring them will be a key decision.
3. Think Again – Whether You Need An Individual Accountant Or Outsourcing Firm
Many small businesses owners, in order to ignore accountant fees, start managing taxes of their own. But with the changing taxation policies and industry norms, it becomes hard to make a good balance between accounting and other business matters. And it comes necessary to hire a professional that can handle accounting, payrolls and other tax responsibilities.
However, the question continues, whether you need an individual or an accounting firm. This depend on your business and the number of transactions you do every day or month. If you are running a small business an individual will be a good choice, otherwise, go with an accounting firm. As an accounting firm has a team of experts to handle all your accounts effectively.
4. Look Into References
Another way of finding an accounting firm is to look into references. You can ask your friends, family or others to suggest a good accounting firm. Nothing is better than taking their guidance. You can also get some ideas for accountant industry specialisation, how effectively he can handle accounts, whether he has good ideas for making business planning and more. Most importantly you can also know about his fees that you feel shy about asking directly to the new accountant.
5. Fee Comparison is Essential
Fee for accountants varies from person to person. Some charge fee including taxes on flat charges for bookkeeping and specific charges for preparing and filing taxes. All these fees also vary whether the amount will for business accounting or for personal accounting. Depending on your cash flow, there is scope for negotiation with a certain accountant. But, before making a final payment be sure whether a person will take responsibility for prepared accounts.
6. Knowledge About The Latest Accounting Software
Before choosing an accountant, what type of accounting software is most important. Today, software completes your task within a few seconds that a manual system takes hours to finish. Therefore, it is essential to find an accountant that works on accounting software. This will help you to generate various reports like cash flow statements, fund flow statements, bank reconciliation accounts and final accounts. As a single click is enough to tell all your accurate financial conditions.
7. Ask For The Reporting Period
Whether it is a start-up or growing business, reports play a crucial role in business strategic planning. Frequent communication with an accountant lets you know how to make good taxation planning. Even if you need a business advisor accountant to act as the best business advisor. Frequency of reporting and communication in advance can help you meet business growth. Therefore, do not hesitate to ask the accountant for their reporting plans, and what will be the procedure if you need weekly, monthly, quarterly or half-yearly reports. Whether they will charge extra and how much.
Bottom Line
An accountant is an important business member. He helps to grow business. Therefore, it is highly important to look for experienced, reliable, and ready to help a person or accounting firm. He will help to make better business planning and reduce your risk of making the wrong choice.
