How to choose the right accountant for your business

By choosing an accountant, you have made a pivotal choice in the running and operation of your business. An accountant can provide dozens of integral services which can make or break your business. You aren't just hiring another member of staff - you're hiring a very important and skilled business partner.

Accountants play a vital role in the modern day business world, as they offer many vital services such as completing your tax returns, bookkeeping, cash flow projections, payroll, and even online accounting. If you run a small business, making the right choice is particularly important because at the outset your accountant is likely to be your only professional adviser.

The good news is that there are a few key steps you can take to maximise your chances of finding an accountant who meets your needs. Remember, anyone can call himself an accountant or bookkeeper even if he has no professional qualifications. There are good and bad accountants both qualified and not officially qualified.

The following steps are designed to cut through the dross and find you the perfect accountant:

Look for referrals wherever possible - if a respected source can qualify an accountant, all the better.

Make sure that he or she is a member of one of the three main professional bodies - The Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Meet your accountants in person for one-to-ones - do this several times before you make a decision. Ideally, you should be able to communicate freely and easily with each-other.

In a small business, the accountant can end up acting almost like a finance director, so you should take up references, speak to other clients and find out what he or she has done before

Plan ahead and predict your needs - not only so your accountant can work to satisfy them, but also prepare for unseen needs that may arise.

Keep a careful eye on what your accountants charge. There should be no initial fee for the first consultation, in which you should establish if they're the right person for you or not. What's more, you should be able to agree on limits to his fees which he cannot exceed, ideally this should be up-front and over one or two sessions at the very most. In addition, find out of your accountant has the right contacts and if they are able to set up introductions to people who may also be of use to you - prospective customers, suppliers, investors, etc.

In addition to your accountant's financial knowledge, you can also have personalised cash flow projections, have your bookkeeping and payroll managed efficiently and generally provide important advice. Fuelled with your data, there's no limit to what your accountant can do - it's just up to you to find one with the right skills to match your business.

An accountant will help you set-up day to day accounting systems. This may be as simple as a manual double entry bookkeeping system, or more likely, an accounting software package that help provide most of your accounting records needs.

An accountant is important business professional that can help guide you through the early decisions that well might make or break your business later. After all, you are starting a business to provide either services or sell products. The accountant has lot of experience working with other companies just like yours.

Accountants are a constant benefit to your business - they're experienced, capable and potentially crucial in the running of your business. Without a good accountant, your chances of financial survival in an increasingly competitive market drop significantly

By: Anthony Fouger

Anthony Foulger uses his extensive knowledge, experience and contacts to help select the right local chartered accountant to match your requirements. We check the performance of all the Chartered Accountants that we recommend. www.accountantbrokers.co.uk

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