Accountant and Financial Services Selection
An accountant could be more than just a person who prepares the particular accounts and talks to the taxman for you.
Over time you will find that your accountant can become a valued business consultant. Remember that they are dealing with a range of local businesses of various forms.
A natural by-product of this is that they may have:
Professional skills
I can't stress enough that if you need to have a solid, long term, happy functioning relationship then you should always use a experienced accountant.
You will of course always be capable of find other cheaper alternatives yet consider this:
Other offices
You should find out whether the workplace you are dealing with is one office included in a larger group or just a single exercise.
This is relevant if your business is more than just just one entity such as a shop or little local business. You see as your company grows so will your requirement for technical assistance. There comes a place when you may outgrow a local exercise and need to move on to a medium-sized practice where the specialised knowledge can be split amongst its senior employees.
In a larger practice there may be somebody who specialises in obtaining business finance, several tax specialists in various areas and partners who focus on investigations and due diligence work, along with those staff who do the everyday work of accounts preparation plus tax returns.
You will usually obtain a more effective service from one practice due to pooling of ideas than having a number of advisors from different organisations.
The selection of practice will ultimately come down as to what size your business is and what development plans your foresee. There is nothing incorrect with choosing a larger practice, simply consider whether there is any price implication.
Existing clients
You should consider whether or not the practice you are reviewing already have customers in the same line of business as your self. This can be advantageous if you are in a specialized field as your accountant will currently be up to speed on your particular specifications and this may translate into a reduced charge.
Recommendations
Naturally you should seek suggestions from as many people as you can. Especially take note of advice given by business associates.
Additionally , consider these avenues for suggestions:
Where to find your accountant
There are several places to look including: