20 October 2011 by Mike
There's an old saying, 'behind every successful business, is a
brilliant accountant.' Yet so many sole traders and small
businesses see accountants as an inconvenience they have to speak
to once year when sorting out those annoying tax forms. They're
wrong. Good accountants can be used as a key tool to grow your
business, you should develop a relationship with yours and here's
how to get the best out of it.
Tap their networks
Accountants are a goldmine for contacts. As a small business it
is probable the accountant you use will also be working for a host
of other businesses. Ask your accountant to initiate
relationships between you and his other clients. This could lead to
business deals, the formation of partnerships, or just help you
create a support network of people facing the same problems as
you.
Pay for advice, not bookkeeping
Rather than spending a fortune on someone to organise your
accounts, you should use applications such as Smarta Business Builder
to stay on top of the books and spend your money on advice instead.
So when finding an accountant you need to make sure it's one you
can learn from. Your accountant will have expert knowledge not only
of your business but of the industry it's based in. This means they
can help uncover ways of expanding your business, know how to cut
spending or where to spend more. It's likely that any problem you
face, your accountant has probably seen another business suffer
with it in the past and knows how to solve it.
Use them to get investment
You're biased towards your business, so when looking for an
investment or a loan from a bank you should take your accountant
along with you. The accountant can back all of your points up with
figures and can give a slightly less biased view. Also, if they've
worked in the industry for a number of years, their views and
expertise will be respected.
Never lie to them
Doctors can save your life, lawyers can save your freedom and
accountants can save your livelihood, so never lie to any of them.
Accountants need to know the facts about your business so they can
work out how much tax you pay and how your business can make the
maximum amount of profit. If you lie to them this could lead to
mistakes in your bookkeeping and could ultimately lead to the
downfall of you business.
Have regular catch ups
Accountants usually have a large number of clients. Therefore
you can't rely on them to be the ones contacting you all the time.
You should arrange monthly meetings or weekly phone calls with
them. This way they will be able to stop a problem before it gets
too big. If you wait and dump all of your difficulties on them at
the end of the tax year, odds are the problem may have become
beyond repair. Or they will be so busy with their clients, they
wont be able to give you their full attention.
Sponsored by