As a sole trader or small limited company, when you first start out you generally end up doing everything yourself. This includes everything from bookkeeping to tidying the office not to mention doing all of the paid work as well.
If your business begins to grow, you can find yourself with less and less time to carry out all of these extra tasks and at some point you get to the situation where you are no longer able to do everything yourself and you stat looking around for people to assist you. The first person that you should consider hiring is an accountant. But finding the right accountant for your business isn't as easy as you might think. Here are a couple of things to think about before you make your choice.
Make sure that you select a qualified accountant for your business. There are always people around that have carried out some bookkeeping before and are able to do it very well but until the Inland Revenue ask to have a look at your books you will never be 100% sure that they are doing the job correctly. When this happens you really want security of knowing that the person preparing you books is a professional and that they are up to date with all of the current tax laws.
Choose an accountant that you are sure that you can have a genuine professional relationship with. Once you start hunting for an accountant there is generally a divide between the larger accounting firms and the smaller local accounting firms. For small to medium sized businesses, it is often easier to build up a strong working relationship with a small accounting firm also the service fees of a smaller accounting firm are also liable to be much more affordable.
Select someone that can understand your business. You normally find that with larger accounting firms, they tend to specialise in certain areas of business. Smaller accounting firms tend to have a wider experience in dealing with different business types. Ensuring that your accountant knows how your business operates is essential to them being able to carry out a good job for you so make sure that your accountant understands your industry and business set-up.
Ensure that the account you select is able to offer you a wide range of accounting services. There is much more to accounting than just bookkeeping and at a basic level your accountant should be able to file your tax returns with the Inland Revenue, prepare your financial statements and if the need arises they should be able to present all of the relevant documentation for auditing. Many accountants will also measure your business performance, help with business and growth planning and support your management team.
Always ask questions before selecting and accountant nd make sure that you interview several accounts. Always compare the services that you get for the money that you are paying and compare several accountants like for like. Check to see if they already have clients in your area of business and see how deep there understanding of your business is. It is also very important that you get along well and feel that you would be able to develop a good business relationship.
If your business begins to grow, you can find yourself with less and less time to carry out all of these extra tasks and at some point you get to the situation where you are no longer able to do everything yourself and you stat looking around for people to assist you. The first person that you should consider hiring is an accountant. But finding the right accountant for your business isn't as easy as you might think. Here are a couple of things to think about before you make your choice.
Make sure that you select a qualified accountant for your business. There are always people around that have carried out some bookkeeping before and are able to do it very well but until the Inland Revenue ask to have a look at your books you will never be 100% sure that they are doing the job correctly. When this happens you really want security of knowing that the person preparing you books is a professional and that they are up to date with all of the current tax laws.
Choose an accountant that you are sure that you can have a genuine professional relationship with. Once you start hunting for an accountant there is generally a divide between the larger accounting firms and the smaller local accounting firms. For small to medium sized businesses, it is often easier to build up a strong working relationship with a small accounting firm also the service fees of a smaller accounting firm are also liable to be much more affordable.
Select someone that can understand your business. You normally find that with larger accounting firms, they tend to specialise in certain areas of business. Smaller accounting firms tend to have a wider experience in dealing with different business types. Ensuring that your accountant knows how your business operates is essential to them being able to carry out a good job for you so make sure that your accountant understands your industry and business set-up.
Ensure that the account you select is able to offer you a wide range of accounting services. There is much more to accounting than just bookkeeping and at a basic level your accountant should be able to file your tax returns with the Inland Revenue, prepare your financial statements and if the need arises they should be able to present all of the relevant documentation for auditing. Many accountants will also measure your business performance, help with business and growth planning and support your management team.
Always ask questions before selecting and accountant nd make sure that you interview several accounts. Always compare the services that you get for the money that you are paying and compare several accountants like for like. Check to see if they already have clients in your area of business and see how deep there understanding of your business is. It is also very important that you get along well and feel that you would be able to develop a good business relationship.
About the Author:
Neil Houghton Bristol Accountants have over 25 years of experience looking after the accounting needs of a diverse range of businesses and can offer your company a very broad range of accounting services. Accountants Clevedon
