1 / 5

How to choose an Accountant, Bookkeeper or a Tax advisor?

Are you looking for an accountant, tax advisor or a bookkeeper? There are many articles on internet giving advice on how to choose an accountant, top tips for finding an accountant, 10 things to look for in an accountant and so forth. However, still many businesses end up choosing an accountant which doesnu2019t last more than a year and is not fit for the purpose! So, what they are doing wrong?

experlu
Download Presentation

How to choose an Accountant, Bookkeeper or a Tax advisor?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. How to choose an Accountant, Bookkeeper or a Tax advisor? Are you looking for an accountant, tax advisor or a bookkeeper? There are many articles on internet giving advice on how to choose an accountant, top tips for finding an accountant, 10 things to look for in an accountant and so forth. However, still many businesses end up choosing an accountant which doesn’t last more than a year and is not fit for the purpose! So, what they are doing wrong? chartered accountants in London

  2. So in my opinion, here is a brilliant recipe for broken relationship. If you do any of these, probability increases that in few months’ time you will be on Google hunting for another accountant! 1. Ignoring professional membership Professionals including auditors, accountants, bookkeepers and tax advisors are required to hold a public practice certificate issued by a professional body, like IFA, ACCA, ICAEW, CTA and so on. Such professional membership brings unlimited benefits, for example: • Members follow its professional code of conduct; • You have recourse available in case your accountant, tax advisor or bookkeeper is not acting professionally/ ethically; • Mandatory CPD requirements ensure that professionals are up to date with any industry and regulatory changes; and • Finally, all professional bodies require their members in practice to hold Professional indemnity insurance!!

  3. 2. Ignoring industry experience Wherever possible, look for an accountant experienced in your industry. It is not essential; however value an experienced accountant working in say, property sector will bring wealth of added value to your property business. 3. Ignoring online reviews Do a google search on the accountant’s business name and look for any positive and negative reviews. Having a negative review in itself not a bad thing but understanding why it existed is important to know. You can discuss that in your initial meeting with the accountant and what course of action they took to avoid having similar feedbacks from clients. 4. Request only one proposal from one accountant Very few of us purchase without checking same item with multiple suppliers or without visiting any comparing websites (like booking.com, hotels.com, moneysupermarket.com, confused.com, eBay, Amazon and list goes on..) so why anything different for accountants? Always request and check few proposals to get an idea what is out there! There is no magic number how many accountants to contact, however from experience and research, we found three to be the optimal.

  4. 5. Not driven by technology Technology has revolutionized accountancy and tax services over the last decade and it continues to do so. Countries from Brazil to India have plans to make taxes digital, and Yes, UK too (remember MTD- Making Tax Digital for certain VAT businesses is already live)!! Cloud computing have made accounting and bookkeeping on-the-go possible. There are hundreds of useful apps out there to make business intelligence available at your fingertips! So, if an accountant is still buried in piles of papers, it tells you something- they are not forward looking and time to avoid them! 6. No initial direct communication or meeting Meet the team! I remember one of my fellow colleagues mentioning that one of their clients insisted to meet the accountant and every team member working on their job before signing engagement letter.

  5. 7. No chemistry If initial interactions prove a slight clash of personalities or you get a feeling that you both won’t gel, maybe it is good idea to continue your search. 8. Only focused on Fees Price is important and one of the key factors in finding an accountant, bookkeeper or tax specialist however it is not everything. Over the long term, good professionals (or they should) tend to add value to the business- both tangible and intangible. Look for value addition your Expert will bring- like tax savings, tax planning, free bookkeeping etc.. 9. Hourly fees Nothing wrong in working on an hourly basis However over the years I have noticed that hourly fees can open a room for arguments and unnecessary justifications. Also, it doesn’t help budgeting or cash flow forecasts. Wherever possible, I opt for fixed fee, defined scope of work and a new engagement letter for any additional tasks.

More Related