Advivo are committed that their clients get the most out of their investment in great accounting.
An accountant plays a crucial role in the success of your business, so creating a strong working relationship with them and ensuring they are completing all their responsibilities is imperative. You need to be comfortable working with them and approaching them about any comments or concerns, and have the trust that they are handling everything as it should be. It’s important to remember that there’s so much more to a good accountant than purely lodging tax returns.
Your Accountant’s Responsibilities
These are what we consider the essential items your accountant should be delivering for you:
- They get the tax stuff right. That’s just expected.
- Phone calls to be returned promptly. Pretty basic right? Yet one of the top complaints people have of accountants.
- Multiple contact points. You don’t need to talk with a partner about your BAS lodgement or updating an address. More than one person who you “know” gives you comfort you can get things done even if someone is away.
- Be up to date with what the rules are, or if it’s a specialist area, know someone they can bring in to help you.
- Provide you with clarity on what their services will cost you but know that the value they deliver is well worth the cost.
- Give them enough time to get things done and respond to their requests for further information quickly and efficiently. This helps to dramatically improve turnaround time and minimise cost.
- Challenge you! You may get advice that you don’t want to hear. That can be a good thing – a reality check.
- Consider alternative strategies for your business that may be innovative and different to what has already been tried.
- Be proactive. An accountant who sees things relevant to you and your business and lets you know about them. This may help identify opportunities or head off a problem before it blows up.
- Educate you. A willingness to help you to understand areas that impact your business, no matter how trivial, will add to your personal toolkit of skills for future use. A willingness to learn is one of the keys to success for anybody.
Remember a successful working relationship with your accountant is critical to your business. The qualities listed should all be available from your accountant even if your accounting requirements and budget are not large enough to be utilising them all the time. You need that capability to be there so that if things change, you have the help at hand. If you are not getting these fundamental requirements met, well, perhaps it is time to look for a new accountant…Contact us today!
At Advivo, we have a talented team of accountants and business advisors who will listen to you and take a hands-on approach to managing your business and individual financial needs. Call us on 07 3226 1800 or message us on our Contact page. Located in Brisbane, we’ll take your business to the next level!
