When you think of an accountant, what comes to mind? Someone who does the tax filing and VAT returns so you’re compliant with HMRC?
Accountants do cover that as part of their job, but it actually only scratches the surface of what they can do for your business. Here’s why your accountant is one of the most important things to invest in.
Think of an accountant as your business’s own personal superhero.
A great accountant will help you grow and ensure you’re holding on to as much of your hard-earned cash as possible. They cover two types of services:
- Compliance. This includes tasks like preparing VAT returns, year-end accounts, tax filing and payroll.
- Growth. They’ll handle management accounts, projections, KPIs and contribute their expertise to advise on business strategy.
Their expertise is invaluable.
Experience is a fundamental contributor to what makes an outstanding accountant. It’s what makes them able to provide powerful insight for high-level decisions.
Most qualified accountants have at least 5 years of experience. That adds up to roughly 10,000 hours! According to Malcolm Gladwell, that’s the amount of time needed to achieve true expertise in a skill.
Even if you dedicated one day (8 hours) per week to doing your own accounts, it would take around 24 years to get the same hours of experience!
An excellent accountant will take the stress off your shoulders.
You want to feel totally confident your accountant is diligently going over your data with a fine-tooth comb, and not just doing the bare minimum.
You’ll sleep better at night knowing you have a competent, experienced accountant who knows the rules like the back of their hand, so you don’t have to worry about any unwelcome surprises because you’ve done something wrong.
They’ll also help you keep on track with filing deadlines, prompting you well in advance of when work needs to get completed. It will help your productivity and you won’t feel the sense of dread you forgot to do something that’ll make HMRC come knocking!
Accounting software is advanced, but you still need human expertise.
A lot of online accounting programmes claim they can function without a professional accountant’s input. However, we see common errors crop up when business owners do their own accounts and rely on the software’s machine intelligence.
There are certain mistakes only a human eye can pick up. For example, we often see supplier payments being coded to the profit and loss, rather than allocated against the purchase invoice. It ends up duplicating costs, and can even cause VAT to be overclaimed.
They will save you money in more ways than one.
Paying less tax is just one of the ways in which your accountant can help you hold on to more of your profits.
Your accountant will use their expertise to identify any areas where you’re paying too much tax. Sometimes there may not be any savings to be made, but you can rest easy knowing your accountant is helping you pay the right amount of tax.
Their experience is fundamental here. Certain tax strategies can come with some level of risk, so their seasoned advice will help you make the best decision for sustainable success.
Growth services are where your investment really pays off.
This is where a top-notch accountant really works their magic. They’ll be able to:
- Help you make a comprehensive, detailed plan of your business goals.
- Establish how your business can support your personal goals.
- Forecast your cash position for three months, six months or a year. You’ll get a good idea of whether you’ll need any additional finance to cope with what’s ahead.
- Provide expert advice when you start a new project, forecasting the financial impact it’s likely to have on your business.
- Work with you to establish specific, measurable KPIs to further growth. These will help you monitor your business and take corrective action if things veer off-course.
- Give you clarity over which of your products or services are making the most money.
- Help you understand where risks lie in your business and how to mitigate them.
A good accountant will also help you use management accounts to make business decisions that transform how your business grows.
If you’re making decisions according to sales figures and how much you have in the bank, you might find you’re sometimes tight for cash…and don’t know why. To understand why this may be happening, read our blog “I never have enough cash in the bank. Where am I going wrong?”
If you want to sell your business one day, your accountant can help you achieve a higher valuation.
Your business could be your most valuable asset, and you might want to sell at some point to cash in on all the hard work and sacrifice you’ve put in. It’s important you’ve got a thorough understanding of all aspects of your company’s value.
For instance, do you understand:
- Your return on capital employed?
- How much cash you’re generating?
- The value of your business and how it’s evolving over time?
- Any customer/product/service line dependencies you have?
- Your customer acquisition cost?
- Your customer lifetime value?
Plus, do you actively monitor how much input you have in the day-to-day operations? If the business relies too heavily on your input, it can reduce its value.
Your accountant will help you understand all of these elements. They’ll also advise on what measures can be taken to add value to the business, so you know you’re getting the best possible deal when it’s time to sell. That’s why your accountant is one of the most important things to invest in
Strengthen your business for whatever comes its way.
Your accountant is your business’s secret weapon. You’ll have an expert by your side who’s done it all before. If you speak to an successful business owner, they will tell you more about why your accountant is one of the most important things to invest in.
It’s precisely how we support our clients at One Accounting. We’re here to share our years of experience and insight from partnering with established business owners, so you feel confident on the path to growth and have more time to do what you do best.
If you think we could be a great fit to support you, fill in our form and we’ll be in touch.
