When we are at events and introduce ourselves as Accountants, we often see the “expression of assumption”. By this, they assume that all Accountants are the same, so know what we do and assume we will be exactly the same as their existing experience or perception.
As a minimum, your Accountant should ensure that you are compliant with your tax return obligations and the required submissions to companies house. However, in our opinion here are a few other things your Accountant should be doing for you. Here are 20 of them;
- Advising you on the right business structure, to suit you and the business, now and in the future.
- Requesting documents needed and not assuming you know what to provide to complete your accounts and minimise your tax liability.
- Communicating with HMRC on your behalf.
- Providing timely, factual, relevant information, in a format to suit you, to help make your key decisions.
- Forecasting the future based on past information and your vision for the business.
- Being supportive, friendly, professional, accessible and efficient.
- Taking a genuine interest in your business to help you look forward and develop your business, rather than just reviewing past financials.
- Proactively providing tax advice and mitigation guidance.
- Providing clarity over all your numbers in your business, not just the resulting turnover and profit.
- Notifying you of the tax deductible allowances you can claim, and advising on legitimate ways to mitigate your tax liabilities.
- Explaining the true cost of your borrowings and the impact on your balance sheet.
- Providing due diligence support for any potential acquisition you are considering.
- Keeping you aware of your tax liabilities, both personally and for the business.
- Sharing industry insight by sharing their specialist expertise or sharing their knowledge and understanding of your industry.
- Offering a pre-accounts meeting in advance of your year end, to review your tax liabilities and plan the implementation of any mitigation strategies.
- Return your calls and emails in good time and without charging additional fees.
- Keeping you informed of the real numbers that matter, with management information to help you make your numbers work and continually improve your performance.
- Signposting you to other areas of support you may desire in a timely manner.
- Delivering your expectation as your ‘trusted adviser’.
- And more! Basically, a personalised accountancy experience for you.
If you would like to discuss how we may support you and your business, then please call us on 01865 379272.
