Choosing Your Accountant

When you are starting a business, or if you are already in business

, its important to have the right team supporting you. Your choice of accountant is a very important decision and your success can be greatly enhanced depending on the advice, knowledge and level of service you receive. When you are looking for an accountant here are a few questions you should consider asking to help you make the right choice.

Questions for the accountant

1.Do they provide a free initial consultation? If you can clarify the main issues of business formation, tax, VAT, accounting software and record keeping at this initial consultation for no cost, it will greatly reduce your setup costs.

2.Do they provide business formation advice? How you setup and form your business (sole trader, partnership or limited company) can have serious implications and effect on obtaining funding for the business, past and future tax liabilities of the business, and the future structure of the business.

3.Do they provide additional services such as payroll, book keeping, VAT accounting and stock control? Check the various services offered, as some accountants will prepare annual accounts and provide taxation advice but do not necessarily provide the additional services such as monthly management accounts, book keeping, VAT accounting, payroll and stock control.

4.Can they provide online accounting services? With online accounting services, you can have complete flexibility as the amount of processing you carry out and how much your accountant carries out. Transfer of data, backups and restoring data are no longer required and you have the security of offsite daily backups. Online accountancy also means that you can access your accounting information 24 hours a day 7 days a week if you want to

5.Are their fees good value and fixed where possible? Try and obtain fixed quoted fees where ever possible to avoid any unpleasant surprises at the end of the year.

6.Will they charge you extra fees every time you contact them with a query? Some accountants will charge you for every phone call they answer and letter they write. Ask if your fees include everything and if they dont establish what services are extras and what they will be charged at.

7.Do they speak Plain English? It might seem like a silly question but do they explain everything to you in simple terms and not try to blind you with jargon. These are the people who will be explaining your year end accounts and tax liabilities to you. You need to be able to understand what they are explaining.

And finally do you get on with the accountant. This is a person who is going to be part of your team and help you to succeed. Its important that you have a rapport with them and feel that you can approach them with any queries you might have. You need to feel that they understand what you are trying to achieve and that they can work with you to achieve your goals.

by: SallyN

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