subject: Accountants - The Multi-skilling Success Story [print this page] Many people think that the job of an accountant is to decipher a pile of paper that has been neglected for 12 months then handed over to them to prepare a tax return. If this is what you're doing to your Sunshine Coast Accountant, then you're not only wasting your money, but passing up a golden opportunity to add value to your business.
Although your accountant does prepare tax returns, they are also qualified to do many other things. This list shows the main functions of accounting and accountants:
> Record all transactions for a specified accounting period, following the accepted standards for double-entry bookkeeping.
> Reconcile accounts and bank statements to find and correct errors or omissions.
> Produce accurate financial and management reports.
> Design forecasting tools such as cash flow projections and break-even analyses.
> Prepare budgets and establish monitoring processes to compare budgets against actual income and expenditure.
> Give advice on tax laws and prepare and lodge tax and GST returns.
> Monitor and manage cash flow by following up outstanding accounts, and arranging corporate finance and overdrafts.
> Perform financial due diligence checks for either the purchase or sale of business assets.
> Establish control mechanisms to ensure statutory financial obligations are met.
Accountants undergo years of specialised training to earn the right to the qualification of Certified Practising Accountant (CPA). In the way of the world today, an individual with an accounting qualification has the option to choose to keep within the tradition of established practices, or could branch into any of the other functions noted above.
Corporate management relies on information given to them by their accountants to make decisions, and small business owners can also utilise these skills to help them develop strategic and business plans.
These tools are no longer exclusive to large businesses. All business owners need to look longer-term at the economic climate, future government policies affecting business and other strategic issues, and can confidently turn to their accountant for assistance in these areas.
In the past, the language of accountants was typically terms such as income and expenditure, profit and loss, balance sheets, journals, ledgers, etc. - the "nitty-gritty" of bookkeeping. However, with the advent of computer accounting packages these tasks have been handed over to competent bookkeepers, leaving accountants to create a new language - forward planning, strategic alliance, lead indicators, projections, key performance indicators and a host of other terms.
If you are confining your Accountant to only preparing your tax return, you are missing the opportunity to use their expertise to grow your business.
