Is it worth hiring an accountant?

A good accountant should save you far more money than they ever charge

Many business owners wonder whether hiring an accountant is worth the extra expenditure. From the viewpoint of an accountant, it would be hypocritical for me to say that you’re better off doing all the accounting work yourself. In some respects that may be true. You may save some money by not having to pay accountancy fees. However, over the long run, you will probably realise that the time spent on dealing with your tax affairs and managing the company accounts can be used much more productively. Image the time is used earning a few more sales per week compared to being counted as dead time doing admin.

The phrase that time equals money is heard commonly. Not only do accountants save you both time and money; they also become an invaluable asset to your business. On that can become worth so much more than a simple financial cost. Here are a few things that we can add real “value” to your business:

Proper Book-Keeping

Keeping your financial records organised and up to date is the most important factor to dependable financial statements. But why hire an accountant as opposed to a book-keeper. Unlike the duties of a book-keeper, an accountant can help interpret the results, offer professional advice and present the financial statements in a format that allows decisions to be made by business management. You would get a greater insight to your business and be able to plan ahead using forecast estimates.

Allowable Expenses

Many business expenses are deductible. However, most of the rules and regulations change on a moving basis and vary from business to business. A good accountant will always be updated on the changing laws and regulations. And therefore should be saving you far more in paying less tax per annum than he/she should ever charge in fees. Their knowledge and experience will add real value to your business.

Compliance

There are standard formats for filing your accounts and various other tax returns to HMRC. An accountant can ensure that the relevant information is submitted to HMRC in the correct format before the due date. If there is one thing that panics business owners more than anything is a letter from HMRC about a mistake in their tax return and accounts. An accountant can deal with any issues in that regard in an efficient manner. So many clients turn to an accountant after having incurred fines and penalties that they often wonder why they just didnt do it before.

Tax Advice

Being aware of tax savings does not necessarily translate to actual tax savings. An accountant’s job is not only to tell you how much tax you owe but how you can save tax. The accountant should work with you throughout the year and offer advice on how to operate your business in a manner that will provide the most tax savings. This can save you substantial amounts of money in the long run - again far more than he/she should ever charge.

Business Consulting

Business advice from an accountant can help grow your business. They can assess your current problems and provide solutions to fix them. Or if your business just needs a fresh but experienced perspective on how to expand. The advice can be on inventory management, risk management, lease and buy decisions, internal controls or pricing strategies, HR issues, mergers, sales and takeover of the whole business even.

Develop a Business Relationship

Lets be clear in our extensive experience there are a lot of arrogant and selfish accountants out there. People regularly come to us saying their previous accountant was not doing enough and was charging them for every little thing.

A good accountant wont mind spending as much time as you need to make sure you get all the help and support required. Their fees should be transparent and fixed, with no surprises.

Speaking with an accountant can get you the advice in regards to your tax affairs or business operations. He/She can help identify problems in your financial statements and consult you about it. They can often with a little direction from you, supply you with the ideas and expertise that you desire to push your business to places your imagined. After all the biggest businesses in the world trust some of the biggest firms of accountants to help them with their plans for global expansion and growth.

By Wilson Law at Tax Affinity.

Tax Affinity Accountants are experts in Tax and Accountancy. Based in Kingston upon Thames they are considered to be small business experts helping and supporting business in the UK. They regularly calculate and submit tax returns, year end accounts and so much more for their clients peace of mind. Whilst always ensuring great value for money service.

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