10 Ways To Get The Best Value From Your Accountant
More than ever, business owners need the advice of a good accountant. An experienced accountant's involvement can go beyond the technical competency of bookkeeping to developing strategic plan for the development, survival or recovery of your business.Our tops tips on identifying and working with the accountant who is the best fit for your business.
Avid Partners Accountants & Business Advisers
10 Ways To Get The Best Value From Your Accountant
More than ever, business owners need the advice of a good accountant. An experienced accountant’s involvement can go beyond the technical competency of bookkeeping to developing strategic plan for the development, survival or recovery of your business. It is important to take the time to identify the accountant who works best for your sector, your organisation and your style of doing business. Be open to working with your accountant and know the information you need to keep driving your business forward. Our tops tips on identifying and working with the accountant who is the best fit for your business:
- Choose Carefully. Look for accountants with experience of your type of business. Anyone can set up as ‘an accountant’, so look for chartered or certified accountants, whose qualified status is backed by membership of professional bodies. A large firm suggests reliability, but a smaller one may respond better to your needs. Ask prospective accountants how they can help your business. Request references and proof, they have professional indemnity insurance, before you make your final decision.
- Shop Around. Armed with recommendations of good accountants, get a full breakdown of an accountant’s charges and services. Work out which one offers you best value for money (and that’s not necessarily the cheapest, of course). And, at least once a year, review the value for money you receive. If you believe you can get better advice and value elsewhere, go elsewhere.
- Explain your Expectations. Your accountant will summarise terms and conditions in a letter of engagement. Put your expectations in writing, too. Describe the level of service you require, for example, how quickly you need queries to be answered. Ask to deal with a specific contact, to help build a close professional relationship.
- Ask Questions. Check what other services your accountant can offer. These could include guidance on setting up your business, preparation of financial forecasts, help with loan applications, audits, investment advice and other suggestions for minimising your tax liability.
- Use your Accountant’s Contacts. Accountants specializing in your type of business can often suggest good trade contacts. Perhaps your accountant knows a supplier who can offer you a great deal or maybe they know of a potential investor.
- Keep Talking. Communicate regularly with your accountant to get the best possible value from the relationship. Schedule quarterly meetings to review your firm’s performance, so you can better plan for the future. Be sure to meet before producing your end-of-year accounts or tax return.
- Keep User-Friendly Records. If necessary, ask your accountant for advice about how best to maintain your financial records. If your books are easier to read, you will save them time, which should mean a lower bill.
- Do the Easy Jobs Yourself. To reduce your outgoings, take care of simple bookkeeping tasks yourself, possibly by using accounting software. You could then better focus your accountants’ efforts where they best serve your business.
- Delegate. If your time would be better spent concentrating on sales or product development, you could ask an accountant to take greater responsibility for your bookkeeping and payroll. Although a more expensive option, this could free you up to make more profitable use of your time.
- Ask their Advice. An experienced accountant can offer sound advice in a number of areas. For example, they could help with your business plan, help you estimate the cost of new projects or advise on the levels of investment needed to achieve your business development goals. If you decide to sell up, they could even help with valuing your business and advise on the sale to minimise your tax liability.
Contact Avid Partners today to see how we can help you drive your business forward. Call us on 0818 303087. Email Jamie O’Hanlon at info@avidpartners.ie or alternatively complete the enquiry form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Further Reading: Switching Accountants is Easy and Pain Free – And Could Save You Time And Money!
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Yes Avid Partners have two divisions of the company. We have an accountancy division that handles your day to day financial necessities and we also have an advisory division to assist companies develop their businesses. This can include consultancy, marketing and guidance when required. We can act as a Chairperson for your organisation if required and can also take away some of the day to day pressures that can restrict growth and slow development. Avid Partners can help with both of the critical aspects of a company, keeping costs down as much as possible and growing revenues exponentially. Technology companies need patience in developing their visions and an involved day to day partner is the best way of keeping a good business balance.
It is a common problem for companies who are in a situation where their business is growing in real terms (users, visitors) but sales is not matching the other growth metrics as traditionally sales lags behind growth (Twitter, Linked In, etc). So what do you do? Every business needs access to finance to pay operating costs which gives the company time to develop future revenue streams. Thankfully the situation is getting better with many tech friendly finance options coming on stream such as micro financing, crowd funding and government agencies are also starting to show support interests.
Every company starts out small with very limited resources at the beginning of the project. The key is to make the most from the resources you have and to seek out alliances, support systems and working partners. Start ups face many challenges including access to capital, regulatory requirements, economies of scale. We can help you develop your concept and will assist in every way possible from accountancy and day to day support to advisory services and raising finance. We can assist in a number of ways and have a portfolio of growing small companies that we help on an on-going basis.
"I have dealt with Jamie O' Hanlon, of Avid Partners - Accountants & Business Advisors Chartered Certified Accountants, for a number of years as he is auditor to one of my clients. I have always found him to be professional and responsive in his approach."
Bank of Ireland
As a small business experiencing growth Ortus Technology found itself in need of guidance. We weren't sure how to measure our company, how to grow within our budget or what our budget actually was. Avid Partners looked at our business, listened to us and got us to provide them with some information.
Ortus Technology
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"A breath of fresh air. Your firm demonstrated enormous commercial understanding in turning around negotiations with a potential target vendor. I admire your style and ability to drive the deal forward. Many thanks." -
"I would like to say I'm very happy with your service, especially the audit team, your staff are always friendly, helpful and a pleasure to deal with." -
"Your business approach to clients is very impressive. I have always found that when explaining the types of service on offer, it is always concise and straight forward. The level of trust that clients place in your company and its staff speaks volumes." -
"I would like to take this opportunity to say how much we are impressed with your company's professionalism, it has been a pleasure working with you all and we look forward to working with you in the future." -
"Avid Partners - Accountants & Business Advisors are an excellent firm of accountants, their quality ethos is outstanding." -
"I have dealt with Jamie O' Hanlon, of Avid Partners - Accountants & Business Advisors Chartered Certified Accountants, for a number of years as he is auditor to one of my clients. I have always found him to be professional and responsive in his approach." -
"Service is second to none; there is always someone at the end of the phone for any business advice. The staff are very easy to get along with, very approachable and know exactly what they are talking about" -
We at Fitzies Bar have worked with Avid Partners - Business & Financial Advisers for over five years. We find that the advice and support offered to us in addition to all of our book-keeping requirements to include payroll, VAT, etc. is invaluable and has helped to contribute to our continued growth especially in these challenging times. I would have no hesitation in recommending Avid Partners. -
Jamie and his staff are a pleasure to work with. They respond promptly to any queries we have and are critical to our financial planning and the future needs of our business. I would highly recommend them to anyone interested in accounting services. -
We at Stillorgan Cycles have used Jamie and his Team at Avid Partners – Accountants and Business Advisers for over five years. We have found that the retail advice and support offered to us is second to none and has helped to contribute to our continued growth especially in these challenging times. I would have no hesitation in recommending Avid Partners. -
I met Avid Partners through a local business networking group. We had been using the same accountants for years and found that in these harsh economic times that we were not getting good enough value or service. We were very impressed by the company's professionalism and enthusiasm and genuine interest in helping us get the most out of our business. As a result we are now clients of Avid Partners and are thrilled with our decision. -
After meeting Avid Partners with a view to changing our accountants, we came away with a better deal financially and a feeling that we were in capable hands. We feel that Avid Partners has a personal interest in the welfare of our business. Avid Partners have given us great advice, help and support and respond to our day to day queries with speed and efficiency. We feel it was a great move for us to change to Avid Partners.
