Every business in India needs a good accountant with ever-changing and turbulent tax laws. Contrary to popular belief, accountants do more than file taxes and bookkeeping.
A good accountant can help your business truly grow and help you with lawyers and bankers.
The best accountant for you is one with plenty of experience in your industry and knowledge of finance to help you out.
Your accountant should treat your firm as if he or she is a business partner, for which you need to understand how to make the most out of your accountant.
Tips on How to Make the Most of Your Accountant
1. Find and Hire the Right Accountant: There are many accountants in the field, but every accountant is not the right one for your business. A tip is to ask fellow business owners, lawyers, or bankers for suggestions on accountants. This will help you find an accountant that will work on the profitability and growth of your business and have relevant experience working in your field.
2. Make Use of Their Networks: The best accountants are the ones who are connected to lawyers, bankers, and other useful professionals. We suggest bringing up the topic with your accountant with utmost confrontation. Ask him or her about the various professionals he or she may be in contact with that could be of help to you. Your accountant also probably knows clients in your field who can help your business grow.
3. Ask for Business Advice: The right accountant will have plenty of experience in your field and will have worked with other businesses. This will give him or her an idea about profitable pricing strategies and efficient cost controls.
If there’s an obstacle that you are facing in your business, you can bring it up with him or her and ask for help. Just because accountants work with numbers does not mean that they do not have a deep understanding of business. Make sure you utilize this understanding and involve him or her in the decision-making process to understand how to make the most of your accountant.
4. Keep Contact: Stay in touch with your accountant, and do not simply contact them when it's tax season. Make sure you meet your accountant regularly, whether it's quarterly or monthly. This way, you make sure that your accountant monitors your business throughout the year and helps you make informed decisions about where to channel your funds. This also ensures that you do not miss out on potential recommendations that your accountant can make about helping your business grow.
5. Be Prepared and Ready to Learn: Make sure you are not fumbling to find documents and records when you meet your accountant. Preparing the required documents and records during your sessions with your accountant is vital to ensure that time is not wasted. If you are unsure about the documents to keep handy during the first meeting, ask your accountant what to carry for the next meeting.
6. Ask for Their Help in Acquiring a Loan: If your business needs a loan or some form of bank financing, your accountant is going to be vital. Your main resource should be your accountant because he or she is likely to have connections with bankers who can help you out. You simply need to get all of your documents in line, and your accountant will help you get some of these records, like balance sheets.
Your accountant will also give you pointers to include in your business plan to make it more reliable for bankers. You might want to take your accountant with you when you go for your appointment with the bank because he or she is sure to help you make a lasting impression.
Services by Accountants
Your accountant can help you make many decisions regarding your business, but there are also some key services they will provide.
You need to look for an' all-rounder accountant who will provide key services like the ones listed below and help your business grow otherwise.
A good accountant is one of the most important assets for your business, so you need to look for one who is good at these services as well to help you be more economical, make more profits, and save some money.
1. Bookkeeping
Your accountant can analyze your financial data while creating a financial statement. They will let you know about what your expenses are and where your income is coming from and help you make key decisions about tax preparation, informed financial decisions, and plan your finances.
Your accountant can help you keep costs manageable by teaching you how to identify financial risks or threats.
They can train you or a member of your staff to identify where your money is flowing and where your income is coming from to maximize your finances wherever necessary.
Your accountant can also help you keep records of your finances to keep handy and present them to them whenever required.
This will save both of you a lot of time, and you can spend the rest of your meeting going over financial decisions instead.
A tip from us is to ask your accountant how to keep your records and receipts in line to make the observation process faster. Your accountant can help you find the best record-keeping formats to make this process faster and easier for you and your staff.
A tip is to keep most of your transactions online through online banking and financial software for fast recording. The faster the recording and observation process is, the lesser time your accountant will bill you for.
2. Tax Services
Just like bookkeeping, you might want to file your tax return to save on costs. However, tax returns and financial practices are rarely that straightforward, especially if you do not thoroughly understand finance. For many reasons, you can use an accountant to file your tax forms to get more benefits.
Initially, it will cost more to hire an accountant, but that cost will be covered by the profit you will earn and the savings you will make from your accountant’s help. Your accountant can help you save money by helping you record tax savings and save money off of subsidies and deductions that would have otherwise gone unrecognized. An accountant is trained to be an expert at complex tax laws, changes in rules, and tax exceptions to help you save the most money possible.
Additionally, an accountant will help you minimize costly filing errors by going over the records to ensure their accuracy. Working with an accountant will also either prevent you from being audited or help you present your case in the best way possible. You can also save on taxes by keeping track of frequent tax law changes and tax-saving strategies that your accountant can help you with.
For example, your accountant can help you make planned donations to save money through tax deductions. They will also get you tax deductions for structural improvements to the workplace, changes in equipment, and sales tax versus state income tax. These tax deductions are time-sensitive; therefore, involving your accountant in decision-making is important.
3. Strategic Business Planning
Apart from controlling your expenditures or budget, your accountant can use their thorough knowledge of the industry to help you make informed business plans. You will need to have in-depth conversations with your accountant about your business's operations and goals. These conversations will help your accountant offer wise suggestions for achieving those goals or improving your company's operations.
Your accountant will help you estimate the value of your business and work towards helping you identify problems and come up with solutions by analyzing business operations. Here are some areas you need to speak to them about to understand how to make the most of your accountant.
- Billing
- Cash Flow
- Collections
- Budgeting
- Financial Projections
- Staffing
- Compensation
- Return on Investment Analyses for New Technology
- Marketing Approaches
- Payer Mix
- Reimbursements
- Mechanisms to Monitor Financial Performance
4. Financial Planning
Communicating with your accountant about every business decision they make is vital. Whether you are investing in new computer equipment or planning to lease or buy office space, your accountant will tell you your company's financial position and whether the investment is a good idea, especially if you are planning a major business decision or a business trip. You can control your finances internally and manage your financial risk through strategies that your accountant will help you with.
Also Check,
Intangibles Valuation Services
Deal Advisory and Investment Documentation
Conclusion
Though there needs to be a clear distinction between personal and business finances, if you are a business owner, those two have a thin line between them.
Ensure your accountant is familiar with your business practices to gain guidance on personal financial problems, which will help you and your business.
They are vital to plan retirement, long-term care insurance policies, estate planning, wills and trusts, investment strategy, and personal asset protection.
Auditing is a time-sensitive topic; contact us at Especia to get help regarding accounting or hiring an accountant today!
FAQs
1. Will my accountant help me with more than bookkeeping and tax returns?
Your accountant is crucial for your business and will help you with financial planning, profitability, investment strategy, and expenditure control.
2. How do I hire an accountant?
Ask your connections, such as lawyers, fellow business owners, and bankers, about accountants they recommend, and do your research before contacting the internal audit company he or she works for.
3. Can I hire an accountant even if I am not a business owner?
Yes, whether you are a business owner or not, an accountant can help you greatly with your finances as well as your business’s finances.
