When starting a small business, you already have a long list of things to take care of – but somewhere near the top of this list should be finding an accountant.
Finding the correct accountant for your small business is essential to your success – choose the wrong one and your business and profit margins will suffer. With this in mind, it’s important to find the right small business accountants for you.
Here are a few things to consider when choosing an accountant for your small business.
Cover for everything
What services does your accountant offer? If they’re offering the bare minimum for a high rate they’re not going to be effective partners for you, and you don’t want to be going through lots of different people or companies to do different tasks for your business.
Ideally, you should find small business accounting services in London who can provide everything you need as well as those who know what your business will require, including payroll, bookkeeping for start ups, VAT, CIS, self-assessment, annual accounts, annual returns, benefits applications, UTR (Unique Tax Reference numbers) and more.
You want to partner with an experienced, skilled small business accountant who not only offers all these services, but can tell you exactly what you need to do to make sure your small business is fully covered as well as using its money effectively. This means everything is done under the same blanket and nothing gets forgotten or overlooked – which means you won’t get caught out down the line.
Personality Matters
You will have to work closely with your accountant and need to feel that you trust them. They will be dealing with some vital procedures for your small business and will have intimate knowledge of your money and business profits.
This is why it’s important that you feel your accountant is both honest and open. We’d always recommend someone you feel speaks frankly – you are going to need to ask them direct questions and need to feel that they’ll answer honestly rather than skirt around the question.
For example, when asking what their fees are or how much something is going to cost you, there’s no point beating around the bush. Meet your accountant face-to-face before hiring them to check that they are a person you can rely on, as well as a person who understands your business.
Do Your Research
There are so many small business accountants in London to choose from – it can be easy to get overwhelmed. However, you don’t want to go with just the first small business accounting services you see advertised on Google.
Do your research to find out which accountant will suit you and your business needs best – this includes in terms of cost, services offered and location. You should also check other people’s reviews of the accountants to find out more about the way they work, and you can also check if the accountants you’re considering are members of organisations such as ICAEW or ACCA.
Ideally you need someone who fits with your business and understands the goals you’re trying to achieve. In other words, if you’re running a small business, getting a large business accountant may not be the right match for you and won’t provide relevant insights into your business needs.
This is why you should opt specifically for an accountant for small businesses or start ups, preferably with experience or expertise in your specific niche of business. Who you choose to be your accountant is essentially a business partner for you, so choose wisely.
Conclusion
Here at BNA Consulting, we are a highly experienced, skilled team of English and Russian accountants in London.
We aim to provide small businesses with all the support they need, so you can rest assured that your business’ financial and legal needs have been taken care of.
We are flexible and can be available for you whenever you need us. At BNA Consulting, we consider you a partner, so we’ll do everything we can to help your small business’ accounting concerns so you can focus on business as usual.