Selecting a good accountant for your business is very crucial. You should not consider your accountant any less than your business partner. There are a lot of things in your business that is solely dependent on the accountant. So, if you choose a good accountant, you are going to have several benefits and if you fail to do so you have a lot of things to lose. To help people make the right selection of accountants, we decided to write this blog. Here are some points that you should consider in this process.
- Where to look at?
- This is the first question that comes in anyone’s mind while looking for a good accountant. No matter where you are going to find an accountant, one thing that you should always keep in mind that you have to try a few accountants before making your final decision. Avoid choosing the right accountant in the first attempt.
- So, at first, you should go to someone whom you know better and you are aware of their knowledge in this field. Based on their recommendation, approach the accountant and then interview the accountant to check whether he suits your requirements.
- After you are unable to find one with the help of them or you are trying to look at some other options, you should use social media. Social media will be a great help to you if you want to do it.
- You can also find a good accountant with the help of many professional bodies that are present in Australia. Going to one of those professional bodies can also help you get a good accountant:
- CPA Australia (Certified Practicing Accountants)
- IPA (Institute of Public Accountants)
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand
- What are the services offered by an accountant?
- There are different accountants for varied services. While making selection via any method, you should make sure that the accountant delivers the same service that you desire. Here are some of the major services provided by the accountants:
- Advisory: these accountants provide every kind of advice to their clients. They can advise you in managing your business properly to maximize benefits. They can also help you with forecasting your business activities.
- Accounting: This is the fundamental job of an accountant. Accounting is often termed as Bookkeeping. Accountants who are for beekeeping just keep a record of every transaction taking place in your business.
- Tax: There are two things that are done with taxes. One if tax compliance and the other is tax planning. Tax planning helps to reduce the overall tax that the client has to pay while compliance is all about obeying the laws related to tax.
- What are the qualifications that your accountant should possess?
- Qualification is the most important thing while choosing your accountant. There are only two professional bodies that regulate professional accountants. These two bodies are Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA), and Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand (CAANZ).
- The accountant that you prefer should belong to one of these professional bodies. And the second thing that you should consider is that your accountant should have a degree level study and he must not be a fresher.
- And, if you wish your accountant to prepare and lodge your tax returns, you should look for a registered tax agent.
- Should you care about the location of the accountant or his office?
- In earlier days, people used to have accountants close to their homes. But now time has changed. With the help of cloud accounting, an accountant can work from anywhere. There can’t be any problem as there is software that makes you able to see the same data as your accountant in real-time.
- But while choosing an accountant of this type, you should make sure that your accountant is aware of working remotely.
- What about the fees of your accountant?
- Fees of the accountant vary based on their expertise and the work that they deliver. In the beginning, you should request written information about the fees of your accountant and the works that he will cover. It would help you a lot in comparing that accountant with the others. That written information should also include information about how you are going to pay your accountant (monthly, yearly, or any other parameter).
We have provided all the essential information about how you can choose your accountant. One thing you should make sure that your accountant should do your work. There are several institutions where they will talk to you but most of your work will be transferred to someone else. So, this is not the kind of work you should expect from your accountant.