Most small businesses succeed or fail on their abilities across a wide spectrum of skills, not just the product or service they specialise in providing.

Unlike their larger counterparts, smaller businesses have to rely largely on their own in-house knowledge in many areas and for owner-operator companies the challenge is even more demanding. With management of overheads being critical to sustaining profitability, a typical small business is unable to commission expert assistance each time challenges arise outside its core competency. Of course it would be useful to have a marketing agency take care of new campaigns and negotiating media placements, a property expert would be useful to look after premises and drive lease costs down and perhaps an HR expert would be nice to make sure employment contracts are optimal and staff training is up to speed. However in the real world, in all typical small businesses these areas usually fall within the remit of the managing director or his senior manager if there is one.

When it comes to financial matters, many businesses opt to take the services of a local accountant so it is important to make sure the provider of these accountancy services is willing and able to offer help and advice beyond the normal role of producing annual accounts and completing company returns.

Many owners of successful small businesses obviously have some level of competence when it comes to financial matters – it makes sense really or how would they be operating a successful operation in the first place? But for many, financial matters are dealt with on a “needs must” basis. Concerns over cashflow are only considered once a problem arises, whereas as a dedicated finance manager would be optimising the businesses cash flow practices as a matter of course. The same applies to taxation. Would an owner operator of a small businesses spend money taking taxation advice unless they thought there was a problem? For many small businesses who only receive what might be termed as “emergency assistance”, there are likely to be many lost opportunities for saving money.

It is in these situations that an experienced and pro-active accountant can make a real difference. Many local accountants opt to charge their clients a fix-fee contract. One that includes an agreed set of services over the year which might include a subset or perhaps all of the following: annual returns, quarterly and annual accounts, book keeping, payroll management, VAT returns and other tax payments.

However a vital area of service that only a few accountants are able to offer is one of ongoing business advice. Many small businesses would benefit hugely from a periodic review and discussion about the way their company is being run financially. In many cases it could just be a safety check to ensure everything is operating optimally, while in certain situations early warning signs may be identified or opportunities to save significant sums of money identified. Working with a proactive firm of accountants that has the experience and means to offer this kind of service makes perfect sense and will, in most cases, be easily worth the small extra cost involved.

So if you are a small business and are looking to employ the services of a local accountant to help with financial matters, make sure they are able to provide a full range of services, not just the typical mandatory requirements that small businesses have to comply with. The cost of the service may be slightly higher, but the long term benefit in terms of the financial health of the business will be well worth it.

Author Bio: James was looking for an accountant in Alton recently and wrote about what he considered to be important. Accountancy services for business vary in each firm and James’ advice is helpful when deciding who to use.

Category: Business Management
Keywords: accountants, accounting