Working with an accountant can help to save you time, stress, and money, but that doesn’t mean that you can simply hire anyone and expect great results.
As with most things, accountant quality can vary significantly. Ensuring that you choose the right one at the first time of asking will help you to avoid the pitfalls of bad accounting advice and the inconvenience of having to find a replacement. Get it right now, and you’ll likely find that your accountant becomes a trusted partner for many years.
Not sure what to look for when assessing accountants? We’ve put together a list of some of the key attributes of leading accountants, which should help to make the decision-making process all the more straightforward.
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Transparent Reporting
Transparency is an underrated quality in accountants. Some simply do accounting work on the client’s behalf, and all the client ever sees is a jargon-filled document. That’s risky because, ultimately, you’re the one responsible for whatever is filed in your name.
A good accountant values transparency. They won’t just do the work; they’ll walk you through the process, explaining what they’ve done, why they did it, and how it affects you. They’ll also just more broadly value communication, taking a proactive approach to getting in touch rather than making you do all the work.
Advisor Accreditation
Working with an accountancy firm that has accredited advisors is a tried and tested way to ensure that you’re receiving quality, professional advice from experts who are held to a high standard. If the firm you’re speaking to can’t demonstrate its accreditation or offers vague answers, then continue your search — there are enough highly accredited accountants out there; you don’t need to settle for one that is giving red flags.
Tailored Support
Your financial situation will be unique to you. A good accountant will provide support that is tailored to your needs, rather than simply providing generic accounting work and hoping for the best.
You should get a sense that they’ll provide personalized accounting support through the questions — or lack of — that they ask. If they have the time to get to know you and your situation on a deep level before giving advice, then that’s a good sign they’ll provide the level of support that’s required to get all the benefits from working with a great accountant.
Broad Service Range
Checking to see the range of services that the accountancy firm provides can be a good way to set yourself up for a long-term working relationship. The best firms cover enough ground to be of genuine value across various tax situations. This is useful because many tax issues can overlap — such as business and personal taxes — and it’s best to work with a firm that can offer expert guidance for whatever tax issue you have.
Up-To-Date Tax Knowledge
A good accountant will be committed to staying up to date with the latest tax laws. Not only that, but they’ll proactively utilize new rulings and changes to optimize your tax standing, without having to be asked.
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