5 ways that an accountant can assist a small business to grow

We will show you five ways that an experienced small business accountant can help your business grow.

What is the role of your accountant in your company’s growth and development?

Account Ease Accounting has supported businesses of all sizes throughout London. We have been able to identify five ways in which we can assist founders with their goals.

We want to help a business succeed. And We are connected to the success of our clients, especially when we have worked with them from their earliest days. We find it very rewarding to celebrate their first milestones and to help them develop the next. We can help small businesses achieve compliance, and also act as a mentor or adviser when needed.

Your accountant will have experienced what you are going through. They’ve seen hundreds of businesses go through the same thing. You can use that knowledge for your business.

You can tell if they are not interested in getting involved if you ask a lot of questions.

Let’s look at some of the ways we have helped businesses like yours to grow.

1. Advice and guidance

Guide to company formation and business setup:

• Making critical decisions begins at the beginning. What legal entity, for example, should you create – a sole trader or a limited company? In the early stages of your business mentoring, it can be difficult to make decisions. It’s nothing new for us so we can answer your questions and let you know the pros and cons.

Speaking in plain English:

• Every job requires some jargon or shorthand. Some accountants make it difficult to understand their meaning and why they are important. You can easily get lost among P11Ds and double entry systems, as well as MTD*. If this is something you haven’t dealt with before, you should work with someone who will make sure that you understand all the terms and their implications for you and your company. It’s not good to have someone use their knowledge in a way that keeps people at a distance rather than bringing them benefit.

Support helpline/accessibility:

• You should expect that your fee (which should be transparent and free of hidden exclusions), should include ad-hoc access to your team. You should have access to the accounting team whenever you need it, whether it is a quick phone call to confirm something or a quarterly check-in to make sure you’re on track.

Benchmarking competitors and sectors:

• Comparison is a thief to joy. It doesn’t always stop us from looking at how we compare to our competitors. We can access data from all industries to see how you’re performing and give advice about what to do. It can be comforting to know that everyone has a similar growth rate, especially if the market is more depressed. It’s even better to outperform the market!

Give you confidence

• We want you to succeed, as we have said before. We enjoy working with successful businesses, no matter how you define success. We can help you see the numbers for yourself and learn what you have achieved. Confidence in your accounting information will make planning and decision-making easier.

2. Access to Funds

Introductions

• We are well-connected, and our clients appreciate that. We can find new opportunities for our clients, such as future partnerships, service extensions, or buy-outs.

Prepare financial information and projections:

• We all remember those Dragon’s Den contestants who did not know their revenue ……? It doesn’t matter if it is a loan or a retirement plan, but having the information you need prepared accurately can make all the difference. We can help you prepare for the interview by preparing the required information.

You can access external financing:

• If you want to expand your business into new fields of science and technology, gaining access to grants for research and development can be a huge help. Our clients are guided on how to submit R&D projects and innovate in the most efficient way.

3. Preventing/ flagging up issues

Protect yourself from expensive investigations

• HMRC targets all companies, regardless of their size. Even if you have evidence of compliance, tax investigations can be a long and drawn out process. Accounting fees for a routine audit could reach £10,000. If your accountant does not offer fee protection, you should find one who does.

Resolving shareholder conflicts:

• Shareholder disputes are more common than one might think. They can be disruptive to an organization and cause major disruptions. All parties are interested in a quick and efficient resolution. Accounting professionals can assist in resolving any issues that may arise. If you need to discuss anything beyond this, you should consult a lawyer.

Employee advice:

• It can be hard to decide when it is the right time to hire a new employee. There are many factors that need consideration. We can’t give HR advice but we can tell you what the impact of hiring new employees will be on your business in the long run. A new employee is a financial burden for most businesses when they first hire them. A new employee needs time to become familiar with their job. It could take anywhere from six months to more than a year before an employee is able to break even on their salary.
• It’s also important to know the right time to let someone go. A good accountant will help you determine if you are losing money on an employee or the company is unable to sustain its current staffing levels.

How to apply knowledge in your business

• A good accountant will give you insight that you may not have otherwise. A good accountant can compare your business to other businesses in your industry and direct competitors. This can give you a better idea of how you’re doing, as well as how you can improve.

4. We can help you achieve your business goals

Setting financial goals:

• Set financial goals to gauge your business’s success. These goals are quantifiable, and they provide key milestones for tracking your progress. Where do you begin? You can work with an accountant to set realistic goals.

Introduce yourself to new contacts

• Accountants work with many different types of companies and can make introductions when necessary. Our clients appreciate this. We have contacts in HR, R&D and training, commercial property as well as law, R&D, marketing, recruitment and other areas.

Plan for the future with these tips:

• Accountants can help you prepare for any changes that could impact your business. They may identify a trend within your industry, advise you on potential investment opportunities or alert you to new legislation, such as Making Tax Digital (for Income Tax).
• We can help you plan your business and yourself for the future by providing advice on investments or exit strategies, for instance.

5. Maximizing your profitability

Minimizing your tax bill:

• Taxes are based on a number of factors that change constantly. It can be difficult and time-consuming to keep track of all the variables. This is why an accountant should do it for you. Accountants can help you set up your business correctly and ensure that it is tax-efficient throughout the entire year.

Your time is valuable.

• It’s understandable that numbers aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Even if numbers are your thing, managing your accounts and submitting them can be a time-consuming task. You can spend more time on other important business activities such as finding new clients and winning them.

We hope that we have shown you how an accountant is capable of much more than submitting tax and vat forms. Your accountant can grow your business the more you involve them. Let us help you succeed in your business by getting in touch.