|
Close | ||
ViewDiscussion thread: How much do you allow your accountant to get involved in your business, and why? On the presumption that your accountant is not on your employed payroll but is an independent accountant in practice: an external accountant can give very useful advice to your business, especially in terms of financial structure and ongoing financial health of your business. By dealing with a variety of businesses and sectors your accountant will have a good knowledge and experience of how a business should look financially if it is going to succeed. Be prepared to open up to them, warts and all, and let him help and advise you on : 1. banks - loans overdrafts and invoice discounting / factoring - contacts/introductions/rates/presentations 2. grants - what for and where to get them from- how best to present information for a given grant 3. equity - the amount of equity in your business - how to find new equity sources when appropriate. 4. financial staff - determining job specifications and introductions of people he knows as potentially suitable for your business - hence reducing the risks of your recruitment 5. tax - tax returns and tax planning to mitigate your overall tax bill as a company and as an individual. 6. computer software and hardware - determining relevant equipment and software for your business. 7. review of your businesses profit & loss, balance sheet and cash flow performance, including forecasts - to highlight and discuss problem areas and offer you solutions. This review should be done every 3 to 6 months (or perhaps more often for a fledgling business) to ensure that the business is remaining in good financial health. Where, for example, there are holes in the forecast cash flows, they can often be dealt with where you can foresee them a couple of months ahead - a bank manager will see that you are in control of your business and probably provide the necessary short term funding to get you over a hump. However, if you go to him about a problem about to impact next week, he will probably not be as accomodating. Therefore use your accountant for this review and process of looking ahead, otherwise you may not see financial problems until it is too late !! 8. Selling your business - he is certainly a good starting point regarding valuation range and how best to market your business
Your accountant is not really going to help you with your sales, marketing, technical, production, HR, quality and warehousing, but you should not underestimate their general business knowledge and ability to offer sensible advice / be a sounding board. Although an accountant may appear expensive in terms of hourly rate, he could be a real help in the development and ultimate success or failure of your business. Posted By Mark Swaby of Mark Swaby Consulting |
|||
|
|