There is nothing worse than some who should be saving your money, losing it instead. Accountants also miss significant opportunities for your income growth. And in extreme scenarios, they can also draw you into fraud or incompetence and, even worse, legal trouble.
The last thing you need is to do hire a personal lawyer simply because your accountant messed up. Accountants can make or break your business, so you need to make sure you pay for the right one. Even though it might be stressful changing accountants, it will be stress worth going through. The same way checking into Palmer Lake Recovery Village will be the best choice for you if you are dedicated to beat addiction, getting a new accountant is also worth it.
Personal Mitigation and Inadequate Tax Planning
Personal mitigation and tax planning advice take time to prepare. Some of the worst lawyers don’t even try to find ways to make you pay less tax when they should. It’s not fair for you to prepare your financial statements, fill out your tax returns, or send your bill.
If you are paying your accountant by the hour or at a fixed rate, what’s the point if they aren’t doing their job?
Failure to Explain Things in Simple Terms
Some accountants will use industry jargon to keep you in the dark while they know nothing in the true sense. Most accountants do so because they want to appear valuable to the client.
A true and valuable accountant understands that to convey true value, you have to provide it. An accountant who values you as a client will help you understand complex financial regulations and complex terminology, and they will definitely put your finances first.
They Take Time to Return Phone Calls
In a true sense, your accountant is just like any other employee. There is a chance that they are most crucial. So if they never respond to urgent requests or take your calls, what does that do for your business?
A good accountant knows the importance of communication, so they will make themselves available to talk to you even when it’s not an urgent problem. You need to make sure that they are doing their jobs.
Lack Proactive Business Services
An inadequate accountant will not ask about your business because they are just not interested. They figure you are just one client, and they have their personal businesses to run. You would be surprised how often this is common among small business accountants.
Such accountants are poisonous to your growth. The truth is if your accountant doesn’t understand your business, they are not doing you any good. If you don’t want to miss significant opportunities, you might want to change your accountant.
Fees Above the Market Rate
The fees the accountant is charging will tell you more about them. If they charge more than the market rate, that’s a clear indication of their priorities. There is a chance that there are accountants who deserve the higher rates.
However, if they deserve the high rates, they should be able to justify that. Ask them to break down their fees if you are considering it. A good accountant will save you money to pay yourself. If they don’t care about your business, they will charge for their time.
Once you find a new accountant you can comfortably work with, here are some of the tips to keep the relationship working:
Never Break The Trust Built
Most people fixate on whether the accountant is trustworthy. They tend to forget that trust tends to run both ways. For the relationship to be successful, trust has to exist between the accountant/client relationships from the beginning to the end.
Be Respectful
The relationship can’t work or be successful or work if the respect is not mutual. If you are buying or selling the property, you will need to see your accountant as a trusted advisor because they will treat you with an attitude of mutual respect and stand in your favor.
Call Them
Most people want the accountant to call them and not vice versa. However, some accountants appreciate it when you pick the phone and call them, especially during tough times. Even though emails are the easiest way to go, they can be very misleading, and the tone can easily be misunderstood.
Meeting them face to face would be the best means of communication, but if you are not in a position to meet, pick up the phone and call them.
Avoid Being a Control Freak
Most accountants are open to new suggestions, and they will gladly incorporate your ideas into their marketing strategy. However, it would help if you allowed the accountant to do their work without being in their case all the time.
Don’t Be a Scrooge
Most accountants tend to feel unloved and lose interest in the client if they insist that they discount their commissions. If you don’t want the pressure to take unacceptable offers or rush sales, avoid fewer commissions. Ensure that the accountant knows that they are working for free until you get what you want. If they do a great job, then they deserve to be paid.
Be Honest
Give the new accountant all your parameters if you are looking to buying a property so that the accountant doesn’t waste your time. Ensure you let them know how much you would spend on the property, your new tax plan, and where you prefer the property to be.
This will allow the account to take their time to find you the outlets that suit your needs. They will make sure that the outlets they get you are within your price range.
Be a Good Listener
It would help if you were allowed to listen to what the accountant has to say. Never shut them down or decide to get defensive; otherwise, the relationship will not move forward. The accountant has your best interest at heart, so the suggestions he or she may come up with are for your own benefit, so do not cover your ears.
