6 Reasons Why You Need an Accountant

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Many small business owners are reluctant to hire an accountant for their business. They shy away from hiring an accountant for fear of the fees associated with professional accounting advice.

Some business owners believe that hiring an accountant is redundant and that they can handle all their accounting themselves.

However, after taking into consideration the financial damage that can be caused if a non-specialized person tries to deal with the complexity of tax, finances etc., it is clear that employing a good accountant is imperative to your business success.

So while it is a good idea to save money by painting your office, collecting your newly printed cards from the printer service or going out to distribute your latest promotional leaflets yourself it isn’t always a good choice to try saving money by doing all your accounting work yourself.

Why hire a prefessional accountant? Here are some important reasons:

1. Advice on Startup

If you are starting a new business an accountant will guide you on your business plan and tax issues pertaining to setting up a new business. They will guide you through the initial maze of company structure, personal assets and tax management, including book-keeping.

2. General Bookkeeping

A certified accountant is trained to maintain all financial records and to produce accurate financial reports. To create these reports, a certain amount of paper work is needed to be kept in a certain way, depending on your business structure. This financial bookkeeping is essential both from both a legal and business point of view.  Your accountant will advise you on the best way to keep records in order to create reports and financial snapshots of your business. The reports will help you better understand how your business is doing over a particular period of time and what measures you need to take in case any issues are identified.

3. Compliance with Government Legislation

Government legislation is complicated; also it is constantly changing. A certified accountant is familiar with all the intricacies of tax and corporate laws. He will make sure that you aren’t breaking any tax related rules that could land you in trouble and jeopardize the welfare of your business.

4. General Business Consulting

Besides maintaining financial records an experienced accountant can offer you consultation on cash flow, price control, inventory management etc. This expert consultation can help you in making right and timely decisions for your business. Also an expert accountant can offer advice on appraising viability of future projects and possible adjustments for losses or gains.

5. Advice on Tax Planning

Apart from tax reporting, a good accountant could offer expert advice on how to maximize tax deduction. Because they know tax laws inside out they could guide you on what to claim and what not to claim; this is especially beneficial to small and home-based businesses which are not fully aware of tax rules and legislation.

6. Save Time and Money

Irrespective of how well you understand figures, an accountant will better advise you on finding ways to save extra money. He will also save you lots of time and the hassle of keeping track of all the figures. The extra money your accountant saves you can then be spent on things in your business you are good at!

From the above you can see just how important it is to have your own accountant for your business in order to run it smoothly and successfully. You can also consider outsourcing your accounting. There are online accounting services you can hire for your business. This means that you can outsource you whole accounting process to a service provider and let them worry about the nitty-gritty of it. Best Online Accounting is an excellent online accounting service provider. Founded by a group of experienced chartered accountants the company provides a variety of accounting solutions and lets you choose the one that best suits your criteria.