What Can a Good Accountant Do for Your Small Business?

Many business owners do not know what an accountant can for their business, so end up not getting the most from their accountant.

There are bad accountants, but a good one will help you run your business with clarity and confidence. If your accountant is going through the motions of pushing papers, then you may miss important contributions they can make to your business.

So what can a good accountant do for your business? Here are 5 things they can do for your business.

1. Set up an Accounting System

Accounting systems run on policies and procedures. An accountant can help set up policies and procedures for your business. He will help to automate your accounting using a cloud accounting software, so you capture sales and expenses into your accounts.

He’ll also set you up with invoicing systems that tell you what’s been paid and what hasn’t. Smart software will even send reminder emails to clients who have not paid.

There are dozens of other automated systems they can install to:

automate accounts payable, so you are always on top of expenses.
generate cash flow dashboards, so you always see where you stand.
track key performance indicators (KPI), so you can check overall business performance 24/7.
give you mobile accounting apps that allow you to manage your finances on the go.

2. Sort out Unpaid Invoices

Unpaid invoices are a fact of business. Chasing those debtors is a distraction, but you cannot afford to ignore the problem. Your accountant can take the headache away.

He can set up invoice systems that send automatic reminders to customers when their bill is due and/or overdue. Some accountants will even call businesses that do not respond to emails.

3. Fix Your Cash Flow

Many profitable businesses fail because they run out of money at the wrong time and cannot afford to pay suppliers or staff. Even a profitable business will not survive if payments are slow to come in, or expenditure is too high.

He will help you forecast your cash flow and come up with plans to manage the situation by organizing cash reserves and creating a spending plan that makes sure there is enough to pay your bills when they are due.

4. Help you Manage Inventory

Do you spend a lot on storage, or lose money writing off obsolete or damaged goods? Or do you sometimes lose revenue because you run out of stock? Smart inventory management is vital for doing good business.

Your accountant will find the cost of holding inventory and come up with strategies to save some of that money. Plus, they will review your sales data to help predict stock needs, so you can place accurate orders. They can even set up software that tracks stock levels and auto-orders items as they run low.

5. Budgeting

Detailed budgeting can eat up your time and energy. As a result, many businesses end up working off a vague set of numbers full of assumptions and estimates. Your accountant can help you produce a rigorous budget that gives you real confidence. You will understand the actual cost of doing business. You will discern how much money you can reinvest, and what you can pay yourself.

6. Others

Accountants can do more than I have discussed in this article. Other things they can do are:

Taxes
Payroll
Unlock the power of technology.
Improve internal controls
Write loan applications
Business strategy

I based this article on, “What does an accountant do”.

How do you find a good accountant?

Many business owners are not accountants, but they must hire an internal accountant or contract an external one. If you are hiring, our advice is to get the help of an experienced accountant to find and interview prospects.

A practical choice is to outsource your accounting to a firm such as SCG Chartered Accountant.

So, what can a good accountant do for you? They help you run your business better.