Four Questions Small Business Owners Should Ask Their Accountant

An accountant is by far one of the greatest assets your business team can have. They are there not only to help your company with the financial aspects of business, but also to serve as a critical business growth component. In order to get the most out of any accountant that you have on your team, it’s important to know what questions to ask him or her. Here are four questions small business owners should be prepared to ask their accountant:

What’s Important to You?

Before getting too deep into a relationship with your accountant, you want to make sure you are setting clear expectations of what it is you need. Be clear from day one if you want someone to provide financial guidance or if you just need an accountant to help you prepare your taxes once a year. This one question will let you know if your accountant is right for your business or not.

What Technology Do You Use?

DOS is still being used throughout the accounting world; however, it won’t be a tool that can be used forever. Because of this, you will want to make sure that your accountant is open to learning brand new technology systems as they become available. As cloud technology continues to increase in popularity, it would be advantageous if your accountant remains open to learning how to use those systems.

How Do You Stay Current with Industry Trends?

Whether your business pays for it or not, it’s important that your accountant continues to stay educated on industry trends. This could include, but is not limited to, being open to change as well as being open to new ideas as they evolve within the accounting industry.

What’s More Important: Value or Compliance?

Compliance is important, but there’s more to accounting than just compliance. Sure, an accountant needs to have the ability to ensure you remain compliant with all applicable rules, but an accountant can offer so much more value. Value means being able to provide financial advice, tax advice or even budgeting advice. While it’s not mandatory, having an accountant who focuses on value will prove to be more beneficial to you in the long term.

What questions have you vowed to ask your accountant? Leave your comments below.

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