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What a does An Accountant For Small Business Do?
by APSense News Release AdminAsk most people about an accountant for small business and they’ll immediately think of tax.
It’s not an unreasonable thought.
Tax seems to pervade everything in life and accountants spend considerable time keeping on top it.
But when looking at an accountant for small business, you might be surprised at what else they can do for you.
How Can An Accountant For Small Business Help?
Let’s look at some non-tax ways in which an accountant for small business can help.
Business Structuring
As your business grows, you may find you outgrow your current business structure.
Been operating as a sole trader?
You may find a company may now suit your needs better.
Starting a family?
Perhaps a discretionary trust should be part of the mix going forward.
A good small business accountant will consider a range of qualitative and quantitative factors to determine the best business structure for you at all stages of your business lifecycle.
Suggest Improvements to Accounting Systems
In order to provide timely advice, your accounting system needs to provide the right data at the right time.
If it can’t do this, your accounting system needs updating.
Also, the process flow of various financial operations can be reviewed and suggestions made by your small business accountant as to how to make them more effective.
This may mean adding a new inventory module to your online accounting system or reviewing audit trails to see who accesses what and at what stage in the process flow.
A good accountant can monitor this.
Monitor Various KPIs
The benefit of having real-time information is that any potential financial issues can be pre-emptied and discussed before they occur.
If gross profit margins is howling a decreasing trend over a certain time period, this may mean that sales prices should be reviewed or supplier negotiations undertaken.
Discussions about which KPIs are the most crucial can also be undertaken to ensure the right data is being monitored.
Prepare Cashflow and Profit & Loss Projections
In the current environment, cash is king and whereas projecting operations for the next 12 months may not be feasible, looking at the next 6 months may be.
An accountant for small business can prepare initial projections to discuss with the business owner and adjust them based on input from various parties.
This can highlight months where cash or profit is projected to be low and allow time to take relevant action to prepare for this.
“What-if” scenarios can also be viewed to see the effects of likely strategic actions on the business and they effect operations over a short-to-medium term.
Providing Business Financial Literacy
An often overlooked service an accountant for small business can provide is to explain various financial impacts with the business owner.
Most business owners are experts in their areas of technical expertise, however, this may not extend to understanding their business financials.
By regularly sitting down with an accountant for small business and discussing the financial aspects of your business, you begin to question how various parties would view your business.
- How will a bank view my funding application?
- If I bring-on an investor, how will he/she view my financials?
- Is my business sufficiently strong enough to invest in major equipment without effecting daily operations?
Everybody talks about financial literacy for individuals, however, business financial literacy is just as important.
Summary
An account for small business provides a wide range of services that go far beyond merely tax-related aspects.
This also means that you will be dealing with your accountant more than once a year, which is the way it should be.
Some business owners are hesitant to avail themselves of the full range of services due to cost issues, however, the insights gained tend to provide a platform to grow your business.
It merely starts with asking for help.
If you wish to learn more about understanding your business mums and financials, take a visit to sculptaccountants.com.au and see how we can help.
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Created on Aug 30th 2022 19:27. Viewed 194 times.
