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5 mistakes to avoid when hiring an Accountant for your small business

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Alex, Staff Writer

Thursday, 26 August 2021

If you own a small business, you might be considering hiring an accountancy service to manage your finances. But how do you know which business accountant you should hire and what mistakes should you avoid?

This article will help you to navigate the complicated world of business accounting and tell you exactly what you should be looking to avoid when you are going through the hiring process.  

Here are five mistakes to avoid when hiring an accountant for your small business.

1. Not knowing what you need

If you’re in desperate need of an accountant, it’s easy to jump straight to the hiring process and begin interviewing accountancy services. However, it’s important to take a moment to think about what exactly it is that you need.

For example, do you simply need someone to help you with your taxes and take care of your daily bookkeeping or are you looking for in-depth cashflow reporting and financial advice? Understanding exactly what you need from your accountant will give you a head start when it comes to hiring an accountant and prevent you from hiring the wrong candidate.

2. Forgetting to ask questions

When you’re hiring an accountant for your small business, you’ll need to make sure that you ask the right questions. After all, if you don’t ask the questions, you won’t find out what you need to know.

In the previous step, you made sure your requirements were clear, so now it’s time to make sure that the accountant you hire is right for your business. Creating a list of predefined questions in advance is the best way to ensure that you choose the right candidate for your business.

For example, if you need an accountant who has experience working with QuickBooks, or within your specific industry, you’ll need to ensure that you ask those questions. This will help you to choose an accountant who fits perfectly into your business and adds value to your organisation straight away.

3. Underestimating the scope of an Accountant

Many people assume that the role of an accountant is limited to daily bookkeeping and filing taxes. However, accountants are able to take on a wide variety of tasks within your business, including advising on how to reduce costs within your business, handling payroll and employee benefits and risk analysis.

4. Mixing friendship with business

It can be tempting to give your business to a friend or family member, simply because you know them. In fact, you might even feel guilty not using their services. However, it can be a bad idea to mix business with friendship and often ends badly.

Your accountant should be completely impartial when it comes to your financial circumstances. A friend may have personal influences which prevent them from being completely honest and impartial. Not only that, but imagine how difficult it could be to dismiss a friend if their services don’t meet your requirements.

5. Underestimating the length of the hiring process

Whilst sometimes you might stumble across the perfect accountant instantly, sometimes it might take a bit longer. Rushing into hiring an accountant could mean that you end up with the wrong person, leading to wasted time and money.

When you’re looking for an accountant for your small business, it’s important to ensure you ask the right questions to make sure they’re the right candidate for your business. However, it’s equally important to read honest reviews from genuine customers to make sure that you’re choosing a reliable and trustworthy accountant for your business.

Hire a Business Accountant on Bark

Using a platform such as Bark to hire an accountant can save you valuable time and money. Rather than searching through endless pages of Google for the perfect accountant, you can simply enter your requirements into Bark and wait for the professionals to contact you.

On Bark, you can read honest reviews from genuine customers, ensuring that they meet your requirements before you even speak to them. When you find someone you like, you can request a quote and ask them all of the questions that you’re already prepared to make sure that they are the perfect fit for your business. 

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