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Yesterday we spoke about why is it important to have a strong bond with your accountant from a tax perspective. Today we'll try to explain why is it important to have an open and clear communication with your accountant or bookkeeper on the same level of transparency and honesty.
An important part of any advisory role is being in tune with clients’ needs (since advisers play an active role in providing strategic direction to small businesses), and it’s a good idea to start to gain this level of understanding at the beginning of the advisory journey.
Having a thorough understanding of our clients’ needs will help us ensure that both the compliance and advisory services we offer are applicable to your target market. While most small businesses will have similar baseline needs regarding compliance and understanding their financial health, there are often nuances to consider when working with specific types of businesses. These nuances usually what really makes a business more successful than another. Think of it this way- most businesses have some type of books, run payroll, and do file tax returns, timely or otherwise, but are they all successful? Do they all survive and thrive through economical turmoil, busts and booms? No, they do not, and the reason, starts with that some businesses are more prepared than others to face hard-times.
MBA's and other business experts have spent decades studying, analyzing and forecasting the elements of successful and failed businesses, and we can assure you, that in order for them to reach a very satisfying analysis, they have to factor data and information curated from businesses financial statements, sales records, human resources, etc.
If we don’t have a grasp on your needs (outside of compliance), then we have to have a conversation to better understand the value that you provide, so we can structure our services to better meet your clients’/ customers needs.
We even need to understand your pain points and what keeps you up at night.
Here's a list of our most asked questions when we first meet with you:
Who has done your bookkeeping and accounting work over the past three to five years? and who is currently doing your bookkeeping?
Who is currently responsible for reporting on financial statements?
Are your books closed/up-to-date? When were your business taxes last filed?
Why are you looking to work with an outsourced accountant/bookkeeper? Would you like to be more or less involved in your bookkeeping process?
What is the biggest financial concern at your business? What are some of your business and strategic goals?
Let's have a conversation!