{"id":1369,"date":"2015-05-05T12:27:52","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T11:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wearemap.wpengine.com\/clients\/?p=1369"},"modified":"2017-01-26T12:44:29","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T11:44:29","slug":"switching-accountants-can-be-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wearemap.co.uk\/clients\/blog\/switching-accountants-can-be-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"Switching accountants can be easy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/wearemap.wpengine.com\/clients\/assets\/20104235_m.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1370\" alt=\"20104235_m\" src=\"http:\/\/wearemap.wpengine.com\/clients\/assets\/20104235_m-300x300.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Whatever the size of your business, you&#8217;ve probably used an accountant at some point.\u00a0 They might have just helped you with a tax return, or they\u2019re currently looking after the longer-term finances of your business.<\/p>\n<p>But when was the last time you asked yourself, \u2018Is my accountant actually any good?\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Have you ever stopped to consider if they\u2019re right for you?<\/p>\n<p>Your reply might well be \u2018Well, my accountants get the job done&#8230;\u2019, but \u2018getting the job done\u2019 may mean something entirely different to your current accountant \u2013 and even to you \u2013 than it does to us.<\/p>\n<p>If you feel your accountant is no longer cutting the mustard then switching might be a reality for you.\u00a0 But it\u2019s difficult to do. There\u2019s every reason in the world to stay where you are, because changing accountants is difficult, time consuming, and exhausting.<\/p>\n<p>Actually, it doesn&#8217;t have to be.<\/p>\n<p><b>Sticking with your current number cruncher<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Switching to the right accountant for your business could be a smart move \u2013 and one with significant benefits for the business if you partner with the right one. But, as with most changes in life, people tend to find reasons not to switch.<\/p>\n<p>Off the top of my head, here are few reasons I&#8217;ve heard over the years:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i>\u2018They charge me nothing\u2019 <\/i>\u2013 Well, we all like a freebie, but paying nothing usually gets you nothing (or not much). The accounting advice you need could cost you a bit more, but you\u2019ll gain far more than you ever realised was possible.<\/li>\n<li><i>\u00a0\u2018It could be very expensive to have someone<\/i> <i>good<\/i>\u2019 \u2013 But quality pays its way. How much more expensive it is to make costly business mistakes because you had poor financial advice?<\/li>\n<li><i>\u2018I like that they\u2019re just around the corner\u2019<\/i> \u2013 Being local is helpful, but how often do you actually visit them in person?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you do most of your communication by phone and email, anyway? With the right accountant, regular contact is far better \u2013 and you\u2019ll travel if they\u2019re good. Some of our clients come from far-flung reaches of the UK, because they love that we work with digital creative agencies, we introduce them to Xero (or help them use it better), or just because we\u2019re their type of person.<\/li>\n<li><i>\u2018They\u2019re nice people and I want to support their business\u2019<\/i> \u2013 Supporting your local businesses is a great thing. But ultimately you need a practice that will support <i>your<\/i> business and has the expertise to do that.<\/li>\n<li><i>\u2018We&#8217;ve\u00a0got history and I\u2019d feel guilty\u2019<\/i> \u2013 Loyalty is a wonderful thing (and scarily rare in some industries). But you can\u2019t feel obliged to carry on using an accountant that\u2019s not helping you move in the right direction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ultimately, your accountant has to fit. They have to be the right people, with the right level of expertise. And they need to be capable of taking your business to the next level.<\/p>\n<p>So, have you decided that now\u2019s the time to switch accountants yet? If you have, there are a few things you should think about when eyeing up the marketplace for a new numbers supremo.<\/p>\n<p><b>Make sure they speak your business language<\/b>.\u00a0 If all they talk about are numbers, spreadsheets and due dates, and it\u2019s all done in confusing accounting terminology, then move on.<\/p>\n<p>For most small business, there are just a few very simple things you want to know. And your accountant needs to be able to focus on these, keep you updated and do it all using language that you actually understand.<\/p>\n<p>So, for example, you\u2019ll want to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Know how much tax you have to pay ahead of time.<\/li>\n<li>Pay the least possible tax while still having integrity.<\/li>\n<li>Know there\u2019s cash in the bank to pay that tax without stress.<\/li>\n<li>Make a profit that you can actually see in your bank account, not just on the books.<\/li>\n<li>Stop feeling stressed about the big financial decisions.<\/li>\n<li>Feel that you really understand your numbers, without \u2018guesstimating\u2019 them.<\/li>\n<li>Feel confident enough to take time off and enjoy life.<\/li>\n<li>Do all of this while giving your customers the best possible service you can.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So you need an accountant that understands you, your business and your numbers. And one who\u2019s totally focused on helping you drive the success of your business.<\/p>\n<p><b>They also need to talk the same technological language<\/b>. If you\u2019re a tech-savvy, modern company that works exclusively in the cloud, you won\u2019t want an old-fashioned accountant who keeps all your record in dusty filing cabinets. And equally, if you\u2019re the kind of business that doesn&#8217;t know its Skype from its social media, you\u2019ll be more comfortable with a traditional practice.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s about finding the right person, or people, to work with. And about knowing that they do business like you do \u2013 whether that\u2019s using a MacBook and wearing jeans, or using an IBM ThinkPad and wearing a pin-stripe suit.<\/p>\n<p><b>We might be the right accountant for you&#8230;<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Here at My Accountancy Place, we know that having the right fit with our clients is crucial for the way we work. Our focus is always on listening to our clients, finding out about their business and delivering the results they need to succeed. And we do this by explaining their financial and business issues in plain English.<\/p>\n<p>We also believe that modern cloud technology helps us guide your business more effectively. We use <a href=\"http:\/\/www.xero.com\/\">Xero<\/a> accounting software for all our clients, and that means we can give you those all important numbers quickly and without hassle. So you\u2019re better informed when making the big decisions about the future of the company. (There are also lots of really cool add-ons that help you use Xero even better for your area and industry.)<\/p>\n<p>And we specialise in digital creatives.<\/p>\n<p>So, if you were thinking about (or avoiding) getting a new accountant, this might be the place for you.<\/p>\n<p>If My Accountancy Place could be Your Accountancy Place, <a href=\"http:\/\/wearemap.wpengine.com\/clients\/contact\/\">drop us a line<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whatever the size of your business, you&#8217;ve probably used an accountant at some point.\u00a0 They might have just helped you with a tax return, or&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[106,110,29,111,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-1369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-accounting","8":"tag-accounting-for-creatives","9":"tag-accounts","10":"tag-switching-accountant","11":"tag-xero"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v14.9 - 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