Starting a new business should be an exciting time for any entrepreneur. You will have plenty of ideas of how your new venture can get off the ground and grow into the business you want.
Every business needs support in these early days and can be the difference as to whether success comes and how quickly.
Finding the right professional accountant is one of the most important things a business can do, particularly for early startups. Below we discuss how an accountant can assist.
How accountants can assist
Accountants provide a range of services, and most professional accountants provide the following services which are useful to businesses starting up:
- Helping decide the most appropriate business format – sole trader, partnership or limited company. The business format has implications for taxation, raising finance and personal liability, so it’s vital to choose the right option
- Advising on setting up accounting records, including use of software
- Advising on who needs to be informed of a new business
- Deciding whether to register for VAT
When your business is more established, an accountant can:
- Make sure tax returns are filed on time and that clients pay the correct amount of tax
- Ensure the client uses all the tax reliefs available to them, and provide advice to the client on minimising future tax liabilities
- Advise on payroll preparation
- Help to prepare business plans and financial forecasts
- Help with choosing appropriate finance for the stage of development of the business, and assist in raising the required amount
- Help with managing cashflow so the business does not run out of money
Tips on finding a trusted advisor
In most cases the accountant becomes a business’ most trusted advisor and will be relied upon to be proactive in providing business advice and identifying issues early, and will help the business deal with any unforeseen issues that appear.
A good accountant views any client relationship as long term and wants to assist where they can. Whilst you should certainly compare any potential costs of different accountants, you should make sure you are happy that they will be able to give you the support you need. Often you will never know the lost benefits of being with the wrong advisor!
Now, more than ever, businesses are becoming aware of the advantages of having reliable, timely financial information to assist making decisions that are key to the business.
Even if you feel you don’t have the budget to pay for all the accounting services you’d like, then you should at least make sure you are speaking to an accountant as early as possible as you should be able to find an advisor that will not charge for an initial meeting and will give out a lot of advice for free!
The biggest mistake new businesses often make is not to deal with the compliance early enough and spend all their time trying to get their business off the ground. Remember to be successful you have to spend time on the business not in the business!
Hopefully you have found the above article useful. If you have just started a new business, I wish you the best of luck as I know how much hard work you will need to make your dream grow!
If you need any assistance please contact us!