5 tips when looking for an accountant

Make sure the financial management of your company is in order. It isn’t just the law that demands that your books are in order; it is also an important steering tool in running a business.  Looking back, and with my current experience in running a business, I would have taken a slightly different path to finding an accountant. Hence 5 practical tips for beginning entrepreneurs and/or those who are looking for an accountant or accounting firm.

1. Determine which assessment indicators you are going to use
These are also called Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs for short. Which numbers will you use to assess whether you are successful. What are your goals and what is your attitude towards them. Briefly put your goals on paper and detail them in a spreadsheet. Examples of goals are turnover, the gross and net result and the cash flow in combination with debtors who have yet to pay.

2. Write down what you are looking for and what you expect of an accountant
You will find that your KPIs play an important part in this step. Ask the firm how it will make sure you receive a regular update of these KPIs without you having to manually keep Excel sheets and other documents up to date.

3. Make sure recent and relevant info is accessible
Having up-to-date info is key. In this day and age, it is no longer ‘done’ to send or receive paper reports. As a modern entrepreneur, you can expect the accountant to give you online access to information whenever you want or need to.

4. Ask how efficiently accounts are being processed
Processing accounts is not a goal in itself but a way to come to the desired steering information in the form of KPIs. The more efficient accounts are being processed, the more time the accountant has to spend on the steering information you need. Ask for example how bank statements are processed; are they automatically scanned via the internet? Or the way VAT is declared; via snail mail or digitally from within an accounting environment? These are simple question on the basis of which every entrepreneur can find out fairly quickly whether accounts are being processed in an efficient way.

5. Ask to be shown some examples and ask for a price
Ask the firm to show you things there and then. An online accountant should at any time have access to the accounts of his or her clients. If the accountant has online access, his or her clients most likely do, too. Modern accountants will be transparent about the pricing of their services. Although several firms might have the same price list, it is important to know what you get in return. A firm that processes your accounts efficiently will generally give you more support in the running of your business.

On the basis of aforementioned tips, you as an entrepreneur will end up in the ‘driver’s seat’. After all, you’re paying your accountant several hundreds of Euros per month, so you expect your money’s worth just as you’d normally do. Being financially savvy is a requirement for successfully running a business.