Every entrepreneur knows an accountant handles tax and compliance for businesses. Many entrepreneurs have worked with accountants who have helped in other ways because they are excellent strategic advisors and trouble-shooters with a vast understanding of finances and business. Here are a few things your accountant can do that might surprise you.
Helping With Your Business Strategy
A small business has so much going on that it can become difficult for owners to focus on one thing. Accountants can help you know what is important and thus give you areas to focus on.
They work with small business owners to help them set financial goals for themselves and their businesses and then arm them with the tools they need to reach them while measuring their progress.
Business owners are then introduced to the right Key Performance Metrics (KPIs) they should be focusing on to ensure a growing business and increasing revenue. When things are not going as expected, your accountant will help you troubleshoot the issue, develop, and test various solutions, and ensure you keep up with your KPIs.
They Can Help With Loan Applications
Business owners can take loans to start businesses or keep them running. Your accountant understands your financials and financial obligations best. They know your assets and liabilities, which areas could use a cash injection, and how much the business can borrow depending on what they see on the books.
If they decide the business is in a great financial position to take out a loan, they can help with the next phase, which entails compiling the documentation and data required for the loan application. They will also help you identify repayment sources to ensure the business can repay any loans it takes.
The accountant will then put all of this together in a presentation, so you have everything you need to convince a lender and improve your chances of getting the loan approved.
Setting Up Cloud Accounting Software
Technology has taken over many business functions, with businesses that leverage available technologies able to stay ahead of their competition. One area that requires automation is accounting. Accounting can be tedious and time-consuming if you are not using the right tools.
Your accountant will help you set up your cloud accounting software to streamline things. The best Maidstone accountants use Xero accounting software that lets businesses manage their finances online. In addition to giving businesses real-time access to their expenses, payments, and cash flow, they provide businesses with all the data they need to know how the business is doing in one place. The software can also send payment reminders for invoices and payroll so businesses can stay on top of these crucial functions.
There are other automated systems accountants help businesses with. These include:
- KPI tracking dashboards to keep an eye on business performance
- Cash flow dashboards
- Mobile accounting apps
- Automated accounts payable so the company can stay caught up on its payments.
Reviewing Documents and Contracts
Any business contract has potential tax, legal, and accounting implications. Let your accountant look at all documents and contracts before you go ahead or sign anything.
Once they are done analysing the documents, contracts, and agreements, they will let you know how they will affect your business and its finances now and in the future. Their perspective and insight help small businesses, and their owners avoid the negative consequences related to insurance, financial statements, financial planning, and cash management when it comes to contracts and agreements.
Because they are not lawyers, you should also let your attorneys look at potential deals and contracts to see if there are additional issues you should be aware of.
Help Your Small Business deal With Unpaid Invoices
Debt stemming from unpaid invoices is a part of doing business. If a customer defaults, you might waste time and resources chasing them down, especially if the outstanding invoice is significant. Instead of doing this, let your accountant help you with this.
First, they will set up automated invoicing systems that send email reminders for unpaid invoices. These reminders usually produce excellent results, but every business deals with problematic customers. The second thing your accountant might do is call the business or customer to see when they will pay their bill.
They can also arrange factoring. Factoring is where the business sells its unpaid invoices to a third party and gets a percentage of the amount on the invoice. The third part is then left to chase the customer.
In addition to tax and bookkeeping services, accountants do a lot for businesses. They use their expertise to ensure the business is in good financial standing, advise the business owner, arrange for financing, and protect businesses from the consequences of bad deals and contracts.
