As a small business owner, you already have huge demands on your time. There is far too much to do and not enough time to do it. Tax returns, accounts and keeping the books up to date can be a real thorn in your side. Time spent on these tasks is time away from sales and growing the business.
If you hire the right accountant, you can get this time back. However, that isn’t the only benefit of hiring an accountant. Here are 10 ways an accountant can make your business better.
1. Increase Your Profits and Revenue
Many business owners get into business to sell, market and deliver an outstanding product or service.Then, once in business, they spend all their time putting out fires, dealing with employees and doing everything but selling, marketing and delivering their product!
By hiring an accountant, it will give you more time to focus on what’s important: bringing in more sales and hence increasing profits.
2. Reduce Your Expenses to Increase Profits
Statistically, you very likely have expenses which could come off your tax bill, which you are not currently claiming for. A professional accountant can show you how to reduce your expenses in this completely safe and legal way.
3. Free up Your Time
The more time you spend on your strengths, the more you will both grow the business and enjoy your time at work. Most people know that you can outsource your tax returns, but did you know you can also outsource your bookkeeping and accounts, giving you more time to focus on growing and expanding the business?
4. Be Held Accountable
Accountability is one of the most motivating forces in work. It’s why deadlines are so important. Having an accountant to give you a gentle nudge now and again can be the difference between your bookkeeping being a source of great stress and frustration, to something that gets done easily and effortlessly.
5. Grow and Scale Your Business
The great business teacher Peter Drucker said “What gets measured, gets managed”. He was talking about the phenomenon of how the more carefully you track certain numbers in your business, the more these numbers increase positively without having to do anything else.
This means if you carefully track the number of sales coming in, the number of sales will start to increase because where your focus goes, is where improvement flows.Do you know exactly how many sales came in this week? How much profit? The cost of your expenses?
The first and most important step to increasing these numbers is to find out what they really are. From there, you can increase them steadily.
6. Never Procrastinate on Taxes Again
The better you are at a task, the more you enjoy it. Tasks which stretch us far beyond our limits, are typically the tasks we dread and so procrastinate on. When you have an accountant, doing the books can become a task you stop fearing and start enjoying because you are in control. Once you start enjoying it, the procrastination will disappear.
7. Stop Feeling Overwhelmed and Start Feeling in Control
What’s the most common emotion people feel when it comes to their accounts? Many people find the experience overwhelming. When we get overwhelmed, the common reaction is to put the source of the problem out of sight, out of mind and never look at it again.
When you have a system for accounting that works for you, you can remove this burden and start to feel in control of this crucial area of your business.
8. Show You How to Save
This isn’t a tax issue, but it’s still very important. As a small business, you need to stay in control of your cash flow. You have suppliers and employees to pay, VAT, tax bills, various miscellaneous expenses and of course, you also need to pay yourself!
An accountant can show you how to stay in full control of this cash flow and how to never be put under pressure by the short-term bills. With a simple and effective saving plan, you take care of your cash flow by preparing for any future difficulties. As Lao Tzu said, “prepare for what is hard when it is easy”.
9. Always Get Paid
Nothing spells a problem client like them taking a long time to pay. Depending on your business and the number of customers you have, getting paid even one week late can be damaging. An accountant can show you how to maximise the chances of being paid on time so you can always have enough money to pay your bills and stay in control of your cash flow.
10. Take Away Your Stress
Ultimately, this is why an accountant will make your business better. More time to spend of what’s most important, and be in full control of your cash flow: these all lead to you removing your stress and never being fearful about money. You can go from coping to thriving, and this is the real benefit of hiring an accountant.
About the Author
Linda Carr is the Founder of Linda Carr Accountants, a Chartered Certified Firm of accountants based in Peterborough, which was established in 2009. Linda recognises the need for SME’s to be able to access a reliable accountants for an affordable price.
Photo credit: Steve Buissinne
