Tips on Managing Your Accountants’ Fees

Quite often the professional fees that are charged by some accountants are seen as onerous to some small business owners.  Considering the current state of the economy, you might find the following tips useful to help you manage your overheads.

*  Organise your books & record keeping.  Basically, if the information your accountant needs to prepare your tax return is clear and well-arranged they won’t need to spend additional time doing it for you.

*  Consult with your accountant and establish an appropriate system of book-keeping that suits your needs.  There’s no doubt that using spreadsheets or other book-keeping software should reduce your accountant’s bill.  But the extra time, effort and cost you’ve gone to will be wasted if your book-keeping is inconsistent or you input incorrect figures.  Remember the “garbage in – garbage out” adage.

*  Identify and examine any obvious arithmetical errors & omissions in your records.  If you prepare your own cash book, reconcile it before handing it to your accountant.  Any time your accountant spends correcting your errors will result in higher professional fees.

*  Submit your records to your accountant earlier.  If you supply your records close to the filing deadline, your accountant may charge overtime or a premium to make sure your work is finished on time.  At busy times of the year, many accountants work on a “first come – first served basis” so discuss your needs well in advance.

*  Don’t forget that many accountants are also experienced business advisors.  Ask yours how you can improve or grow your business.

*  Be cautious.  Unfortunately in New Zealand anyone, even without professional qualifications, can be an accountant.  Many non-qualified accountants’ fees are “falsely” cheap.  There’s a good explanation for that.  Not only are these people un-regulated, but they are unlikely to hold professional indemnity insurance.  A fully qualified Chartered Certified Accountant or Chartered Accountant is trained to very high levels to help you reduce your tax liabilities but they can also help you manage and grow your business.  Likewise, qualified accountants are regulated by a professional body that sets very high professional and ethical standards.  You should also be assured that they hold adequate professional indemnity insurance.

At Business Advisory Accounting & Tax Services we’re very proud in our ability to offer top notch accounting and tax services under the watchful eye of our professional body.  We also hold professional indemnity insurance as you’d expect from a transparent firm of accountants.