It is very important for your cleaning business to find an accountant that you will be comfortable working with. You accountant’s responsibilities include staying upfront with all the ever changing tax laws provide your with financial advice that will help and guide you grow your business.
Maybe you are a sole-proprietor who is considering incorporating your business. A good accountant will be able to advice you on how these things work and such move’s effect on your taxes and business growth. Or you may have some queries on what is advantageous on buying or leasing a new truck for your business. In these issues, your accountant will be of great help.
So how do you find an accountant who will fit you and your cleaning business requirements?
First is to ask for references. Know about accountants from other business owners and how satisfied they are with the services provided by their accountants.
But if you can’t find any references, check out the yellow pages and search for listings on several accounting firm. Contact their offices and ask for an accountant who is familiar with cleaning business. Then call those accountants you had on your list and ask for their experiences in working with clients in the cleaning business and also about their fees. And from that list, you can leave a couple for personal interview.
Then, prepare a list of guide questions to ask them on the interview such as –
• Any experiences they have on working with cleaning companies/businesses? An accountant for a cleaning business needs to understand unique expenses like cleaning supplies and equipments.
• How long had they been an accountant?
• Do they have any certifications?
• Are they attending any continuing education or workshops?
• How much they charge hourly and what are the other charges billed for extra services like completion of tax returns or helping with payroll.
• Do they work on their own or if there are any other people that is working with them?
• How accessible can they be? Do they have mobile phones and email? You leave a message, how soon will you get a response? Do they have phone consultation charges?
• Is there any other services they provide and what are the fees?
If the business is being audited, what do they do?
• What kinds of insurance do they have? Do they carry liability and errors and omission insurance?
• Who are their references? (be sure to call the references they’ve provided.
When looking for an accountant, make sure that who you have is a forward thinker. And during the interview ask him already what kinds of problems do he foresee and what are the things he would do to correct those.
You can meet with a couple of prospective accountants and conduct the interview. They should be willing to meet with you for a while and get to know you without any charge. Meeting you accountant personally will help you assess if you are comfortable with them and if you can build a long term relationship. Are they interested in you or your business? Where you able to communicate easily and there were not much misunderstanding?
In any business, service is important and if the accountant seems not interested in your or your business, and then it might be best to move on the next one on your list who may be able to devote time and effort in your business.
After several interviews with different prospects, you can no sit down and make up your mind on the one you were comfortable with and confident that has the knowledge and abilities to keep your cleaning business finances on track. And once you’ve decided on who you want your accountant to be, request for a written estimate of cost spelling out your responsibilities and your accountant’s responsibilities. Being clear on what you and your accountant will be doing will help remove the confusion and save you time and money.
Keep in mind that your accountant is more than just someone who prepares the tax returns for your cleaning business. They can help you make important financial decisions to guide you and your business and make it profitable. Spending a bit of time and effort in finding the right accountant when you are just starting your cleaning business can assure your business success in the future.
Why the need for accountants –
Not only because your cleaning business needs an accountant to help you with your finances, accountants nowadays are also the best advisers when it comes to small business set ups.
A lot of small business owners thought they can handle their own financial issues, but this is a huge mistake for any small business and it will only cost you a lot of money. Yes you may be aware of your figures, but is quite unlikely that you can be nearly as good as any professional accountant especially when its the end of the financial year.
New businesses or opportunities needs to have great care and attention if it aims to succeed.
So if you are good at designing websites, focus on it. If you clean carpets and upholstery, then you should work on doing the best of you job for your customers to be happy. Realise that the time you spent of accounting books could be spend building customer base, doing more job and earning your more money that worrying on tallying up your figures.
Aside from basic finances, a good accountant can also show you the leaks in your business. They can give advice on how you can grow your business like when it’s time to employ new staff, best time to invest in more equipments, increasing profits and how to pay less taxes.
A good accountant has a detailed knowledge on changing tax legislations so they can provide advice on all aspects of accountancy as well as taxation issues so that you business can have the best tax strategies and assist you in your plan for financial future.
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