If you contact your accountant once a month or once a quarter, you should try to do it more often. Your accountant can be your trusted advisor who you can turn to for a wide range of business advice.
According to a survey conducted by OnPay, 61% of small businesses are completely satisfied with the range of services their accountant offers. What’s more, a majority of small businesses call their account a trusted advisor, the survey notes.
OnPay Business Accountant Survey
Though an accountant plays an important role in the success of any small business, only 30% of small businesses choose to work with an accountant. So a majority of small businesses are still managing finances themselves.
Despite the fact that 61% of small businesses are satisfied with their accountant, only 21% of small business owners contact their accountant more than once a month, reports the survey.
When it comes to a range of services accountants offer, small businesses expect their accountants to help them with an array of services.
Payroll, accounts payable/accounts receivable, financial projections, cash flow, choosing a business entity, and business consulting are key functions small business owners want their accounts to handle.
What’s more, a significant number of business owners also expect their accountant to provide them with advice on software recommendations, employee benefits, and HR.
In fact, 83% of small business owners ask their accountant for tech advice.
Why shouldn’t they? A majority of small businesses find their accountant a trusted advisor who they can depend on for a wide range of business services.
Katelyn Sullivan, who leads OnPay’s Partner Program, said in her prepared statement, “It’s becoming more and more common for businesses to trust their accountant with more than just taxes — things like recommendations for software, payroll, employee benefits, and HR are now sought after services. Almost 90% of the small businesses agreed that they view their accountant as a trusted advisor that they can turn to for a wide range of business services and advice.”
How to Hire An account for a Small Business
Small business owners, due to their limited budgets, often try to do multiple things themselves. Well, it can be a good strategy to reduce operating costs.
However, accounting is something that small business owners should delegate to a professional. This is because financial mistakes can bring in IRS notices or audits.
When it comes to hiring a business accountant, small business owners should make a list of tasks first. Then, narrow down the selection based on their requirements.
Here are some questions that small business owners can ask accountants to pick the right one:
- What software application do you use?
- Do you offer a software setup?
- Do you offer monthly/quarterly bookkeeping?
- Have you worked with small businesses?
- Do you have experience in my industry?
- Where will you work (remotely or onsite)?
Last but not the least, small business owners also enquire about charges (hourly or monthly) to get the best deal. However, small businesses should not hire an accountant solely based on the fee he/she charges.
About the Survey
OnPay surveyed 1085 managers and small business owners with at least one employee. The object of the survey was to understand the finance of small businesses. It was conducted online.
If you want to know more about the survey you can click here to look at the infographic below.
READ MORE:
Image: Depositphotos.com
This article, "61% of Small Businesses Are Satisfied with Their Accountant" was first published on Small Business Trends
May 17, 2020 at 03:03PM
via https//www.brucedayne.com/
Sandeep Rathore, Khareem Sudlow
