A new accountant for Christmas?
What’s top of your list for Santa this year? While you may have outgrown soliciting that particular kind of investment opportunity before your 10th birthday, there’s one Christmas present that all small business owners, freelancers and landlords should be looking out for – more flexible and cost-effective accountancy services.
With Self-Assessment tax returns due to be submitted right after the Christmas break and accountancy software fast evolving, you could save both money and time by re-considering your accountancy options. Here are the key points to consider:
Are you paying too much for accountancy services?
When an accountant quotes you a fee, this figure is the culmination of all their overheads and business costs, as well as the service you have requested.
This means that, with traditional paper-based accountants, your fee is inclusive of a host of secondary costs, including postage, printing, administrative staff and time spent manually reviewing, amending and re-posting documents.
Technological innovations have now changed the accountancy landscape, with advanced accountancy software such as Xero removing the need for a paper-based service. Using an accountant who uses this software allows you to send over any expense receipts instantly using just a smartphone, as well as enabling you to invoice clients automatically via email. The details of accounting documents can then be aggregated and offset against your overall cash flow, providing accurate and traceable figures without any paper document administration.
And, while a subscription to the software will be included as part of your overall fee, this total will be reduced significantly as you’re no longer required to fork out for administrative costs that are unrelated to the core service required.
Is your accountancy information updated in real time?
There’s another major benefit to signing on with an accountant that utilises Xero – they can keep you up to date with both specific and general cash flow information in real time.
Many accountants still rely on an annual meeting schedule to relay the details of your profit margins, meaning that any predictions made and developments planned during this meeting can quickly fall out of step with the figures that your business is actually returning.
Cloud-based accountancy software can be linked with your company’s bank account, so when an invoice is settled via Paypal or another digital method, this will update your records and become visible to your accountant immediately. This enables you to receive timely guidance on financial matters, based on figures that are 100% accurate and up-to-date.
Whether you’re planning a short campaign or looking for signs of success from a mid-year initiative, real-time accountancy information gives you everything you need to manage your finances more accurately and effectively.
Change your accountant this Christmas for a better 2016 ahead
With all the benefits a modern, online accountant can offer you, businesspeople should seriously consider putting a new accountant on the Christmas wish-list. If you’re looking for more advanced, forward-looking accountancy services this festive season, why not get in touch with our expert team today?
