Choosing the Right Accountant for your Small Business

qualified_accountant

qualified_accountant

You have a vacancy for the post of an accountant in your Office. More often than not, you come across,  A Fresher who has a masters degree in Accounting and just completed a training course in Tally, A Non-Graduate with 3 years of experience in Tally, Your wife’s brother, who will be grateful and tell all in your family that you gave him a job.  A clerk sent by your C.A , Your stockbroker who agrees to freelance… before you choose any of these contenders, You will do well to find answers to the following Questions:

1. Which taxes affect your Business?

Finding which taxes affect your business, will help you decide on the level of expertise your accountant should have. An Accountant who has prior expertise in preparing and filing the taxes which affects you is a good bet. A Clerk sent by your CA could also deliver, if you are considering a cheper alternative (where the clerk can do the record keeping and probably your CA handles the taxes)

2. How often do you want to review your profitability?

Understanding what comes in and goes out of your business and from where it comes from helps you make decisions based on intelligence and logic. Its always a good idea to have a monthly review of profitability after reconciling your bank statements. A Fresh Graduate trained in Tally does not always give you Accounting Reports, he might just do the basic data entry. In this case, Consider a freelancer who agrees to take his payment after submitting Monthly profitability statements.

3. Do you offer credit to your customers?

If you are offering credit to your customers, It is enevitable that you send remainders to your customers on due dates and manage your receivables. You will find it difficult to chase your C.A or Freelancer everytime you intend to send remainders. A regular trained accountant can fit in well. Even the fresh graduate can do the job for you if you can offer some priliminary training.

4. How many employees do you have? How much do you pay them?

If you employ more than 10 labourers or 20 staffs or if you pay the salaries above the Tax Limits, you have to manage some statutory deductions. Your accountant should be capable of managing this, or atleast be capable of providing the necessary inputs to an outsourced consultant in the requested format.

5. How often does you  partner, Investor, Banker like to review your business health?

If you have a Bank Loan, you might have to submit Receivables statements every Quarter/Month. In this case you need a full time accountant. A Freelancer might do the job, but not always. Dont choose your wife’s relative, unless he has a strong commerce background and can keep you financial data, Privacy protected.

A Good Accountant ensuers the success of your accounting system and hence choosing your accountant wisely will largely be instrumental in the success of your venture. Make a wise choice, and probably before you make your choice; Give us a Call.

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