do you want more from your accountant?
Author
Date
Posted in

Do you want more from your Accountant?

Everyone knows that there are basic services that most businesses need from their Accountant such as Tax Returns, VAT Returns and Payroll.  Many businesses also use their Accountant for bookkeeping services but what else could they help you with?

Financing

Accountancy for business is not just about balancing the books, it is also about budgeting, planning and forecasting.  If you have a good relationship with your accountant and are in touch with them regularly then surely they are in the best position to advise you on your financial management.

A recent study commissioned by Intuit revealed that “87% of SMBs need help with project financing, however only 36% of accountants actually offer this as a service”.

At Footprints we have extensive experience of the banking and business lending sector and a very good track record for helping our clients to obtain finance for their projects.

We know what banks need in order to lend you money and what makes a good lending proposition (our Managing Director used to be a bank manager). We will work together on your business plan, ensuring that you understand the numbers and that the investment is the right thing to do for the business.

Only when we are both satisfied that lending will benefit you and the business, will we work with you to prepare and then we will accompany you to meet possible financiers, be that banks or investors.

The financial plan will be written in a way that makes the job of supporting you, easy for the bank. We build in quarterly reviews to help keep you on track, ensuring that payments can be met and giving lenders further comfort that you have ongoing support, should you need it.

In the last twelve months we were successful in obtaining over a million pounds for our clients, helping them to grow, take on new staff, buy new equipment and move premises.

Adding Value

The Intuit study also showed that “82% of small businesses expect their accountants to be more proactive in developing value-added services”.  So what can we do to ‘add-value’ to your business?

The research suggests that “65% of small businesses would value a business consultancy service from their accountant”, the reality is that most don’t receive it and 40% of clients do not get the full service they expect at all.

So how can your Accountant ‘add value’ to your business?  We believe that we do this by working in partnership with you. We truly believe that your accountant and bank manager should be your business partners. We need to understand you, your business and your aspirations. By working together on your goals we can ensure that we support you along the way.

We can work with you on your strategic growth, profitability, efficiency, markets, products and many other goals and barriers facing your business. We are approved Growth Accelerator Coaches, which is a government funded initiative, this allows us to work with you from as little of £600, whilst receiving growth support to the value of £3,500.

 

Does your accountant offer all these things?  If not, it might be time to change to one that does, your competitors might have a great accountant already and that gives them a real advantage.

Using the Cloud

The final lesson from Intuit’s research in to small businesses and their needs is that 61% of small businesses are demanding cloud-based accounting.  This is excellent news for Footprints clients as we partner with the world’s number one accountancy software company in the world for cloud based accounting – QuickBooks.

Footprints also train the accountants at the top 100 accountancy practices in the UK on behalf of QuickBooks, we also have a much sought after role on their UK Council.  By coming to Footprints for your cloud accounting you will be looked after by the QuickBooks experts in the North of England.

We believe QuickBooks offers our customers the tools to be able to manage their accounts efficiently and flexibly.  There is even an app for your mobile and tablet so you can keep track of things on the move as well as raise estimates and invoices in real time whilst you are out and about running your business.

What else could your accountant do?

We like to think we do a great job of providing ‘value-adding’ services to our clients but we would love to know your ideas for what else you would like to see Footprints offering in the future. Complete the comments form at the end of the blog, post on our Facebook page, send us a Tweet or drop us an email to ‘[email protected]’ with the words ‘More Services’ in the subject line.

Share this post
Need help with your business accounting?
julie robinson footprint accountancy
Julie Robinson - Managing Director
Julie set up Footprints Accountancy in 2010 after gaining over 20 years experience in a variety of financial roles in both the business and voluntary sectors.
Read More
View More Posts

Latest Posts

Categories

Archives

Search

Facebook

Twitter

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram