An accountant can help your business grow by giving you an understanding of what it can afford and what your plans could mean financially. When they know the business and stay involved throughout the year, they’re also more likely to spot problems early.
What should a proactive accountant do for a growing professional services business?
A proactive accountant helps professional services businesses grow by understanding what they can afford before the owner commits to spending money.
Running a firm can be messy and stressful. It can also feel deeply personal when your own ambitions and livelihood are tied up in every decision you make. The figures are important, but they never tell the whole story.
This is why a good accountant needs to know the business behind the numbers. When they understand what the owner is trying to achieve, they can explain how a decision could affect the firm and help them think it through before the money has gone out the door.
At Benson Wood, we’ve supported businesses across Lanarkshire and Central Scotland since 1936. We know what a difference it makes to have an accountant you can call while you’re considering a decision, rather than explaining it after everything has been agreed.
Here are five ways we support our clients as their businesses grow.
1. We help you make better business decisions
An accountant can help you make better business decisions by explaining what your options could mean financially before you commit to one.
Not every decision needs a detailed forecast. Sometimes a client emails us with a question and a quick conversation is enough to help them think it through. If the answer needs more work, we’ll take the time to look into it properly before coming back to them.
A client might be considering another member of staff and want to know whether the business can sustain the cost. Someone else may be planning a large purchase and need to understand how it could affect their tax bill.
Because we already know the business, we can look beyond the most obvious figure. Employing someone costs more than their salary, and it may take time before they bring in enough work to cover that cost.
Our role is to give clients the financial information they need to decide what is best for their business. Even when a question doesn’t seem obviously accountancy-related, we’re happy to talk it through if it could affect the firm.
The sooner we’re involved, the more help we can usually give. There tend to be more options before an agreement has been signed or money has been spent.
2. We identify problems and opportunities earlier
Spotting a problem early gives you more time to deal with it and can stop a small oversight from becoming expensive.
Sometimes, being an accountant is a bit like being a detective. We pay attention to the details clients mention in conversation and follow up when something could affect their plans.
If someone tells us they’re thinking about buying another vehicle for the business, we’ll make a note and discuss the tax implications before they find the perfect one and sign on the dotted line.
We also ask questions when something in the records doesn’t look as we expected. It may turn out to have a simple explanation, but we’d rather find out than leave a potential problem unnoticed. We may also spot an unused allowance or tax relief that could save the business money if it is claimed in time.
Our Growth Reports give clients regular opportunities to look at how the business is performing during the year. This means we can investigate a change when it first appears rather than discovering it after the year has ended.
3. We help you choose and use accounting software
Cloud accounting software should make the financial side of running a business easier, but only when the system has been set up correctly. With so many platforms and functions available, it can be difficult to know what you need and what you’ll be paying for without ever using.
As a firm grows, it may need more from its accounting software. Choosing on price alone can mean replacing the system sooner than expected, while paying for functions the team will never use adds unnecessary cost.
We help clients work out what their accounting software needs to do before recommending a platform.
Benson Wood is a Xero Gold Partner, so we can set up Xero and show you how to use it in your business. We’ve also tested other platforms and will tell you if we believe one of those would suit you better.
Sometimes, software seems determined to work against you. If that happens, you won’t be left to figure it out alone. Our team provides training at our Bellshill office and remains available when you need help afterwards.
4. We connect you with specialist advice and funding support
When a business needs expertise outside accountancy, we can often introduce the owner to someone with the relevant knowledge.
We’ve built a wide network of connections through our work with businesses across Scotland. It includes solicitors and financial advisers, as well as bankers, lending brokers and insurance brokers. We also know fellow accountants with specialist expertise that sits outside our own.
We know we can’t do everything, but we often know someone who can help.
Our partnership with Money Insights also helps clients identify grants and funding that could support their plans. We can stay involved as the owner considers the options and help them understand how the funding could affect the firm’s finances.
5. We adapt our support as your business grows
The help a business needs from its accountant will change as the firm develops. An owner may initially need support getting the financial records under control. Once that is sorted, their attention may turn to understanding whether the business is making enough profit from the work it takes on.
Later, you might be working towards a business that depends less heavily on you or beginning to think about your eventual exit. Because we’ve been part of the journey, we understand how the business reached that point and what you want it to give you in the future.
You won’t have to explain the whole history every time you call us with a question. We can draw on previous conversations and understand how a new decision fits with the plans you’ve been working towards.
For us, a long-term relationship isn’t simply about serving the same client for many years. It means continuing to understand what they want from the business and changing our support as their priorities develop.
Could your accountant do more to support your growth?
As a professional services firm grows, the questions facing its owner become more complex. If your accountant isn’t involved in those conversations, you may be making important financial decisions without all the information you need.
Benson Wood supports growing professional services firms across Lanarkshire and Central Scotland. We get to know your business and stay involved throughout the year, so when a decision arises, you can discuss it with an accountant who already understands your firm and its finances.
If you’d like to find out how we could support your firm, come and meet us for a coffee and a Tunnock’s Teacake.
