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Doing the necessary bookkeeping in preparation for tax time is the least favourite task of my small business. 

This is why I have always passed it on to someone else to complete on my behalf. I simply don’t want to miss anything. But more importantly, I don’t want to get it wrong either.  

Before you hire accounting help, these are a few things for considerations:

1. What are you getting for your money?

Are they just doing the record-keeping or are they going to help you with financial projections? It would be helpful to have some idea about your long-term goals.  

This type of discussion with your accounting professional when done at the beginning, helps provide you with some financial direction that leads you towards your goals. It’s like planning for a trip; know where the destination is so that you can drive a more direct path to get there. 

2. Are Credentials Important?

Do you need a certified public accountant (CPA) or someone that it’s licensed? A CPA is an accounting professional who has passed the licensing requirements. It is less expensive to hire someone without their CPA designation. However, there is peace of mind that can come with someone that is licensed.

3. References/Referrals

If you know other people using an accounting professional already, ask them for a referral. The people who are doing the referral can be the automatic reference for you. They can be the best references for you.  

If you know the referral source well, they may even share more information with you like the pros and benefits of working with their accounting professionals. 

What are some tips for using their contacts? You can even ask how responsive their accounting professionals have been with them as clients.

4. Response Times

If you have time-sensitive matters, it’s best to know how readily accessible they are. It might be good for you to know what their turnaround time for reports and filings is. This helps you plan your time to complete the financial tasks on your end as well.

5. Fee Structure

Be clear about the fees. Just like your clients don’t like surprises, you won’t like surprises either. Get a clear understanding of their fee structure and estimates ahead of time. Factor these fees into your monthly and yearly expenses.

These are 5 points that I considered before hiring my accounting professional. There is one additional item that I have since added. This pertains to confidentiality. You might think to yourself, why is this even necessary to consider. Continue reading and I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s extremely important for all industries, even the “creative” industry to have a look at this item.

Confidential Accounting Protects Business Interests

Information that you share with your accountant and/or bookkeeper should be kept confidential. He/she is obligated to protect this information from unauthorized disclosure or public release.  

Let’s say you are a wedding planner and planned a high-profile celebrity wedding. Do you think your clients would be happy if the financials of their wedding was publicized or somehow leaked out? I would suggest they likely wouldn’t be pleased.  Furthermore, I would assume that any new prospective client would think twice about doing business with you.

The information you share with your accountant/bookkeeper may be sensitive and needs to be handled with care. I know I certainly wouldn’t want my accounting professional speaking to other people in the event industry about my financial matters over coffee. I definitely wouldn’t want my information shared with any other people because it could impact my business or my business dealings in a negative manner.

There is a legal obligation for accounting professionals to protect financial information from third parties. 

They need to take the utmost care against unauthorized disclosures. This is particularly vital as accounting has embraced digital platforms. Unfortunately, there some inherent security risks with the internet and digital platforms as a whole. Therefore your accounting professional should have measures in place to safeguard your information.

Unauthorized disclosure is just one scenario small business owners may face. Accounting professionals should not disclose to third party, publicize and/or distribute information that they obtained from a business relationship with you unless you have authorized them to do so on your behalf. This would include but NOT limited to your business practices and client lists.

Your accounting professional is responsible for protecting your information. They must look after and secure your confidential information.  Otherwise, this exposes them (and you) to potential lawsuits of breach of duty.

There are always great professionals that uphold their professions’ code of conducts, as well as their standard and practices any industry. While may not be consistent at this, you need to really protect yourself, your business and your financial information.

One simple way is to have a booking-keeping agreement in place. This outlines what your expectations are when it comes to your accounting professional. It helps set up the working framework of your dealings together.  

Now you might think that going through a lawyer is going to cost you an arm and a leg. Well, truthfully, it could. This is why a legal template is really handy. I came across this template that was written by a lawyer and it is available for purchase. The language contained within it is specific for client to accounting professional relationships. I thought that it was extremely useful. If you’re ready to invest in your business, and want to purchase this template, please click here. It will be one of the most wisest investment you have ever made in your small business.

If you want to know what other basic legal requirements small businesses running a website or blog should have, please click here to read the blog post for free.

Please comment below and let me know how this information helped you!

Slightly Petite, Wendy