Does the thought of speaking with your accountant bring you out in a cold sweat? Do you just dread that call, worried it will be bad news or problems coming your way? It doesn’t have to be that way. Your accountant could be a key ally in your business, not someone there to cause you pain.
When certain people call, you can fear it’s going to be bad news. But it doesn’t have to be like that if the relationship with your accountant is open, fluid and you’ve got a really good working relationship. When it comes to money and tax, people are naturally scared. But there needs to be a mechanism in place or you need to change your thought process so the relationship isn’t always seen as delivering bad news. There can be good things to discuss too.
Cost Concerns
Some accountants still bill on a time basis, so a phone call goes on the time ledger and you get an invoice after. Some clients are genuinely upset about this – they don’t want to fear the fee clock ticking on every call, although they understand both parties need fair remuneration. This can put people off calling when they will get automatically charged.
At our firm, we give ad hoc phone calls for free. If you want 20 minutes or so for quick advice, there’s no extra charge. If it’s going to be a big job taking days, then yes that’s chargeable work. But your accountant should be your first point of call, your sounding board that you can go to freely without worrying about fees for every call. Get rid of that cost fear and it will bring your relationship closer.
Feeling Like A Burden?
When you call, you don’t want to feel like you’re an unwanted burden or that your accountant isn’t interested because everyone should be. Of course, accountants get busy periods and need holidays sometimes. But you should have options to speak to multiple people in the firm if needed.
We’ve heard this issue many times – the accountant is the bottleneck in the business. We got around this by giving people three points of contact, usually two technical people and one for practice support. Queries can be answered much quicker and efficiently with the right expert for that issue. Who wants to wait six months for a reply or to have an email ignored?
Money & Tax Anxiety
Tonnes of small business owners have anxiety about money and tax – it’s just the way it is. But you want to try to eliminate and get over that fear. How could you be more courageous and understand the key bits you need to know? That takes away the doubt, fear and allows you to be more successful in business and your personal life.
If you are overwhelmed and frightened to call your accountant because you lack an open, trusting relationship with good communication, it can feel really lonely. That seed of doubt consumes you and stops you focusing solely on your customers, team and business growth. Getting a good relationship with your accountant and their team, getting great advice, allows you to charge full speed towards your goals instead of being held back.
Most business owners don’t understand accounts in-depth, and that’s fine. You don’t need to know about double-entry bookkeeping formalities and depreciation calculations. But you need to understand the key numbers – are you profitable or not, how much income are you earning, what is the capital growth, and is it sustainable? Ask the key questions for your business.
Don’t be afraid to ask if you don’t understand something. A good accountant will rephrase and re-explain until you do get it, because that’s their job. And give feedback if something is bugging you or you have a frustrating niggle. Eliminating frustration and anxiety allows you to be fully present growing your business and in your personal life too.
