Is Your Accountant an Angela or a Q?
We recently heard a friend joking about how she is the “accountant” in her family, and how “the accountant’s job” (her job) is to approve or deny purchase requests from her husband and kids based on the budget. “Accounting loves to deny, deny, deny,” she laughed, as the proud penny-pincher of the family.
But it got us thinking. That’s how most people see the role of accountants, isn’t it? They roll their eyes at having to deal with the accounting department–the sticklers, the Debbie Downers, the inflexible rule-followers. And most of the time it’s warranted. Lots of accounting departments are like that!
We’re here to officially say (if you didn’t know already): that’s not how it’s supposed to work.
A good accountant is a creative ally, the person you turn to and say, “I want to go HERE. Not sure how to get there. Lots of obstacles stand in my way. Any ideas?”
And they reply, “challenge accepted.”
They should be your business’ equivalent of Q, the outside-the-box-thinking gadget-maker from the James Bond movies, and not the equivalent of Angela, the infamously difficult accountant from the TV series The Office.
Small business owners: If your accounting department or bookkeeper makes your life more difficult, instead of easier, something needs to change.
In many cases, this will mean finding an accountant who provides advisory services, in addition to traditional bookkeeping. Advisory is the new “it” term in the industry, but it basically means providing holistic accounting services to help businesses make strategic decisions for future growth.
Advisory services can include:
Guidance on entity type
Business Coaching
Budgeting/forecasting
Review financing sources
Capital deployment strategy
Profitability analysis
Pricing and cost analysis
Financial reporting and KPI's
Review of owner compensation
Advise on retirement plan options (401K, SIMPLE IRA, etc.)
Group health benefits
Audit Prep
And a lot more
If those functions sound like things your business could use, check out this guide to hiring a fractional accountant, including essential interview questions.
And remember, not only should your accountant be your go-to person for strategic advice, they should be easy to work with!
We’ve worked with countless companies with toxic relationships with their accounting departments, where employees and even owners dreaded interacting with them. Sometimes, this is because the accountant has their hands tied by an ineffective process that needs updating. Sometimes, it’s a personality issue. Either way, if talking to your accountant feels more like talking to Angela than to Q–know it doesn’t need to be that way. There are many options available to fix the situation, or make a change.
If you're interested in learning more about what advisory services could do for your small business, reach out. We’d love to meet you and develop a bespoke strategy for your unique business.
