8 Services You Had No Idea Your Accountant Could Do

You may be surprised to know that there is more to accounting than tax and bookkeeping. While they both are major parts of an accountant’s job, as cloud computing makes these less time consuming, the role of an accountant has shifted. Now, an accountants’ services goes beyond simple tax and bookkeeping.  

Now your accountant can act more as your advisor, offering further services that can truly take your business to the next level. Here are 8 services you did not know your accountant could do. 

Business strategy 

When you first think about what other services an accountant can provide, it is generally thought to be about numbers. While that is true to an extent, your accountant can also provide business strategy support. As they are very financially minded, accountants have a very good perspective as to what can make your business profitable.  

Your accountant can help you focus on your business goals, providing you with strategies to achieve them. They will: 

• Help you determine the necessary goals to work towards 

• Help you price your product or service 
• Establish how much you can spend and where 
• Help you with transitioning out of your business and handing over the reins where necessary. 

Cash flow support 

Cash flow management seems like a pretty standard service. As it is a major part of your finances, knowing your cash flow is an important part of an accountant’s role, however, an accountant can go deeper than that. Your accountant can provide cash flow strategy support in order to help you better manage your cash flow. 

Within this service they will: 

• Create strategies and put plans in place to keep you on top of your expenditure 
• Forecast your cash flow. 

• Ensure you know what cashflows to expect and when to expect them 

Manage your debt 

Your accountant can support you in managing your debt. They can provide debt managing strategies, provide support for refinancing, or provide advice on whether you should use spare money to pay off existing loans or reinvest into your business. Through this service, your accountant can: 

• Look into the structure of your debt 
• Develop strategies to help manage your debt 
• Provide advice on bank borrowing 
• Work with your broker (or bank) to get the deal done 

If your business has unpaid invoices, your accountant can implement payment methods and strategies designed to take care of them. For those that you can’t handle, your accountant will also be able to look into debt financing or other methods to pay back the debt.  

Support for loan applications 

Accountants are experts at crafting your financials, forecasts, business history, and overall business goal into a compelling story that puts on a good presentation for lenders. Your accountant will know what lenders want to see in an application, so will use your data to create an attractive application.  

You may not expect “storytelling” to be a skill an accountant has. But it is required to make your loan application the best it can be. Your accountant will use a range of charts and graphs showing your business’ progress visually, demonstrating the opportunity your business provides.  

It’s essential to have both a good accountant + a good broker on your team when it comes to securing finance for your business. 

Budgeting 

Creating a great budget is an essential part of business success. It ensures you are not spending beyond your means and can allow you to make accurate projections for the future. Your accountant can help you in creating a future focused budget which will provide you with a factual picture of your business’ incomings, expenses, and growth.  

With a great budget, you will find it easier to set goals for your business to accomplish, making growth seem more attainable. A budget puts everything in perspective, especially when it has been completed by a fantastic accountant who has: 

• Identified your costs 
• Provided accurate forecasts of your sales 
• Monitored your budget to determine if you are on track or not 
• Vary and tweak the budget as necessary 

Implement cloud accounting software 

Xero is the big thing in accounting software. They provide innovative features that enable your accountant to provide you many of these extra services, improving your overall business performance. It can also change the way you run your business, automating many processes that originally were both tedious and manual. Find out more about what makes Xero great here. 

If you aren’t already on Xero, a Xero focused accountant can transition your business on to Xero for you. They will provide you with all the training you need, transfer your data, and ongoing support to ensure you make the most out of the software.  

Boost efficiencies 

Inefficiencies often hide in plain sight throughout your business, reducing effectiveness. It could be a range of issues, like staff hours, irregular payments, not monitoring your utilities, or the physical space your business occupies. An accountant is an expert at finding these inefficiencies and implementing strategies to remove them.  

While your accountant may be ruthless towards these inefficiencies, eliminating them will massively improve the running of your business.  

Setting up a new business 

Setting up a new business can be stressful for those who have never done it before. Starting your own business is an exciting new opportunity that your accountant can make easier. An accountant can help you navigate through this ensuring that you have the right business structure and that you are meeting GST and tax obligations.  

They can also help you develop strategies to ensure your new business is as tax effective as possible. 

Conclusion 

Your accountant is there to help you so you can focus on running the business while they take care of the rest. Taking advantage of all your accountants’ services will only benefit your business, helping you receive a different perspective from a financial expert.  

For the best accountants who actively care about your business and want you to succeed, talk to Link Advisors.