The world of accountancy is changing…… quickly. A modern accountant is one who can solve your problems, not just reduce the amount of tax you pay.
There are 3 key reasons why small businesses expect more from their
accountant.
- In recent years we have seen a huge growth in cloud accounting systems such as Xero, FreeAgent and more recently Capium, and the automation of payments and bank feeds. It’s no longer enough for accountants just to provide book keeping or year-end accounts and tax compliance services.
- Business owners want
personalised, tailored partnerships with their accountant who needs to be a true business expert.
- Finance is still hard to access by SMEs and accountants are taking on the challenge of SME finance and using online funding comparison services to offer advice and find funding for clients.
Not only does technology make it easier
to find finance, it also allows accountants to give more thorough advice on a full range of choices.
Now, a business, that would have otherwise have just gone to their bank, is now turning to their accountant for advice on suitable peer-to-peer lending platforms.
One platform we are working with is
Capitalise who say:
Rather than simply easing their professional burden, leading accountants are using technology to go beyond their core proficiency and provide value-added services to their clients. “Technology is shaping the future of the profession.
This is particularly pertinent to those
practitioners with SME clients, where technology is really shaping the future of the profession. Previously technology had simply increased efficiency and decreased the margin of error. Now, however, rather than just creating more time in the day to concentrate on value-add services, technology is also helping to actually deliver these new service areas.”
The next step is what HMRC are
calling ‘Making Tax Digital’ and they are rolling this out first to sole traders and SMEs. Before long every business will have to file financial information with HMRC on a quarterly basis directly from their accounting system.
If you haven’t planned for how you will automate your bookkeeping and accounting do it now or book a no obligation call with me here.
More on this tomorrow.............
To your success
Noel
Guilford
Noel Guilford is the principal of Guilford Accounting a small business accountancy practice specialising in advising owner-managed businesses on current accounting, finance, and tax matters. You can reach him via email at noel@guilfordaccounting.co.uk or by phone at 01244 660866. He is
the author of the best selling book 'Figure it out - an entrepreneurs guide to understanding your business numbers' which you can obtain by visiting http://guilfordaccounting.co.uk.