Developing a Relationship with Your Accountant
I think it’s safe to say that sometimes as a Small Business Owner, you may not know how to connect or build a relationship with your accountant.
You may only see them as a number crunching animal with no true care about your business or the importance of your vision for the company. Well, first I’d like to say, if that’s the case for you, get rid of that person immediately, lol.
We hosted a webinar for a group of business owners on the basics of bookkeeping. During a certain part of the webinar we discussed the importance of developing a cycle of business and really mapping out how the process of your business works from beginning to end. When it was time for Q&A, one owner expressed that she’d been working with an Accountant but they’d been struggling and how does she even start to create a business cycle.
*Important Note: It is vital that whoever is assisting you in the accounting/bookkeeping realm knows your business cycle to properly account for income and expenses of your business. Hence why her accountant was probably struggling and the business owner felt she didn’t have a clear picture of her business finances because there was no road map or clear cycle of business. If I don’t know what your numbers mean (because I really don’t know your business), I can’t give you unique feedback as a finance professional on how to grow.
So while yes, it’s very important to take on someone with experience and expertise, it is just as important to make sure there is an opportunity to build a relationship.
Be willing to invite your accounting professional in to learn more about how the business flows. Also be open to suggestions from their perspective how to make business run smoother.
If you find yourself with an Accounting professional that’s not willing to learn your business and it’s uniqueness to better serve you, you may need to consider a replacement.