From a professional point of view, how often should you speak with your tax specialist or CPA? Surprisingly enough, the answer is usually not often enough. While there is usually no set timeframe between visits or discussions and even emails, there are a few points to consider that will help you to determine the right frequency for you and your businesses situation.
Ideally, you want a strong relationship with your Accountant. Don’t get us wrong, the team and I don’t need to be invited for BBQs on the weekend, but the important thing is you have to trust my judgement and the judgement of my team. I can tell you through the printed page how much we look out for your interests and your specific situations, but the reality is – you have to feel it. Knowing that we are at the top of our game and the advice we are giving you is tailored to your personal situation is peace of mind in itself. For this kind of client, which really is the ideal client of any Accounting Firm, you would be looking at meeting with us on at least a quarterly basis.
Ultimately though, it is personal preference, but we think that you should feel comfortable speaking to us quite often about your business. The reason? Simple – we make difficult decisions simpler for you.
Contact with us also doesn’t always need to be face-to-face. A quick phone call or even email, just to touch base, perhaps ask our advice as you need it can result in completely different outcomes for your business.
If you’re a client that prefers to have a relationship with your Accountant that is purely transactional, because you feel you know your business inside and out, it’s making money and is profitable, that’s ok too. However, this type of client is taking on a lot of responsibility and liability themselves, including the extra knowledge involved in keeping up-to-date with changes within the industry.
It can be a good idea to mine the knowledge that I’ve built in the tax and business field over the years, too – not just in terms of numbers, but of experience from our dealings with other clients. You may want to ask us advice on how to grow, or how other businesses in a similar situation faced their challenges and what have they done. While every CPA has a responsibility to comply with Privacy Laws in relations to the specifics of their client’s transactions, I can share with you the basics such as: a business in a similar situation started using a specific QuickBooks Add-on to help with their debt recovery and has seen amazing results.
Accountants can often put you in touch with the right person to help you at the right bank or even law firm. Getting connected to the right person can make your transactions move so much more seamlessly, after all would you really want to use a lawyer who specializes in family law when you want a trademark applied for?
The only wrong frequency to see me and the team? Once a year at tax-time. If you feel that seeing your Accountant is just a pain and costly exercise that you complete because it’s required each year, I hate to say it, but you really won’t be getting much value out of your meetings as you could be.
