Why Small-Scale Businesses Should Maintain Constant Communication with Accountants

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It is unfortunate that small-scale business owners often only get in touch with their accountants during the tax season, which is once a year in most cases. Business owners who hire full-time professionals are not better off since they often only talk to their accountants during office meetings. Any professional accountant will do their job diligently and ensure that your books are in order regardless of whether you talk to them regularly or not. However, your business stands to gain more if you maintain regular meetings. Here are the reasons why.

Sound Financial Judgments -- As a small-scale business owner, you make crucial financial decisions daily. However, changes in taxation laws can affect business decisions regarding the pricing of goods and services. Therefore, it is essential to stay updated regarding tax legislation that affects your business. Keeping in touch with your accountant is critical in such cases. For example, legislation to lower the VAT on some products leads to price reductions. If you keep affected products in stock, you will likely incur losses when the legislation takes effect. If you communicate with your accountant regularly, they will advise you to sell such products early to avoid losses. Accountants are often privy to emerging legislation even before it becomes law. Thus, they can update you regularly and facilitate sound financial decisions.

Representation During Audit Summons -- When perusing tax reports, the ATO (Australian Tax Office) can summon a small business owner upon detection of discrepancies in reported figures. The differences can be intentional or accidental, and only a qualified accountant can answer the audit queries involved. Unfortunately, you might have to pay a premium if you do not have a qualified accountant on standby to represent you. Small businesses that do not hire full-time accountants often find themselves in this predicament. However, you do not have to worry about audits if you keep in constant touch with your accountant. They will readily accept your request to defend the tax reports they drafted. 

Keep Accounting Technology Updated -- Today, automation has taken over most accounting processes, making entries and reporting fast, efficient, and accurate. Consequently, this has allowed businesses to allocate more time to core processes that make them more competitive. However, you need to stay on top of accounting technologies because they are highly dynamic. Thus, a business accountant is in an excellent position to inform you about the latest upgrades and products that can improve your business processes. In addition, maintaining constant communication with an accountant places your business in a strategic position to implement the newest accounting technologies before competitors. 

Contact business accountants in your area to learn more.

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30 July 2021

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