No one really likes year and, and it’s a pain.
But there are ways that you can make sure YOU get something out of it, AND keep the accountants fees down at the same time
Keeping the fee down
- Make sure the book keeping is all correct: your bank needs to be correctly reconciled and the debtors and creditors tidy. These are the two areas where you will run up extra fees with the accountant.
- Get it done early. No one wants a rush job and you certainly won’t get the best advice. Ideally you want to get year-end out of the way about 6 weeks after year end. This gives time for any late paperwork to come in.
- Make sure the accounts system has been balanced back to last year’s statutory accounts.
- Give your accountant a file with everything they need. Your book keeper or in-house accountant will do this for you. This will cut out the emails and calls asking for information – which all costs you. This file should include:
- All balance sheet accounts – fully reconciled.
- A trial balance report.
- A profit and loss report.
- A balance sheet report.
- Any backup information that proves the balances eg bank statements, loan statements, supplier statements.
- Invoice copies of any fixed assets bought in the year.
- Copy invoices or explanations of any unusual transactions.
- Copy of HP or finance agreements.
- A copy of the stock report and the stock take paperwork.
- Back up to any work in progress accounts.
- Paper work relating to any bank or other finance facilities.
What YOU get out of it
- A couple of months before year end have a tax planning meeting using your management accounts. You make sure you take advantage of the best advice whilst you still have time to do something about it.
- By giving them a lovely accurate file of information, there will be more time left in their budget for the partner to give you some great business advice.
- You get to find out your results early – that way there aren’t any surprises for you in month eight. Really, these figures should never be different to what you were expecting. If they are, you have some problems in your book keeping.
- Early results mean you have more time for tax planning.
- Always ask the accountant for a report of anything they had to adjust for. This highlights mistakes with the book keeping, and gives you a head start if they have any concerns.
And don’t forget
- Accountants are human too, and your accounts may have been prepared by a junior. If it doesn’t stack up, then keep asking questions. Mistakes do happen, and it’s you not the accountant who are legally responsible for your accounts.
- Your accounts decide your credit rating, so it’s really important to get them right
- You get what you pay for – if you go for cheap and hammer the accountant on the fee, you just won’t get the best service and advice. And why wouldn’t you want that for your business?