Episode 24: What makes a great Accountant?
June 21, 2021
Ask most business owners and they will tell you their accountant is the best. But what is it that makes them the “best”? In this episode Sarah interviews Trudi on what she believes you should look for in finding the right accountant for you.
They emphasize in this episode that just because one accountant is a friend for your friend or colleague does not mean they are right for you (and that this applies to all types of advisors) and that just because they are not right for you does not mean that they are not also a great accountant. Just some of the areas that Sarah and Trudi touch on, include:
The different education, skills and specialties that accountants have
Services offered: Accountants may specialize in management accounting, tax, auditor, SMSF, international businesses etc.
Specialization offered: whether in different industries or even type of software used
The importance of personality match – having an accountant you can talk to
Gender, nationality, spoken language may be important
Availability and responsiveness – if you want your accountant to respond within 24 hours, then one who doesn’t may not be “great” to you
Location
Newsletters and other ongoing updates
So even if you think you have the greatest accountant, have a listen and consider which aspects are important to you and if your accountant is meeting them. If not, this doesn’t necessarily mean you need a new one but maybe just a chat to see whether they can bridge the gap to fully meet your needs.
Podcast Transcript Available Here
Duration: 32:31
Trudi Cowan: Hi everyone, welcome back to the financial FOFU podcast. Sarah Eifermann: Yes, today's episode, Trudi Cowan: Is talking about accountants. Sarah Eifermann: I know we're talking about you. Trudi Cowan: I know it's exciting, isn't it? Sarah Eifermann: Wow, we're talking about what makes an accountant, a great accountant. Trudi Cowan: I know because like every industry unfortunately there are great ones and some of them may be not as good. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah, not so great, and maybe not even so great, it's just that they don't communicate well, and they don't communicate with their clients. Trudi Cowan: And sometimes it's not even that they're, not that there's an issue with them but they're just not the right one for you. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah, yeah, because it's like a doctor. Trudi Cowan: Yeah, you want someone that works right for you and Sarah Eifermann: Who can also talk your talk and walk your walk. Trudi Cowan: So we're going to have a bit of a chat about how do you find the right accountant and what sorts of things should you be looking out for. Sarah Eifermann: What should they know, do, offer, what makes them different and why you should use them. Trudi Cowan: And for me, I guess there's two kinds of broad categories that you should be looking at and one is around, I guess, their personality and the personality match, and the other side of it's really around their skill set. And have done they do the work for you. Yeah. So, in terms of, I guess, a personality match. You know the number one reason that I have new clients call me is that their accountant might not pick up the phone. Sarah Eifermann: Correct. Trudi Cowan: So to me, you want an accountant that's going to respond to your phone calls and messages, yes. Yeah, and is available. Sarah Eifermann: I think that is the biggest issue that gets raised with me or that I say online on Facebook groups or things of the like that, my accountant might return my phone calls. Trudi Cowan: Yeah, and look, I know that lots of accountants get busy, but I also know that both myself and lots of accountants I know also have a policy that if somebody rings or emails us, we get back to them within 24 or 48 hours, even if that's just to say, I got your message. I'm flat out can we have a call in a couple of days? Sarah Eifermann: Even if it is two weeks. Trudi Cowan: Even if it is two weeks, but you know we at least respond to say, I hear you and I see you. Yeah, so that you know that we've got your message. Yeah, and I think that's a really important part of communicating with your clients. Sarah Eifermann: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Trudi Cowan: So some of the other things that I think are really important is having someone that you can communicate with. And that might be things around having someone that speaks your language or speaks in an accent that you can understand because that is really important. Sarah Eifermann: The diverse approach yeah. Trudi Cowan: No, not all Australians have English as their first language right. So if you, don't it probably doesn't make sense to go to an accountant who doesn't speak your first language. Yeah, you know. Sarah Eifermann: Or isn't able to communicate with you on a level that you can understand if it is in English. Comprehension is really important, especially with tax. Yep. And it is an absolutely fair comment to make. Trudi Cowan: So I think that's really important to find someone that you are comfortable with. In that regard, yep, as well. And then I have lots of female clients that prefer a female accountant, they're just more comfortable with a female account, and that's totally fine, and I'm sure there's probably plenty of blokes who also are more comfortable having a male account, and there's nothing wrong with that. Sarah Eifermann: There's no right or wrong, it's whatever works for you. Trudi Cowan: Yeah, you got to have an advisor that you're comfortable with. At the end of the day, you are sharing a lot of confidential often personal information with your accountant, and if you're not comfortable speaking with that person, then they're not the right accountant for you. Some of the other things talking in a way you can understand. You might like to be spoken to in really technical terms, you might need someone to explain it in layman's terms. Sarah Eifermann: So being able to recognize your style of comprehension and how you understand, and having that person being able to adapt, especially if you've got business partners because one of you might be really technical Yeah, and the other one, maybe not so much. Trudi Cowan: Yeah, and I used to work with some partners who, you know you'd almost have a partner who really the technical stuff was his specialty, but they almost needed to work with someone else who communicating with the client was their specialty, yeah, yeah, because, and they became a great team, because, and that worked really well. Sarah Eifermann: Because everyone's needs are being met right, which is the whole purpose in the first place. Trudi Cowan: Yeah, and look, I often have clients apologize to me for, you know, I don't understand your numbers is not really my thing or, but you know what I'm sort of about. I want my clients to learn and to understand and I need them to understand their finances so that they can use that to grow their businesses. So, I will explain to them, and I will explain to you again, and I will try a different way, and we'll try a third way until you can understand, and you've got a full comprehension, and that you know you've got a clear enough picture that you can make a decision based on the conversations that we're having. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah, absolutely. Trudi Cowan: You know, and you want someone that's willing to spend that time with you. For you to understand it's your business, then you need to understand your financials. Sarah Eifermann: It's also really important because especially if you are a director of a company, you have obligations to try it solvently. Again we've talked about this previously, and if you don't have any financial comprehension, you're not technically meeting your legal requirements of ensuring solvency. Yeah, because you don't understand what you are talking about, what you're looking at. Trudi Cowan: You need to understand all that's really important. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah. And for me, from an accountability coach perspective or business strategy perspective, if my client has no financial understanding, how can they possibly plan the business out, because they can't make decisions based on financial knowledge. Yep. So, it's for me also non excuse to say oh that my accountant takes care of that for me. Trudi Cowan: You need to still understand what they are taking care of. Sarah Eifermann: You need to understand the concepts. The high level Trudi Cowan: What are you signing? Sarah Eifermann: That's right. All of those things need to be important because I can tell you right now at the end of the day, you're giving your accountant a liability waiver when you sign as well. That what the information you've provided is accurate, so you can't blame your accountant if things go wrong later and the HEO audit you and says you owe us money. Trudi Cowan: I'm sure a lot of people have never actually read what they're signing when they sign things for accountants, but what you're actually signing is the Sarah Eifermann: Except for me, Trudi Cowan: The information, if it's going to the tax office it's typically saying that the information is true and correct. Yep. So, you're putting yourself on the line. Sarah Eifermann: It’s a legal declaration Trudi Cowan: That the information is true and correct, so at the end of the day, if the HEO comes and reviews it, it's your signature on there saying it's true and correct. So you need to be comfortable with what's included in those documents so you need to make sure your accountant is willing to explain what's in there give you additional information if you need it so that you can have full clarity over what you are signing. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah. What about things like the services that they offer? Trudi Cowan: So, you know, accounting is not an accountant there is a range of different services that we provide. And a lot of accountants will specialize in certain areas. Sarah Eifermann: So like I suppose in this instance we're really talking about tax agent as an accountant. Trudi Cowan: But that's only one type of accountant. Sarah Eifermann: Correct, correct. Yeah, Trudi Cowan: So most businesses will have a tax agent because that will help them with things like their business and their tax return the tax agent allows you to represent a client, with the HEO. Yes, okay. But there are lots of other different accountants, you might need, you might need an auditor who is someone that will sign off that your information. Sarah Eifermann: And so their circumstances where you need an auditor like a self-managed super fund. Trudi Cowan: Self-managed super fund will need them, charities, and not for profits often need them. Yeah, if you have received a government grant in some circumstances, you'll need to have an element, of your financials audited and signed off. And auditors, if you are a company audit or auditor or a submerged Superfund auditor, they actually have a special registration. Sarah Eifermann: It's like a license. Trudi Cowan: That says that they're skilled in that area and able to sign off, yeah on those sorts of things. So if you are looking for an auditor definitely look for that registration. Sarah Eifermann: Absolutely. Trudi Cowan: Some accountants will just specialize in self-managed super funds in general because it is such a specialized area. Some accountants, that's what they do, they just stick in that one focus area because there are a lot of very specific and technical rules around the way that they really are self-managed super funds work, so you know. Sarah Eifermann: I actually have clients that have a tax agent accountant, and then they have a self-managed super fund that Trudi Cowan: And that’s not uncommon. I actually have a specialist, self-managed guy that helps me with my clients that have them. Yeah, just because it is such a specialized in a technical area. Sarah Eifermann: And highly regulated. Trudi Cowan: And very highly regulated. Yeah, that's correct. And you then might have an accountant who does do general broad stuff but they're not actually a tax agent, and they often call themselves a management accountant or a virtual CFO, and they are someone that they might literally sit in your business one day a week, and help you to do your books, cashflow reporting they might do management reporting for you, they might help you determine what costs you should be selling your products for. So, they're almost, they're an external person but they almost become part of your business in the sense that they will often sit with you. And they're doing more day-to-day type accounting tasks. Some of them are also registered which means they've registered with the HEO to lodge, business activity statements, but not to do your income tax. So, just a more limited license. Sarah Eifermann: In the same way as a bookkeeper maybe, yeah, it's the same registration from that point of view but they usually have a lot more academic learning behind it because there is still an accountant, yeah but just not a licensed tax agent. Trudi Cowan: Yep. And then it can come down to just a skills base or a preference-based thing so some accountants might have more specialized skills in dealing with companies that have international transactions or has subsidiaries overseas, or that you know, the Australian company itself might be a subsidiary of an Australian Sarah Eifermann: International company. Trudi Cowan: Yeah, there would be other accountants who would specialize in particular industries. So there are accountants that I know that all of their clients are in the music industry, for instance or the entertainment industry, and they, they're really skilled at those specialized areas. Other clients might specialize in just having trade clients, you know, so depending on your type of business you are, the needs that you have, you might look around to try and find an accountant that sort of sits in one of those specialties, if you think that's going to be of benefit to you and your business. Sarah Eifermann: One thing we didn't talk about was the location. Trudi Cowan: No, Sarah Eifermann: This is a common question. Trudi Cowan: It is a common question and looks. Traditionally you would find an accountant that was local to you so you could go down to their office and sit with them and, have a meeting with them and speak to them face to face. Sarah Eifermann: In the olden days. Trudi Cowan: In the olden days, but more and more people, you know the technology's changing, and I have a lot of clients all over Australia. We jump on Zoom meetings if we want to do face to face. I often will have a client ring and say I'm in Melbourne, can we catch up? Yeah, while I'm here. Yeah. So, well maybe not so much the moment with COVID But you know, in the past. But location is of less importance, but it still is to some people. So if location if being able to sit face to face in front of your accountant is an important thing for you. Then find an accountant in a location that you can do that doesn't mean they got to be in your suburb. But you know just within a reasonable driving distance for you or the accountant to have that appointment. If it's not so important for you then. I mean, you've got Australia wide list of accountants that you can look at to find someone that suitable for you. Sarah Eifermann: And matches your needs. Absolutely. So say I think I found myself, the right person. Yep. What things would that accountant do for me, that we would categorize as making them a good accountant because that's or great accountant because that's what we're talking about today? Trudi Cowan: Well the first thing is you just want to check on the skillset, so most accountants have a membership with an accounting body. And one of the reasons that I think it's important to have an accountant that is a member of one of those bodies is that by, you know, I'm a member of Chartered Accountants. And that means that there are certain expectations of me in terms of the level of service that I provide, the ethics that I uphold, there is a dispute resolution process if that I don't do something right for one of my clients, they can complain. And Chartered Accountants also have the right to come and review my work. Right. So there's oversight over what I'm doing and there are expectations of me, right, and all of the different accounting bodies have very similar sorts of things around that sort of vein. So I think that's important because it can give you a bit of comfort, one about the skills that I had to even be a member of that body, but two that, there is that I guess backing. Sarah Eifermann: Why do you pick to become a chartered accountant? Trudi Cowan: Honestly, it was sort of, when I was at Deloitte that's sort of the vein. Sarah Eifermann: That was the pathway. Trudi Cowan: That was the pathway that you went down. And for a lot of people, that is how they choose that the firm that I'm working at that's the preferred one so yeah that's the path that you follow for others, you know you can switch and change to different bodies depending on you know who provides the right support for what you're looking at. So, you know, doesn't necessarily mean that one is better than the other, but I think being a member of one of the associations is probably more important than finding an account that doesn't have one at all because they don't have those additional backings behind them. And in terms of, I guess, skills and things that the accountant might do for you. You don't want an accountant that you feel like he's just ticking some boxes. You know for me, preparing a Bess is not just going into your accounting software printing off a report, and getting you to sign, it's checking your bank statements back to your bank accounts. Sarah Eifermann: Reconciliation Trudi Cowan: Reconciliations having a review of your profit and loss, and your balance sheet to just see if there's anything in there that Sarah Eifermann: Doesn't make sense, Trudi Cowan: Doesn't make sense doesn't look quite right. Yeah, and then having a review of all of the transactions that happened in that Bess period, to make sure they've been allocated to the right, GST codes. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah, okay. So it's really important for Bess. Trudi Cowan: Yes, if you don't feel like your accountants going through all of those steps, then maybe they're not completing a full process and they're just doing a tick box, type exercise. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah, really an important point. Trudi Cowan: And I’ll, and I will email clients and say, the banks out, I can fix it done this, or I need your help. I'm not quite sure what's going on with these transactions, let's work through them together and get this right before we launch something to the HEO saying it's true and correct. And often people ask me why I check, you know doesn't let accounting software take it back to the bank for me it's coming through on the bank fee. But things can go wrong and what's coming through on your accounting software, sometimes doesn't match your bank statement for lots of different reasons, and for me, it's just a data check. Sarah Eifermann: But also some things are not taxable. And some things have no GST on them. And so if there's just an assumption made, and it's not checked it may not be accurate. Yeah, Trudi Cowan: Yeah, so it's important that there's a process around what you're doing. And some of the other things you might look for if you have a company, or they're using some sort of software that allows them to remind you that you haven't paid your ESIC fees. ESIC is very notorious for finding you the day after if you haven't paid and they are very hard to get them to remit penalties. So, you know, is your accountant actually reminding you about these things that you've got a payment upcoming that you haven't made it. Yeah, okay. Trying to save you some of those fees. Are they just doing your tax return once a year and that's all you hear from, or do you get a newsletter from them, or some random email saying hey, have you thought about this or there's a new rule coming in that's going to apply. Sarah Eifermann: Do they stay in touch, and keep you informed? Trudi Cowan: Exactly right. Are they staying in touch? You know or is it just that once-a-year contact. And look, maybe once year contact is all you want from your accountant. But I feel that it's important to keep my clients informed about changes that are happening, things that are coming up on due dates that they need to make Sarah Eifermann: Some slips through the cracks, Trudi Cowan: Very easily. Sarah Eifermann: Our role as a business owner versus the role when we're engaging a third-party consultant, we in this instance is an accountant, is really to be kept in the know of things that we should be kept in the know for. That wouldn't naturally cross our radar as a business owner. Especially in a trade base role or anything where you're on the tools, out of the office, not sitting in front of a computer every day. So there are lots of different businesses in different categories that fit those needs and I would think, especially if you're paying an ongoing fee or service retainer of some sort. That there is at least some education or knowledge base pace information flow coming through to keep you updated. Trudi Cowan: It's so hard for anyone person to keep up to date on anything and I'm an accountant. Yeah, for a business owner. Yeah, it would be impossible for them to keep up to date with everything that's going on in the accounting and tax world. As well as all the other things. Yeah, so if I can give that to my clients in a concise email once a month, maybe it's not all relevant to you but you can pick out the bits that are. Then that's just one less thing for you to have to think about as a business owner. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah. What about things that are often forgotten like fringe benefit tax, yes, or tax planning? Trudi Cowan: Yeah, I look good accountant will off, won't just do your tax at the end of the year, and maybe your Bess they'll also be offering other services throughout the year, you know, Sarah Eifermann: But before the end of the final year, right? Trudi Cowan: Before the end of the final year that's right so fringe benefits tax has a 31 March year-end, if you have employees, it's something that you need to be aware of and understand. Might not be relevant to the things that you provide to your employees, you may not have to pay it, but you should understand what it is. And you shouldn't have your accountant, asking you about it, to see whether it is relevant to you. Sarah Eifermann: And that it forms part of your statutory obligations, do a fringe benefits tax return. Trudi Cowan: Well, You only have to lodge the return if you have to pay fringe benefits tax, but you only know that you have to pay if you know what it is, and you've done a review of your books. Right. So, if your accountant isn’t offering that or never mentioned it to you and you have employees, give them pick up the phone now and give him a call because it's actually about now you should be doing it. Sarah Eifermann: So a lot of people listening would be thinking, My accountants never raised fringe benefits tax for me. Maybe I don't have fringe benefit tax implications. Can we get a quick rundown of what fringe FBT is? Trudi Cowan: So FBT applies if you are providing non-cash benefits to your employees. Right, so something other than wages, and typically for sort of small to medium businesses, we'd be looking at private use of a motor vehicle. Okay, or entertainment, you throw a Christmas party at year-end, then potentially you have FBT implications, okay, if you're taking your staff out for a lunch once a week, you probably do have FBT implications. Sarah Eifermann: What about things like providing food like lunches, yep. In the office Trudi Cowan: It can, and look, the rules are really technical about it so I'm not going to go into them right now. But if you're providing things, you know, tea and coffee fine, yes, but if you're providing more elaborate food and it's not as part of a meeting it just causes, then that could potentially Sarah Eifermann: It’s a benefit for working in the business, therefore it's a fringe benefit. Trudi Cowan: That's right. If you're providing things like iPad and phones. You know, for small businesses, there are some exemptions, but potentially, those sorts of things can fall into fringe benefits. Sarah Eifermann: And that one is specifically with working from home and COVID is obviously going to be a little bit blurrier than perhaps it once was. But these are the questions and the discussions that you should really be having with your current accountant, to see whether or not you have FBT implications. Because I can guarantee you if the HEO comes through an audit you. It will be one of the things that they're looking at. Trudi Cowan: Yeah definitely, if you have, if you're a larger business, even just providing your staff with car parking really can be a fringe benefit. So you really have to look at, am I giving my employees, anything at all. It's not like I know not to just wages. Sarah Eifermann: If like a gym membership or access to a gym or like bringing in a trainer to do yoga. Unless it's for mindset stress management within Trudi Cowan: A very narrow exception. Sarah Eifermann: Very narrow reaction on that, then that potentially is included as well so you think you're doing the right thing looking after your employees and you often are, but some tax implications go with those things need to be considered. Trudi Cowan: So like I said if you do have employees and your accountant has never mentioned FBT, pick up the phone right now give them a call and say, Why haven't you ever mentioned it to me, and do I need to, what do we need to do? Sarah Eifermann: Now if you're an employee, listening to this, is it a problem that you have, do you need to think about it. Trudi Cowan: No your employer pays it. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah, so it's only for people who employ other people. Yeah, that this particular topic is relevant. Trudi Cowan: Yeah, that's right. So, in terms of other services. Is your accountant, offering tax planning to you, and we're going to go into tax planning in another episode in more depth. Sarah Eifermann: But we did talk about it last season for a couple of reasons. Trudi Cowan: But it’s really around, you know forecasting your tax and looking at strategies to get you in a more optimal tax position for the year-end. But your accountant model might be offering you know they do your Bess, they see your cash is struggling, are they offering you some cash flow forecasting advice yep service Yeah, are they offering you, preparing a year-end budget or a new year budget type services. Do they offer to help when you're having problems with your accounting software? Can they actually jump into your zero files, and show you how to do something, or fix something. Sarah Eifermann: So training options available. Trudi Cowan: Yeah. So are these other types of services being offered to you is also another way to look for a good accountant. Sarah Eifermann: I think, you know, ultimately, as we've talked about, it really comes down to do you resonate with that particular person. Are they responsive to your needs, and the quality of services that they provided? I think this is the biggest thing unless you've got lots of knowledge with lots of different accountants and what you're supposed to be looking at when it comes to tax. How do you know if you've got a good accountant? Yeah, like that's a common question. You ask someone, do we have a good accountant, the blanket response will be yeah, of course, I get a tax return at the end of the year. Yep, or a tax refund, that doesn't necessarily, especially for business owners, doesn't necessarily answer whether or not you've got a good accountant. Trudi Cowan: Are you getting value from your accountant? Sarah Eifermann: Yes. So, talking value. I mean, we know that costs can be on a very different sliding scale depending on organization type, size, and membership of bodies, and literally just what they charge for the service that they offer. But what do we think is fair and reasonable and probably your own schedule because I personally think it’s reasonable because I send all my clients to you. Trudi Cowan: The difficulty with that is as you say, every business is different, their needs are different, so it's very hard to say this is a good fee. Because Sarah Eifermann: What about a fair fee or reasonable fee? Trudi Cowan: Again it's very difficult to say what's a fair and reasonable fee because you've got one client who might literally ring me once a year, get their tax return is done and that's it, or you might have another client who all I do for them is a tax return, but they also ring me once a month, with lots of different questions. Right so it's two completely different levels of service, yes, they might have exactly the same turnover, they might have the same, exactly the same complexity in their tax affairs. But the service level that they're expecting is completely different. So it's really hard to sit on a microphone and say well this is a fair fee because every single client is different in terms of, their needs, their size, the amount of service that they want from you as an accountant. So it's really about sitting down with a potential client and finding out from them what do you look for in your account. What sort of service are you looking for, and in working out what that fair fee for that is going to be. Sarah Eifermann: Completely, but I'm still going to push you for a price. Trudi Cowan: Oh you can push as hard as you like but it's too hard. Sarah Eifermann: I mean, I know but you do have like individual tax returns, around Trudi Cowan: Yeah so, I start my individual tax returns at 175 which is for a basic salary and wages. Sarah Eifermann: Salary wages return with limited deductions. Trudi Cowan: Yep. And then that builds depending on Sarah Eifermann: All those sorts of things that go with it. If you're a sole trader. That's trading, but the books are completed. Trudi Cowan: Yep, completed and tidy 350. Sarah Eifermann: Yep. Okay, Trudi Cowan: Get any more complex than that and it's very much it depends. Sarah Eifermann: I was going to say it's 800 to 1200, depending on how complex and messy they've got. Company structures to start at around. Trudi Cowan: For me, they start at 1200 and that's a basic single company. Sarah Eifermann: Basic company and then you still have FBT. Trudi Cowan: Traditional ESIC services additional tax planning is all additional. Sarah Eifermann: For a basic company, though, that might be tidy, they could be looking between 1200 and 1800 depending on their needs. Trudi Cowan: Easily right, easily, Sarah Eifermann: But not 10,000? Trudi Cowan: Oh no, right. Not for a basic. Sarah Eifermann: This is the reason I'm asking this for our listeners because we often see things. And I see posts that say, I'm getting a company tax, it's a company and we're getting our tax return done once a year and our accountant charges us five grand, and we can never get hold of them. And they just do our tax returns and our financial statements. Yep, that's it. Trudi Cowan: That's it, right, and you go. Okay. But the difference also comes into. I work for myself. Sarah Eifermann: Yes. Overheads fees and charges. Trudi Cowan: I work from my home. Yes, okay. Compare that to. Let's go to the extreme, a firm in the city that might have five partners they're paying for a city office they probably got a staff of you know 30 or 40 people at least, so you're looking at a different offering. Yes, right. So, it may be that a basic company in a firm in the city might be five grand for them because you're, a different type of accountant. Sarah Eifermann: That’s the reason why I brought it up. Yeah, because we didn't actually talk about it earlier when we talked about location and services but the style that you're buying effectively from your accountant really donates the price point as well. Yeah, so, especially if you're looking at you know the top four top-tier firms in the city Yeah, your price point is naturally going to be higher based on reputation and brand alone. Trudi Cowan: And the other thing with, you know, the bigger the firm that you get, the more specialized the individuals are going to be. So if you go to a big four firm, You will go to a specialist for your tax, you will go to a specialist for your R&D types of research and development type services you might go to another specialist for preparing financial reports, yeah. Okay, so you wouldn't just be dealing with the one person you would have people that are highly specialized in each of those areas whereas I'm more of a generalist, I do all of those services, myself, yes okay. So again it comes down to a different style of accounting, and a different, I guess specialist level that you need for your business, you know, if you're a BHP, you need Sarah Eifermann: The correct Trudi Cowan: The best tax specialist that we have, right. Sarah Eifermann: So was my next point is that tax fees and charges are relative to the needs in your business. In the same way that business planning, strategy, accountability, coaching, and or marketing communication., they're all relative to the needs of the business and the size and direction that you're heading. You can have an individual accountant that works from home like a Trudi. Although I think Trudi is a unicorn. That fits your business needs and is perfect but in three years, you may not fit that business anymore, right, but depending on what their needs are. So, again, without knowing your business direction and your business plan because that will then impact the type of accounting you had. And as you say it is really hard to just put up a cost factor on someone's business. Trudi Cowan: I’ve also got some larger clients that I will do their tax return for them, but I know full well that for certain specialist areas, they do go to some of the bigger firms, and they know that I know that and we're fine with that because I understand that they have different needs for those elements of their business. Yeah, and they're just picking the right people to do the right services for them. Sarah Eifermann: That's how it should be, Trudi Cowan: And that's how it should be. That's right. Sarah Eifermann: There should be there should never be any competition about that. So I think this topic will have raised a lot of questions for people. Have you got any final words of wisdom or advice on this? Trudi Cowan: As you said before, you know a lot of people think that they have a good accountant, and sometimes it's not until one incident happens or until they change that they realize that maybe that accountant wasn't doing everything that they wanted. Yeah, so have a bit of a think about your relationship that you have with your current accountant, are you happy with it? Are you getting the service that you need? Do you feel like they're doing the work that you want them to? Or are things sort of being left undone. Sarah Eifermann: Yeah, look a tangible tip for me especially having read financial statements for businesses for 20 years for their lending, is to go into the financial statements and look at the categories of interest and depreciation, mainly because they're the ones that I look to use for income, add-backs they hold, but often if they've bought equipment or vehicles? In the previous 12 months, that's where they get missed. Yep. In the financials for the year coming so if they bought a vehicle in July, then by the time that they get around to doing the tax return. In August, September, the year after, often things get missed there so that for me is a key indicator that the accountant isn't across the business. Trudi Cowan: That's probably another one of the top reasons as to why new clients, contact me is that I provided them the information in December, they didn't get back to me till March or April. I always feel like I'm the last return. Yep, being done. So, again, if your accounting is taking that long to get to your tax return and your financials, then either get on their back and tell him I want it done by X days, yep, or Sarah Eifermann: Use a deadline date. Trudi Cowan: Here's your deadline that's right? Or consider whether his accountant outgrown you and your business. Sarah Eifermann: Or have you outgrown that account. Trudi Cowan: Like you’re being left to last you will, yeah, just outgrown the accountant, Sarah Eifermann: Right and just outgrowing the accountant. So, I think we'll leave it there today because we're literally on 30 minutes. We could talk about this, I think we could for hours. If you've got any questions do shoot them through, or, you know what, even if you just want to have a quick confidential conversation with Trudi about your current accountant, and whether or not they really match the needs and she's very good at picking up very quickly, whether or not that they are doing what they're supposed to be doing for you. So you can either contact her directly to her website or via our socials as well, which is at financial FOFU on Instagram and Facebook, or you can leave us a message here on Anchor. Trudi Cowan: That'd be great love to hear your thoughts. Sarah Eifermann: Awesome. Trudi Cowan: See you next time. Sarah Eifermann: Bye.———————-
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