Startups.ie

David Brannigan gives his advice on choosing the right accountant!

Choosing the right accountant is a critical decision for your business as you need to be able to trust and rely on them to provide critical advice and information going forward.

But who should you choose? How much should you pay?

You first need to establish what services you actually need. Are you able to do any of the work yourself as this will have an important effect on the fee. If you do not have a head for figures then you will need a bookkeeping service. You will also need to prepare a set of accounts at the end of the year along with tax returns and other compliance work.

Just as important is to decide what type of practice is the “best fit” for your business? Not all accountants are the same. Some accountants specialise in a certain area and can be quite expensive when it comes to doing the bread and butter compliance work. Others may seem to be inexpensive but may not have the skills or resources to deal with your business needs in a way that suits your requirements. Your choice of accountancy firm will therefore very much depend on the size of your business and the level of work you require of them.

Larger practices are by their nature geared up to service larger companies and are generally not ideally suited for the needs of smaller SMEs or start ups. They don’t usually offer bookkeeping services. If they do, they will be relatively expensive.A larger firm of accountants will usually have a greater amount of resources and more qualified staff. But as these staff will command a greater level of salary so their fees will be higher and normal compliance work will be more expensive.

If you are a smaller business, a larger practice may not view your business as important to them. You may not be allocated all the resources you believe are necessary to properly prepare your accounts in an efficient way. Therefore if you only require a standard service, a larger firm will usually work out relatively more expensive. In that case you are essentially paying for a brand and a smaller firm can usually provide you with a better service and also value for money.

A smaller firm such as ourselves, can be very cost effective especially to smaller sized business trying to establish themselves in the market place.

We offer a personal and friendly service to all our clients. Our firm has a over 15 years experience in accounts, audit and tax and offers a wide range of services tailored to your needs.

If you need any further advice or information about any of the above, do get in touch with us at info@irishaccounts.ie