When choosing an accountant, there are obvious factors that you’ll take into consideration. Of course you’ll want someone who is completely trustworthy and highly competent, but one area you may not think of straight away is whether your accountant is someone whose methods are stuck in the past. A good accountancy firm will be open to adapting their practices in order to keep up with modern business practices. Here’s a rundown of five things to look out in an accountant who is ready for the world of tomorrow.
Going paperless
If your accountant is still using paper-based accounting systems, this should be an indicator of someone who’s not ready to embrace the future, with the majority of millennial clients saying that they would be pleased to see their accounting firm adopt a paperless system. There are plenty of paperless accounting options available, with smartphone technology also allowing receipts and invoices to be scanned and documented quickly and easily.
Offering strategic insight
An accountant shouldn’t simply be someone who crunches the numbers throughout the year. It’s common for modern business owners to want their accountancy firm to offer guidance and additional insight into their industry. Accountants should be prepared to provide this style of accountancy, using automation to collect documents and extract data to free up their time to advise clients.
Embracing social media
As the current generation of young business owners have grown up with social media, it’s no surprise that they’re far more likely to use it as a tool to find an accountant. If your accountancy firm doesn’t have an active professional presence on social media, this might be a warning sign that their practices are out of date too.
Offering subscription pricing
Subscription is becoming the norm for everything from the TV we watch to the food we cook, so it’s in a modern accountancy firm’s interest to provide fixed-fee monthly pricing. This should also be an indicator of how up-to-date other processes used by the firm are likely to be: those which are still using timesheets may still be spending longer than necessary on processes which can now be automated.
Making communication a priority
As the world of business continues to speed up, thanks to ever-advancing technology, a modern accountancy firm should be communicating regularly, using swift and simple methods. If your accountant is bamboozling you with jargon during a lengthy meeting once a year, it’s probably time to start looking elsewhere for your accounting services.