Selecting an accounting consultancy services provider is far from a simple decision.
Aside from the fact that the provider of your choice will be handling your business’s most important financial documents and records, you’re also looking at the possibility of working with that individual or company for the long term.
Thus, signing up with the wrong company to handle bookkeeping services or tax services can result in a nightmarish working relationship that should have been over even before it began.
The first step, of course, is to learn to look beyond the minimum requirements of an accounting services provider. When we talk about professional accounting, some obvious qualities automatically come to mind: precision, mathematical aptitude, legal and practical knowledge, and so on.
If you want to hire the best provider you can find in Toronto, though, you’ll need to be on the lookout for these traits as well. They may not be immediately apparent, but you can definitely glean them from your prospects, even after the first few conversations.
Your accounting consultancy services provider…
1. Must be focused on YOU.
Knowing the ins and outs of the industry is an absolute must for any provider to give you exactly the kind of guidance you need. It’s not enough to be good at number-crunching; they would also need to be focused on meeting your requirements. An accountancy services provider adept at navigating through their client’s industry’s requirements and a client with clear and realistic goals are in for a successful working relationship.
2. Must be quick to adapt to your business’s evolving needs.
Despite the existence of established rules in accounting, flexibility remains an invaluable trait for accountants and consultants. The only way that they can address the dynamic demands of their clients would be to be able to adjust and respond to changes in requirements or client briefs in the shortest possible time. Old regulations get discarded and replaced, in the same way that old behaviors and practices that are no longer suited for the company’s direction must be thrown out the window. You need an accounting partner that you can count on to quickly understand and adapt to changing circumstances, especially the ones beyond your control.
3. Must be well-organized and efficient in managing time.
Having a system is an absolute non-negotiable trait for your provider, not only when it comes to how they handle your financials, but also in the way they manage their time. This line of work requires a significant amount of research, strategizing, and analyzing, which usually end up being more time-consuming than expected. You need a provider that you can count on to provide advice and assistance way ahead of your deadlines.
4. Must be trustworthy and credible.
It goes without saying that the kind of information you’ll be sharing with your chosen provider is extremely sensitive. In the wrong hands, your financial data can compromise your business and hamper your opportunities for growth. Research the background of your prospective accounting consultancy provider thoroughly before you sign that contract.
Outsourcing accounting consultancy services is just one of the many ways to address the needs of your growing business. To get a better grasp on how to identify, handle and resolve other potential and existing problems along the way, why not take a look at our whitepaper on ineffective finance and accounting teams? You can download it for free via the image below.
