With so many accountants to choose from those, getting the right for the job is no easy task. These 7 tips will go a long way towards making it easier for you though…
1) Analyze your own needs. If all you need is a company to put together your statutory reporting at year end and sign off then a larger, ‘brand name’ firm may be appropriate. For a new business needing a lot of ‘hand holding’ and direction, a smaller, more responsive firm might be more suitable.
2) Ask for an initial meeting. Any accountancy firm worth utilizing should be more than willing to offer you an initial meeting, which is free of charge. This is an opportunity to assess whether what you need, and what they provide, are one and the same thing.
3) Get a detailed, transparent pricing list. Don’t accept general answers as far as pricing is concerned, as otherwise you may be hit by unexpected, hidden charges at a later date. Tell them exactly what you need and ask them to tell you exactly how much it will costs. Also, be sure to agree on what terms, and on what timescale, payment can be made.
4) Ask for testimonials. What better way to find out how good an accountancy firm is than by asking their current clients? Simply being given a list of company names isn’t sufficient. Neither is a selection of quotes. What you really want are the names and contact details of senior people within some of the companies that already are already their clients.
5) Visit their website. Check out the website of the accountancy firm – is it up to date, and a place with useful resources? If they don’t have one, are they really likely to have the most efficient use of technology within the firm?
6) Undertake some online research. Enter the name of the accountancy firm into Google and look through the results brought up. What you are looking for is recommendations and comments in general. Forums on your best bet as what is written there is almost certainly going to be unbiased. Be prepared to spend 15 minutes or so going through at least the first 5 pages of results.
7) Evaluate their response times. If you fired off an email enquiry, how quickly did they respond? The chances are that the speed and comprehensiveness with which they answer your initial questions, will be reflected in their ongoing service.
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