Most small business owners don’t become entrepreneurs because they love managing finances. That’s why accountants and bookkeepers are so crucial to successfully running a business. Their relationship is an essential part of how SMBs achieve efficiency, scale, and control over their financial operations.
When you’re not in the world of finance, it’s easy to make mistakes — and form habits — that make your accountant’s life more difficult. So, what are the most common irritants you should be on the lookout for?
We asked 500+ accountants about their clients and financial technology (fintech). Here are five things they wish you’d stop doing — right now.
1) Omitting required information
It sounds pretty basic, but your accountant needs your financial information to do their job. The documents you need to submit to your accountant can depend on your specific service agreement, but some of the key information you should make sure to have on-hand and up-to-date include:
If you don’t provide your accountant with the required information, you not only waste time going back and forth — and rack up billable hours — you also miss out on strategic guidance your accountant could be providing.
2) Paying invoices late
Whether you send your own payments or your accountant sets them up for your approval, missing payments or sending payments late can have a damaging impact on your business.
When you pay your invoices late, your vendor relationships suffer, and your business's reputation can take a hit. Plus, when you pay your invoices late, you may be subject to late fees and higher interest rates.
3) Submitting bad math
Good accounting starts with having the right numbers. And even if you’re “not a numbers person,” it’s important that all business owners understand the fundamentals to get their finances right.
When you accidentally give your accountant inaccurate numbers, their bookkeeping abilities are hindered, and they aren’t able to give you advice based in reality.
4) Not making time for or reading financial reports
We all know an entrepreneur who prefers to keep their receipts in a shoebox and avoid thinking about them. But waiting until tax season or the end of your fiscal year to look at your finances is a recipe for cash flow problems.
Your accountant will likely spend hours putting together reports on where your business stands and what’s ahead, and you have to make the time to review and understand the information so you can make more informed decisions for your business.
5) Not following financial advice
The reason you hire your accountant is for their financial advice, so make sure you follow through and listen to the financial experts. They can help you understand your financial operations better and prepare you for the future. Plus, following their advice ensures you’re getting the full value of the dollars you’re spending with your accountant.
Having reliable financial inputs and listening to the advice from your accountant are great ways to get the most from your relationship. Another is to leverage technology for faster, error-free books. It saves you money and saves everyone time. Plus, according to our survey, when businesses adopt fintech, 65% reconcile books faster, and 56% make and receive payments faster.
If you’re wondering where to start your fintech journey, our survey respondents ranked AP and AR automation tools as two of the top three solutions in their clients’ tech stacks for the quick wins they enable. Check out Plooto for free for 30 days to save time and sanity for everyone.
