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Whether you're just starting out or already navigating the challenges of running a business, managing finances can feel overwhelming.
That’s where accountants come in!
In this article, we’ll reveal how accountants can support your business at every step, helping you set strong foundations, streamline growth, and reach your goals faster.
Ready to see how the right guidance can make all the difference?
Keep reading to find out!
Starting Your Business: Build a Strong Foundation
Let’s kick things off with what an accountant can do for you right from the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey.
A lot of people think that accountants are just for filing taxes, but they can actually provide invaluable support even before you officially launch your business.
Business Planning
First up, an accountant can help you create a business plan and financial forecast that is based on realistic information. Many startups fail because the assumptions used are too optimistic or are not based on the current market conditions.
An accountant will help to balance out the plan. He can use real-world experience and knowledge gained by helping many different businesses get off the ground and grow.
Choosing the Right Business Structure
An accountant can guide you in choosing the right business structure , whether that’s incorporating or operating as a sole proprietor, and help you navigate important decisions like share structures
An accountant will make sure your setup aligns with your long-term goals and positions your business for success.
Navigating registrations for GST/HST, payroll, or workers' compensation can be tricky.
An accountant can help you navigate registrations to ensure you’re compliant and avoid penalties.
Buying an Existing Business
If you’re considering purchasing an existing business rather than start one from scratch, an accountant can help you find your way through the transaction.
Accountants can help perform due diligence on the business to make sure that the financials and purchase price make sense. They can also help to structure the purchase in the most tax efficient way.
It is also a good idea to also consult a lawyer before purchasing a business. This team of accountant and lawyer can help you to make sure that the purchase is sound so you’re set up for success.
After Launching Your Business: Keeping Finances on Track
Now that your business is up and running, let’s talk about how an accountant can help you manage your finances more effectively.
Help with Bookkeeping
While not all accountants offer bookkeeping services, combining them helps streamline your finances.
Bookkeeping can quickly become complex and time-consuming, taking you away from growing your business.
A bookkeeper can manage day-to-day transactions, track who owes you money, and keep cash flowing.
Check out the link to learn more about bookkeeping services.
How to Pay Yourself
An accountant can help you decide the best way to pay yourself from your small business, whether through a salary or dividends.
They will also guide you on the appropriate amount to withdraw so that your compensation aligns with your business goals and financial health.
It might seem like a simple concept, but getting this right is a big component to owning and running a successful business.
Government Audits
If you’re ever faced with an audit, an accountant can help make the process smoother and less stressful.
They’ll communicate with auditors, provide the requested information, and help catch any mistakes to prevent you from overpaying taxes.
You don’t have to navigate an audit alone—your accountant can be there to guide you.
Compliance
An accountant can help you stay compliant with regulations and make sure you avoid costly penalties.
They’ll handle the necessary paperwork and filings, keeping your business in good standing with the government and regulatory bodies.
This includes things like:
- Preparing and filing tax returns (corporate or personal)
- Filing sales tax (GST/HST and PST) returns
- Ensuring payroll remittances are paid on time and correctly
- WorkSafe (WCB) filings
Growing Your Business: Scalable Accounting Services
As your business expands, having an accountant on your side becomes even more essential. Let’s explore how they can help you navigate the complexities of growth.
Get Your Time Back
Accountants will help you get your time back.
Things get busy when you’re trying to take your company from a startup to a vehicle that will support your ideal lifestyle.
Letting go of tasks that are keeping you from working on your business’ growth is necessary in this stage. Unless you love doing it, let a professional look after your bookkeeping.
Not only will you free up your valuable time to focus on growth, the quality of the bookkeeping and finance tasks will improve.
Financial Reporting
Once you have a bookkeeper or accountant looking after your books, you can start to expect up-to-date financial reports on a regular basis.
You will start seeing your financial numbers each month and you can use that information to make educated decisions.
Your accountant can also provide commentary on the reports. Straight-talk that is constructive and not sugar-coated will help keep your finances in line.
Proactive Guidance
Your accountant is genuinely interested in your business and will keep you accountable as you chase those goals. Plus, their insights can help you navigate challenges and grab opportunities that come your way!
To make the most of your working relationship, you should be meeting with your accountant regularly to discuss:
- Your goals and how best to achieve them;
- What funding you might require to meet those goals;
- When you might run out of cash;
- When to hire labour or expand into new markets;
- When to buy equipment;
- And much, much more.
Help Getting Funding
Growth often requires some additional funding to kick-start things. Your accountant can help you seek out and obtain a loan or other type of funding.
Your accountant can help determine what is the best type of funding for your current situation. Whether it’s a bank loan or raising private equity, your accountant can determine what kind of financials you need and then present them to build your business case.
Your accountant will help ensure that you don’t miss out on growth opportunities because the funding wasn’t available.
Established Businesses: Leveraging an Accountant‘s Expertise
If you’ve made it this far with your business, congratulations!
You're not just surviving; you're thriving! Here’s how an accountant can continue to add value at this stage.
Tax Planning and Advice
When people think of business accounting advice, they’re often actually thinking about taxes. There is a good reason for this; accountants know this stuff inside and out!
An accountant can make sure that your business is not only compliant with taxes, but also that it is tax efficient.
For example, you may want to incorporate a holding company to save taxes or protect your company’s assets. There are many ways an accounting professional can help your business pay less in tax.
Improving Processes
Your accountant can help you build better systems to streamline the company’s financial operations.
If your accountant is tech-savvy, they can help implement new software applications such as Receipt Bank or Expensify. These programs can help to capture information and save time.
Not sure how your business processes flow from sales and marketing through to operations or completed sale? Many accountants are trained in business processes and can help develop and improve your systems.
Accounting Department
Finally, let’s consider cases where an established business needs more than just a bookkeeper but less than a full accounting department. This is a great opportunity to hire an outsourced accounting department.
We’ve often seen this scenario happen with organizations that have revenue between $1 million and $5 million and employ between 10 and 30 people.
For these larger organizations, a properly set up accounting firm can act as an outsourced accounting department. This scenario can be run either indefinitely, or until the business grows large enough to hire an internal accountant.
One of the main benefits of having an outsourced accounting department is the wealth of expertise it provides. Instead of hiring an internal accountant, you gain access to a team with diverse skills, including bookkeeping, accounting, tax expertise, and advisory services—all at a more affordable price than if you hired multiple internal staff members.
When the business grows enough to need an internal accountant, the outsourced accounting department is there to help with the transition.
They will be able to help train the new internal accountant on the systems and processes to make sure things go smoothly.
If you‘re still not convinced that this is your way to go, check out a real-life example of how an outsourced accounting department can work for your business.
Ready to Hire an Accountant?
Whether you're just launching, growing, or solidifying your business success, accountants can be vital partners in achieving your goals.
Their insights save you time, enhance your decision-making, and help steer your business forward.
If you‘re looking for personalized support for your incorporated business, reach out to us using our contact form. We‘d love to help!
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