5 Must Ask Questions for your Accountant During the Initial Appointment:

Hiring the right accountant or business advisor can take up a lot of valuable time and effort, so you wouldn’t want anything to go wrong. Choosing the wrong candidate for this important role can end in a nightmare! This is why, to select and shortlist the perfect accountant for your business, you need to ask a bunch of questions that will ensure they are the right fit for you and your business.

Here are a few questions we shortlisted that can help you choose the right accountant in Sunshine Coast! You may ask these questions during your initial meeting, or send a follow up email after the first face to face meeting:

1.    What records should I save, and how should I manage them?

To file taxes, gauge profitability, and obtain funding, you must maintain a track of your business’s financial records. You should always have documents on hand in case of an audit. The documents your company needs might be determined by your accountant.

2.    What Services Will You Provide?

If you are going to hire an accountant, make sure they provide all the services you require. It is best to keep one person for the whole job instead of dividing it into pieces for different individuals. For example, hiring a bookkeeper separately to an accountant, if you require help with keep the books maintained as well.  

3.    How should businesses be ready for taxes?

How can you make the most of the tax savings that might be available to me? How would you confirm that? How long will it take to do my taxes, on average? When is the best time to prepare and pay taxes? Taxes are important. You don’t want your taxes to get messy so it’s important your accountant has a vast amount of knowledge in that field.

4.    How frequently will we get together to discuss my accounting needs?

It is important to you keep checking in with your Sunshine Coast accountant for all your financials. So be sure that your accountant is open to that and that they make themselves available. Don’t let them ‘take care’ of all the finances themselves. You should know exactly what is going on in your business.

5.    What typical issues have you resolved for other companies in my sector?

This will give you a very clear idea instead of listening to generic answers on how the Sunshine Coast based accountant will add value to your business. You can also get to know about the candidate’s past experiences this way and relate those problems to your own business as well!