How to choose an accountant as a freelancer

 

Doing your accounts is a pain in the ass, lets be honest. And choosing an accountant is the obvious choice when it comes to doing your accounts.

So how do you choose an accountant?

Aren't they expensive shysters who don't do anything to earn their extortionate fees?

Actually, if you find a good one, they can be invaluable.

They don't just help do your end of year tax returns, or provide answers to your silly financial questions.

A good accountant can also help to reconcile your messy bank accounts and invoices, process payroll, complete end of year reports and all that malarkey, offer advice about investments and even help you to claim the correct expenses and get your best value from the tax man.

In short, a really good accountant is invaluable.

So how do you choose a good accountant?

1. Choose a small firm

Stick with either a local company or a one man band/smaller operation. In general, if an accountant has more than one office and a load of employees, you're not going to get a very personal service.

Smaller accountant firms are more likely to be able to respond quickly to your questions and will care more about the ins and outs of your business.

2. Recommendations

If you're running a small business you probably know other people running a small business too, right? Ask them who their accountant is and if they recommend them.

Personal recommendations can be a great way to find a good accountant.

I personally use an accountant in York to manage my business accounts. And I would highly recommend him.

3. Don't click on sponsored ads

When searching for your 'cheap accountant near me', don't click the first sponsored link at the top of the search results. Most of these are the big spending, multi-branch accountants that will also cost more money.

Dig down a few layers of search results and find the work from home accountant.

4. Don't get a big city accountant

If your accountant lives in an expensive area, such as London or the south east UK, they're gonna have higher overheads. As mentioned, my accountant is based in York and he charges very affordable provincial prices. But provides a top quality service.

My previous accountants were based in Watford, near London, charged nearly double and provided a fraction of the service.

Go local!

And those are my tips for finding a good accountant as a freelancer.