When we work with a company, we want to see them rocket to success.
We love to help businesses achieve their financial goals and then support them on their journey to bigger and better things. But we like to think that we are a little different to other accountancy firms, and where we come into our own is in our ability to think creatively and proactively, identifying areas where we can help fuel your business growth.
But in order to build that great relationship, there are some key pieces of information we need from the start to enable us to provide the best accountancy support possible. If our clients know what we need in advance, it can save an awful lot of time and there’ll be no need to scrabble around at the last minute to provide a key receipt or find a particular statement!
Key Accountancy Info
We work with a wide range of businesses across a range of sectors, and having a full overview of business strategy and finances makes us well placed to provide growth advice. You can read more about how we can help your business grow here.
But if you’re looking for general accountancy support, for example to help prepare your annual accounts, then this is the type of information you’ll need to have at hand:
· Bank statements
You’ll need to supply statements for all your business accounts, and these will need to be for the period your accounts cover.
While you’ll probably just have one main account, if you do have any additional accounts such as a deposit account, statements for these will need to be included too.
· Loan statements
Your accountant will need to see these to make sure the closing balance is included in the accounts correctly and that the correct amount of interest has been included as a deductible expense.
· Business credit card
If you have a business credit card then these statements will be required, plus if you use your personal card to pay the occasional business expense, highlight these on your statement as it’ll mean your accountant won’t have to go through all of your personal statements too!
· Finance agreements
Ensure you have copies of any new finance agreements that you have taken out in the year. The interest on the repayments is a tax-deductible expense and the asset purchased could attract the annual investment or other capital allowances.
· Invoices
You’ll need to provide all purchase invoices and expenses receipts for the period. Your accountant may need to make assumptions and some expenses could be missed, if you are unable to share these documents and you could be increasing your tax bill!
· Petty cash receipts
Your accountant will need to reconcile your petty cash balance at the year end, so receipts for this will be needed.
· Payroll records
Unless this is something your accountant already handles for your business, you will need to provide a print-out of each month’s pay run so they can check that all wage amounts and employers’ national insurance are included.
The Move Online
If you are a small business, you should be aware of Making Tax Digital. It forms a key part of the Government Transformation Strategy, which launched in 2017 with the vision of creating a ‘truly digital Britain’.
As part of this process, you should be shifting away from paper-based transactions and records, to storing data digitally, resulting in more accessible, and accurate, company information via online accounting software such as QuickBooks or Xero. You can simply give your accountant access to this software and they can find all the information they need to create your annual accounts.
If you need help Making Tax Digital, don’t forget you can always speak to us for advice.
Getting to Know You
If you only hear from your accountant when it’s time to submit your annual accounts or prepare a VAT return, then this isn’t the type of relationship that will give you an in-depth understanding of how your business might be performing, and is far from ideal or rewarding for either party.
We understand that accounting isn’t the most exciting part of running a business, but it is one of the most important. You’ll need an accountant you can rely on to keep you compliant, but also one who proactively looks for ways to help you along the way, so you’re not in a mad panic to find all the documents we’ve outlined here when it’s time to submit your accounts!
If you’ve been thinking about changing your accountant, then why not download our FREE
e-book (link below) which highlights some of the tell-tale signs that now is the time to do it!
If you’d like to understand more about how we can support your business, call us on 01322 555442 or contact us to arrange a free initial meeting – no obligations!
