4 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Accountant for Your Business
Hiring an accountant to work on your business accounts is a serious endeavour. You are going to entrust this person with your business finances. You don’t want to partner with random people who might not even keep the information shared in strict confidentiality. There are 4 important questions you can ask to ensure you are not partnering with the wrong person.Where did you previously work?
This question will provide you a glimpse of the applicant’s job history. Though this is might already be written on the resume, it is better if you ask it again so that you can determine if he really understands his job or if his previous job description matches with your expectations for this job.
What can you say about your previous job?
The answer to this question will let you know whether or not this person will keep everything secret from his past work experience. If he keeps dissing his old employer, then perhaps you should not hire this person. You don’t want to work with him temporarily and be surprised later on to know that he has already told other people how bad a business you are running.
Are you detail-oriented?
You need to know if he is detail-oriented since this is what the job calls for. You are asking him to deal with accounts. They are extremely detailed. A single mistake would require him to start over again. Therefore, you need to make sure that he can look closely at every detail and not complain about it.
How patient are you?
When you are running a small business, you can’t expect it to stay that way for good. You also expect some changes. You want to expand. You want more customers to buy from you. It also means more accounts to be taken into consideration. It takes patience to go over all those documents and ensure quality results. An impatient accountant might end up leaving the job and eventually leave you hanging. You need someone who is trustworthy and will see the project through.
Once you have found someone who has the right qualities to do this job, you can go ahead and seal the deal. You may hire the person full time or you may also hire freelancers whom you can work with whenever necessary. You may also ask firms to send someone to work on your accounts at least once a month. This person will deal with your taxes, provide business strategies and be an expert consultant for anything that could be of great use for your business. You can check out the best accountants in Central London to help you do the job.