billionphotos-28201643 Signs It’s Time to Hire A New Accountant

If you are like most business owners, you likely pay someone else to prepare your taxes. Especially as your company becomes more developed with more investments and developments, professional tax advice is mandatory to ensure the proper recording and reporting of your finances. And as your accounts payable and accounts receivable become more complex and with more variables, you’ll likely start to realize that you need a specialized accountant as opposed to your everyday personal accountant. There are many warning sings that you need a new accountant; it typically isn’t something that will present itself to you one day without any red flags along the way.

Here are three signs that it’s time to think about hiring a new accountant:

Slow response time

While every accountant will find themselves incredibly busy come tax-time, that shouldn’t keep them from getting answering important questions are keeping you up-to-date with the process. If your accountant keeps putting you off without any official or helpful responses to your inquiries, that’s a sure sign that he’s not committed to you.

Lack of helpful advice

Your accountant is not just there to enter numbers into a program and determine your tax return. One of the main roles as an accountant (and especially a corporate accountant), is to provide each of their clients with helpful, real-time tax advice. You should be getting updated on the latest CRA regulations and changes so that you can maximize your tax return. If it seems like your accountant out-of-the-loop on basic regulations, it’s probably time to look into hiring an accountant who can help your business get more out of your taxes.

They don’t offer representation

If your accountant is not willing to hold himself accountable for your business’s tax return, that’s an immediate red flag. Your accountant should be willing and able to offer representation to the CRA for any mistakes that he/she could have made, without any extra charges. You, as the business owner, should not be help liable for any mistakes that your accountant made.

Review and reconsider your accountant’s performance this year. If you see any red flags or just get a bad gut feeling, act on it. A helpful, knowledgeable accountant can very well be the best investment into your business.