The Key Role of Accountant for Business Growth

Starting a business is, relatively speaking, straightforward. Growing a business in a sustainable way, by contrast, is extremely difficult. To succeed, you'll need every aspect of your operations to be working optimally. And this applies particularly to your finances.

If you don't know how much money you have coming in and going out, and you don't know where it's coming from or going to, then you'll be wasting a significant portion of that money. That means lower investment in your business, and no growth.

For this reason, the services of a talented and experienced accountant can be invaluable. But exactly what might an accountant help with?

Strategic Financial Planning

Like any other aspect of your business, finances benefit from long-term strategic planning. You'll want to know what you're working with – and that's what budgeting is for. You'll want to know where you're going – and that's where financial forecasting comes in.

These things require experience and skill, and a good accountant will be able to help you do them effectively. If you have a particular goal you're working towards, whether it's the opening of a new warehouse or the investment in a new piece of equipment, accountants can help you plan for them.

Effective Financial Management

We've already touched on the importance of managing a company's finances. In practice, this amounts to keeping records accurately, monitoring and managing cash flow, and dealing with spiralling costs. For example, if the cost of a specific kind of screw in your best-selling furniture begins to rise, then good accountants will be able to draw your attention to the problem immediately, so that you can either secure an alternative component or redesign the item entirely.

Through good financial management, accountants can minimise your costs – and provide you with insights that can inform your broader strategy.

Compliance and Risk Management

Once your business reaches a certain level of complexity, staying on top of your tax obligations can be difficult. Accountants will help you comply with those obligations, and they might also offer you ways around them.

A specialised accountancy consultant might also be able to spot structural vulnerabilities in your finances. It might be that you're unwittingly taking risks, which an accountant will help you to identify and manage through things like diversification and insurance.

For example, it might be that your business lacks liquidity. While this might not be a problem during good times, a sudden market shock, or a non-paying client, might create knock-on effects. You might suddenly find yourself unable to pay your staff or creditors. By involving an accountant early on, you'll be able to take remedial action before these problems have a chance to cause harm.