The benefits of SMBs using accountants

Operating a small business can mean having eyes on many parts of your business, from running the day-to-day aspects to communicating with your customers or clients and checking in with your employees. 

All this work can make checking the finances a bit of a burden and quite stressful if you aren’t well-equipped to understand all the moving parts.

This is where SMB (small and medium-sized businesses) accounting can really be beneficial in allowing you to understand your business and how it’s growing financially.  

Currently, around 70% of small businesses don’t have an accountant, and more than half of those businesses rely entirely on their owner or manager to handle their finances.

However, small businesses with an accountant are achieving an 11.5% increase in revenue compared with those that don't, according to new research. They also experience greater confidence and improved wellbeing.

In this blog, we will look at the biggest benefits SMBs see from using an accountant and provide practical insights and advice when thinking about hiring an accountant for your small business.

What are the key benefits of an SMB accountant?

Having an SMB accountant on hand to help you understand financial reports and indicate where your business should be spending to ensure growth can be extremely helpful. But, there are many benefits to having someone to tackle the SMB accounting  of your business, helping to direct you according to your financial goals.

Boosting profit margins

Having an SMB accountant can help you to efficiently organise your business's expenses and optimise key revenue streams to help maximise your profit margins.  It is vital to know how your business finances are being affected, and seeing financial reviews and plans, as well as receiving actionable insights from an SMB accountant, can be priceless in helping your business to grow healthily. One in seven small business owners saw a transformational effect to their profit margins when using SMB accounting to oversee their business finances.

For example, tracking your spending and knowing when to make an investment and when to hold back can be the key difference between business success and failure. An SMB accountant can provide you with important insights into what money should be spent and where, and provide you with some ideas on how you could be saving money by optimising key areas of your business.

Effective cost management

SMB accounting can help you to identify unnecessary expenses and can look at optimising your business to ensure maximum efficiency and streamlined processes that could help to save you money in the long-term.

By budgeting correctly and having a financial forecast that outlines your financial goals and current financial affairs, you can prevent overspending and oftentimes save money.

For small businesses, having a structured cost analysis and financial control in place via an SMB accountant can grant you peace of mind, financial security, and help to improve the success and longevity of your business.

Ensure regulatory compliance

Tax laws are constantly changing, and submitting your own taxes is hard enough without having to constantly update yourself on the latest compliance laws and regulations on tax, VAT and payroll.

An SMB accountant can possibly take this worry away from you so that you can focus on the next steps for the business instead of financial upkeep. This could help you to avoid fines, penalties or costly mistakes when it comes to submitting your taxes for the year. 

Over two-fifths of small business owners saw a significant impact on improving their regulatory compliance when working with an SMB accountant to address their taxes, VAT and payroll management. Maintaining good record keeping and a stress-free auditing process with an SMB accountant can really help to boost your potential for business success and can make submitting your taxes a clear and quick process each year.

Enhancing business planning and strategy

Accountants can help you to forecast growth, plan and set financial goals. They can provide core advice around investments, business expansion and how to navigate your business through economic uncertainty.

Having this advice to hand can make a difference in how confidently you tackle your business operations and how you communicate changes to your wider teams. I could help you have a clear plan of action and be able to strategise to future-proof your business. 

Improving financial literacy

Understanding finance is difficult, but having an accountant who can explain key concepts to you and teach you about the inner workings of your business can help you to improve your knowledge and understanding of the financial aspects of your business and to know how financially healthy your business really is.

SMB accountants can also give you the confidence you need to make big financial decisions, which can place the business in better positions for growth, expansion and visibility. When it came to financial literacy, 40% of small business owners said they saw a significant impact in their understanding of this after working with an SMB accountant.

Regardless of how new your business is or how much it has grown since its beginning, having an SMB accountant will allow you to receive financial advice tailored to your business at all levels, and this can be priceless in moving forward or moving out of and away from a negative financial period for your business.

Reducing stress and supporting mental burdens

Working with an SMB accountant can take many financial management tasks off your plate as a business owner and free up time for you to focus on the most important or exciting aspects of your business.

SMB owners can have peace of mind when it comes to finances, taxes, and compliance with the aid of an accountant to successfully guide them through key financial processes.

According to our research, one in five small business owners say they felt a transformational effect on stress reduction after working closely with an SMB accountant towards their business plans and financial forecasting.

Using SMB accountants as valuable partners

SMB accountants can be valuable partners for small to medium businesses as they can help to contribute to business growth, stability and overall financial success. They can also educate you about your finances and allow you to manage your time and money efficiently and without hassle.

Investing in an accountant for your small business is a great way to kickstart your future planning and gain a vision of where your business could be in the next few years.

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