What should you expect from your Accountant in the Cloud era

The world of accounting has changed significantly over the past few years. Today’s accountants have more tools than ever at their disposal, so ensuring your accounts are filed and submitted on time are merely the basic requirements. New tools and technology are good for both accountants and the businesses that they serve. In essence this means that a great firm can create more value for your business than ever before. Here are some quantitative and qualitative things that you should expect from your Accountant in 2017:

They know their stuff

A great accountant will immediately fill you with confidence as they begin to analyse your business and ask thought-provoking questions about your financial data. As well as having an obvious passion for numbers, they will also keep a close eye on industry and legislative developments, whether it’s Auto Enrolment, Making Tax Digital or the latest tax legislation.

They thrive off your success

A great firm should be [almost] as passionate about your growth and success as you are, because ultimately everyone wins if you’re more successful. An accountant that thrives off your success will be passionate and interested in your business and growth plans and ask you lots of questions. It’s always inspiring to partner with other businesses that share your excitement and enthusiasm.

They have the experience

There really is no substitute for working with a team of highly experienced professionals. The partners of a great accounting firm will have collectively worked with hundreds of businesses – repeatedly seeing what works and what doesn’t – meaning their business and financial insight is almost unparalleled. This enables you to tap into decades of collective experience and receive tried-and-tested advice from domain experts.

They “walk the walk”

How successful has your accountant been in their own business? How do they run it? How fast is their firm growing? An accountant who has a successful firm of their own clearly knows how to create and grow a successful business, and is often far better placed to provide you with business advice than someone who doesn’t have a successful firm. They will also likely work with other successful and fast-growing businesses and be able to share insights from their other clients with you, helping your business to grow.

They use the cloud

Cloud accounting platforms like Xero have been around for several years. Businesses like Xero continue to invest heavily in improving their systems and use cutting-edge technology such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in a constant quest to improve and optimise the Accounting experience for businesses. A few key benefits of cloud accounting software include: real-time access to your financial data, automation of data entry (saving you money and time), the ability access to your data from anywhere with an internet connection and secure data storage. A great firm will be highly experienced in cloud accounting and help you to implement a cloud accounting platform in your business, and recommend the optimal systems and processes. They will also be aware of other cloud platforms and tools that can help to make your accounting and bookkeeping processes more efficient and effective.

They offer a suite of services

Cloud accounting tools have given firms the ability to offer a far slicker, holistic service driven by the insights they have at their fingertips and their extensive commercial experience. Access to real-time financial data enables you to make smarter financial decisions. The modern accounting firm doesn’t just ensure your accounts are filed correctly and on time – they also offer a number of additional services including bookkeeping, payroll, financial reporting and forecasting, to name but a few.

Finally, but arguably, most important – they are proactive

As well as ‘taking care of the basics’, a great accounting firm will be highly proactive. Whilst historical data is very important, a great accountant should be future-focused and continually reviewing your short, medium and long-term business objectives with you. Your accountant should be helping you to plan for future goals, whether that be an exit, Management Buyout or your next round of funding. They should also be meeting you regularly to review the performance of your business and your business plan, helping you to stay on track and achieve your business objectives.