As your Accountant am I a cost or an investment?

As accountants, I’m always helping my clients find ways to reduce their overhead costs – one of the seven ways to grow your business. Did you know that your accounting fees are an overhead cost? Should you be cutting this cost? Or do you view me as an investment?

Expenses are a necessary evil; we can’t avoid them and often view them as a grudge purchase with little value add.

An investment, on the other hand, is about the return on your spend – what you get back as benefits; more cash, more discretionary time, or simply peace of mind that everything is done as it should be.

The true purpose of an accountant is to provide enduring value to you and your business. It’s no longer just about annual accounts and tax. I believe that all my clients should have, at a minimum:

• An annual Business Plan
• An annual Cashflow Forecast
• Ongoing accountability coaching

But most of my clients don’t see these as important factors in understanding the numbers and growing thier business. So I’m on a mission to change this mindset and help the clients who don’t see this why investing a little more into the accounting function can help them join the clients who are already reaping the rewards. These clients know where they want their business to go and have identified the goals they need to achieve to get there.

If you consider what you spend with me, your accountant to be a cost, then cut that cost; if you consider it an investment, you need to invest now more than ever.

“The biggest expense is an opportunity cost.” – Anon