There are many stereotypes out there about accountants; from thinking we are all obsessed with spreadsheets, to thinking we are all super serious, through to thinking we just deal with client’s taxes and receipts. Stereotypes are never good as they contribute to old-fashioned ideas, they don’t help us embrace individuality and they often aren’t based on any truth.
Good accountants should of course take care of all the traditional accountancy work, but they should also support their clients with nurturing their business for the future. Think about your cash flow, your pricing structure, your systems do you feel comfortable in with these? These elements are essential to the evolution of your business – if understood, they’ll truly help you grow your business.
Our top 6 ways an accountant can benefit you by being your growth partner:
1. Demystifying your data: Accountants can help you take control of your numbers so you have the information at your fingertips that you need to make better decisions. We are experts and we pride ourselves in talking in an everyday language so that everyone benefits from these insights. ‘No questions are silly’, so be curious about your data.
2. Improving your return-on-effort: It’s essential to free up your time from the day-to-day finance work so you can focus on doing the things that really move the needle in your business (like finding new customers, building the right team around you and creating processes that allow you to scale). Remember, return-on-effort is just as important as return-on-investment.
3. Helping you find scalable solutions: Here at de Jong Phillips, we are committed to using technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness for all our clients. Your business and finance tasks should be as hassle-free as possible, so you can focus on doing the more valuable work or the work you enjoy. Make sure your systems and processes are optimised so they are set up to scale (and don’t start to creak as you grow).
4. Helping you create a realistic business plan: It’s essential that all businesses have a business plan, at least for the next 12, but ideally for the next 5 years. An accountant must ensure your plan is based on real evidence and real data, so you can be confident that your ambitions are realistic and viable. If you don’t have an updated business plan at hand, then build out one for the future. Ensure it has clear goals and actions to get you where you need to be and then work with an accountant who will hold you accountable for hitting those goals.
5. Providing constant analysis with regular contact: Accountants shouldn’t just speak to their clients once a year when they need to sort their tax returns. We regularly and consistently keep you up to date with your financial insights so you can be prepared, spot trends and take action.
6. Giving useful insights around your cash flow: Increasing the cash flowing into your business allows you to afford to seize opportunities when they arise. We get excited when businesses want to take the next big step forward for their business. Get someone to support you with the decision making here and give you the confidence to try new things.
We can be your growth partner!
We aren’t your stereotypical accountants. Of course, we do love spreadsheets (why wouldn’t you?), but we’re also here to see the ‘bigger picture’ and help you use your financial data to better your business. For many of our clients, we have developed to become even more than their day-to-day finance function. We are now part of their strategic discussions, and we are involved with their conversations about growth. There is a true collaboration in regards to conversations about scalability.
For example, with our clients Saltoria Marketing they very much needed support to launch a traditional finance function when they were starting out. They needed to understand the basics, get the processes in order and also understand how important cash flow was to their business growth. As they become more and more established our conversations became more strategic. We can now give them advice on a broad range of aspects from their pricing strategy, to their subscription model, through to analysing their cash flow when considering paying themselves and their freelancers.
We are part of their growth journey and we’re here to support them step by step as they build their confidence and knowledge and begin to grow their business.
Are you ready to grow your business?
If you would like to speak to us to find out how we can become your growth partner for your agency, get in touch to book a 15-minute discovery session with one of the team today.