The proximity of your accountant’s business to your own used to be one of the primary considerations when looking for someone to handle your books. But these days, not so much.
Thanks to modern technology and innovative approaches to accounting processes, your accountant’s location is arguably one of the least important factors. Here, we’ll explore why.
The way things used to be
Traditionally, when it came time to work with an accountant to file your end of year accounts, business owners would need to take boxes of physical paperwork, invoices, receipts, ledgers, files, folders and more into their accountant’s office. Those who’ve been trading for a long while will remember how much of a pain that was.
So, it made sense to work with an accountant nearby. Nobody wants to travel for miles to deliver a huge amount of documents to their accountant. And nobody wants to be the client who has to keep popping back in because they forgot an envelope of receipts tucked away in a drawer.
That physical, paper-based relationship shaped the whole industry for decades. Business owners chose someone close-by, or whoever a friend or business contact happened to use. It wasn’t really a choice based on skill, fit or approach. It was largely a choice based on geography, because geography was the thing that made the relationship workable day to day.
Digital practices have revolutionised accounting
Fast forward to today and the manual paperwork requirement has disappeared. Files, invoices, orders, reports and statements are all created, stored and shared online. You can photograph and file receipts in the cloud the moment they land in your hand using convenient modern software. No shoeboxes, re-used box files, curling-edged folders, old envelopes or trips to the accountants office necessary. Your accountant can access everything they need digitally.
On top of this, current technology means an accountant can review what their clients are doing on a real time basis no matter where they are based, and inform them when something is wrong at the earliest possible opportunity. A much better situation than reviewing manually perhaps months down the line, when the trail has gone cold and you can’t quite remember what a particular payment was actually for, or which invoice that deposit might have related to.
For contractors and sole traders in particular, this is a genuine revolution. Many of you are used to juggling accounts alongside the day job, fitting the admin in around evenings and weekends. Cloud software and modern accounting platforms means that you can do admin in short bursts whenever necessary and wherever you happen to be – on site, between jobs, or on the train home – rather than being saved up for one dreaded weekend of sorting through everything you’ve stacked up.
The drive towards Making Tax Digital also ties in with this. It’s likely you’re already using it as the turnover threshold set by HMRC has been falling year on year. MTD might be government policy, but it’s not just about making accounting and tax assessment more transparent and easier for HMRC – it makes submitting so much easier for you and your accountant, too.
The benefits multiply when you tie all the above in with a professional accountant’s expertise. Modern platforms allow your accountant to reconcile your numbers more quickly, and to also take a more dynamic, involved approach if required, as we will see.
Your accountant can be anywhere
We’ve just seen the benefits of modern accounting processes:
All data can be managed in real time, wherever you are. Your accountant can log in from their own office, wherever that happens to be, and see exactly what you can see, exactly when you need them to see it.
Software can capture receipts easily – you just have to keep them on file for 6-8 years (depending on what they are relevant to). Up-to-date applications enable your accountant to view and review your receipts and records to ensure they are suitable for a tax return without ever having to visit your office or wade through your physical files.
On top of this is obviously modern improvements to communications online. With everyone now familiar and comfortable with apps like Teams, WhatsApp, Zoom, Slack, Facetime and Google Meet, it’s never been easier to ask quick questions, have meetings, share screens, talk through figures and share documents without needing to be in the same room.
If we were still living in a world where location dictated your choice of accountant, none of this would be happening. And the one way to really illustrate the value of digital platforms and accounting software is to show by example.
The software behind it all
We use and recommend Xero, one of the most popular and comprehensive accounting platforms on the market. In our opinion, it’s the most intuitive of the accounting platforms for users (or clients) – it’s very much focused on making it easy for users to do what they need to do, and uses terms that non-accounting people will find easy to understand. Other accounting software is definitely available, and most of them do the same things, only the style differs a little.
The key factor with software like Xero is its ability to link to bank accounts, allowing for easy accounting or reconciliation. Users are able to drag in transactions to their dashboard for central reference, rather than hunting through statements line by line, and keep information in a way that is easier to assess, compare and draw conclusions from.
Another valuable feature is ‘matching’ – you might have raised an invoice for £340, and in due course that amount arrives in your bank account. The software puts two and two together and sends a message to confirm if this is the payment. All you need to do is confirm with a click, and your invoice is marked as paid with details of the transaction. It sounds like a small thing, but multiply it across dozens of invoices a month and it saves a significant amount of admin time.
A growing ecosystem of add-on apps
The pace and efficiency of these accounting platforms is a huge benefit to businesses of every size, whether you’re a sole trader with a handful of clients or a growing company with staff and stock to manage. But the real bonus comes with the add-on apps that complement the solution.
These apps are able to augment the data inputs as well as outputs, plugging directly into your existing accounts. For example, you’ll find specific apps for budgeting, cashflow management or receipt capture, all of which you can use from your phone or tablet – further supporting the location-independent style of accountancy.
The convenience of these apps has led to a fast uptake from those shifting to digital accounting, and this popularity has led to a scalable ecosystem of apps that all help your business run smoothly, wherever you happen to be. (And if that sounds a bit complex, we’ll be happy to show you how it all works simply.)
To add to the convenience, they are all based on simple monthly subscriptions with no ties to annual contracts. Users can stop using them at any time if they feel unnecessary.
A ‘done for you’ or a ‘done with you’ service? It’s up to you.
When it comes to integrating modern accounting technology into your business, we can set up everything and then you (the client) will get all admin permissions and be able to take it from there.
Alternatively, we can be more hands-on, monitoring and looking after more of the accounting software and processes for you, leaving you to pay more attention to day-to-day business and ideas for growth. (And more of your weekends back, too.)
There’s no right or wrong with either approach – it all depends how much time you have, how involved you want to be and how confident you feel with the software itself. Some clients enjoy being close to the numbers day to day. Others would much rather hand it over entirely and get on with running the business. For some, a blended approach works well. We’re happy to work in whatever way suits our clients.
The important point is that it can all be done remotely, without needing to spend time in in-person meetings or travel to offices.
We can easily review your accounts quarterly for businesses that are VAT-registered, or monthly, or even weekly for those organisations that require it. The more complex your set-up, the more frequently you need to stay on top of your accounts, to spot headaches before they happen, or to see opportunities at the earliest moment.
Regular online monitoring is integrated into what we do. Our staff log in to check on our clients’ accounts periodically as a matter of routine – for two main reasons:
- Are they doing everything correctly? We can make sure they’re not making errors and that all information is evening up where it should be in the system.
- Are they actually using the software? Sometimes, they’re not, so we’ll take the time to talk through anything clients are unsure about and demystify the technology..
So, is location important?
The short answer is no. Thanks to modern technology, your accountant can be based anywhere. So if you find one that you get along well with and trust, you don’t need to lose sleep over them not being local – they can manage every check, report, submission, reconciliation, meeting or call online.
And thanks to the ease of modern online communication and meeting apps, the days of travelling to your accountant’s office once a year while they talk through a print out of numbers that you are likely seeing for the first time are long gone.
What matters far more than a postcode is whether they understand your business, communicate in a way that works for you and use software that makes your life easier rather than harder. Once you stop filtering by location, you open yourself up to a much wider pool of accountants to choose from – and a much better chance of finding one who’s genuinely the right fit.
Looking for a new accountant who can run all your accounts online, who is flexible and open to ideas, queries and sudden problems alike? Just drop us a line.
