Like any other small or medium-size business in the Essex or London area, keeping good accounts, balancing the books and making the most of your income are vitally important. With the challenges we face today, including rising inflation and the after-effects of the Covid pandemic, fiscal responsibility is key to any operation. Small business owners are actively looking for ways to save time and money.

Hiring an accountant to help manage your small business finances can depend on several different factors, including your turnover and the number of people you employ. The good news is that there are several ways that a good chartered accountant can help you save both time and money, whatever the size and scope of your business. 

1. Time Savings for Your Essex Business

Accounting and bookkeeping are the more mundane parts of running any business. From getting your tax return to HMRC to organising payroll and managing cash flow, there’s a lot that can eat up your time if you are a small business owner. 

The good news is that your accountant does nothing else but crunch the numbers for you. It can save you many hours and days pouring over figures, collecting invoices and receipts and paying your employees. That’s time which is much better spent running your business, attracting new customers and increasing turnover. 

Outsourcing to a third-party accountant is a more cost-effective measure than simply employing one on site – they may only need a couple of hours each week to go through your books and update everything, providing you with immediate access to current figures that show how your company is operating. And it doesn’t have to cost the earth. 

2. Helping with Money Management

By definition, accountants are good at managing money. They will help you spot areas in your business where savings can be made, not least when it comes to that all-important tax return. Having a good chartered accountant for your Essex business could mean, for example, that you can easily spot unprofitable lines or products and streamline your approach to business so that it is more productive with less effort. An accountant can guide you in maximising your pricing, help you track your investment in marketing and advertising and offer other expert business advice. 

3. Save Time By Streamlining Your Accountancy

Most business owners aren’t qualified accountants and can often spend time and money on ineffective processes. Handing over your bookkeeping to a qualified chartered accountant will help streamline everything and make those processes more cost-effective and productive, further saving you money in the long term. In short, everything from the use of payroll software to how you issue invoices can be fine-tuned for better results. 

4. The Right Tax Advice

Whether you’re a limited company, partnership or sole trader, the last thing you want is to be paying a higher tax than you need to. The more successful your business becomes, the more difficult it can become to manage your tax burden efficiently, however. A chartered accountant will help keep you on track, hopefully reducing the amount you pay to HMRC each year. 

5. Helping Your Business Grow

Finally, one of the most important areas where an accountant can help a small to medium-sized business is in setting up for future growth. They can allow you to see the big picture when it comes to your company, what areas would be most profitable to move into and how that can be effectively priced and implemented. If you are looking to expand and need a loan, an accountant can certainly help you decide on the best approach. 

Working with a professional accountant will help your business grow and develop in numerous ways. It will also releasing up more time for what you do best – running the business itself. If you would like to find out how Neil Smith Accountancy can help, contact our professional and friendly team today.