Giving you a
little time for
yourself

Talking Cents

December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

3 doubts to clarify with your small business accountants

As a small business owner, communication with your accountant is important, especially if you outsourced the accounting function. However, there are doubts here and there such as worrying being charged when you call up your accountant.

Therefore, this is the first doubt to clarify. Check with your accountant if they charge you a fixed fee for the work or not and that are short phones as well as emails part of that fee. Clarify that point and you shall free your mind from “how much does it cost me to make that phone call?” Without that doubt, you are likely to contact with your accountant before making an important decision. In many cases, small business owners who communicate with their accountants regularly tend to be more successful.

Next, always ask about your breakeven point. This is crucial for your small business because it is the level of sales you need in order to cover expense and begin moving into profit. Breakeven point can be broken down to daily, weekly and monthly basis. The tricky part about it is that some costs are variable, which means it depends on your sales level, however, some costs are fixed regardless of your sales level.

Finally, you need to clarify what are the drivers for your revenue. Your accountant should be able to give you suggestions in order to increase sales such as retain existing customers, generate and convert new leads, get existing customers to buy more often or more as well as relook at your pricing strategy etc.

 
Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation