Edmonton Accountant | Accounting Price Structure

Business owners should take some time to understand . how they can hire an accountant that not only is going to give them the product that is going to help them achieve business success, but at a fee that they feel good about paying. The first way that they can achieve this goal, is by understanding how accountants normally charge. The first way that accountants charge is the most conventional way says Edmonton accountant. business owners need to understand that this may seem very straightforward, but it often creates uncomfortable dynamic where the longer the accountant takes to complete a job, the more they get paid. Business owners can end up being uncomfortable, worrying that the accountant is taking a longer time, or creating extra services for them to work on in order to get a higher bill. Business owners who worry about this, tend to start counselling services in order to save money. One of the first services they tend to cancel is planning, which can hurt them in the long run by not allowing them to effectively plan their tax strategy.

The second way that accountants charge for services, is a flat fee per service. This often looks very attractive, because a business owner will be able to easily see what services being provided and at exactly what price. Edmonton accountant warns entrepreneurs about this method, because flat fee services are usually very bare-bones. Any additional work included is charged out at a much higher rate. For example, if the accounting firm has to answer a phone call from CRA about that client’s file, they can end up charging a huge amount just for answering the phone call. The reason why accounting firms charge this way, is because it allows them to give a low price, while charging a high amount later on once the client has signed on.

The third way accountants charge is perhaps the least common way, but it is often the most beneficial says Edmonton accountant. This is the flat monthly fee. The way this works, is that the accountant sees the work that needs to be done on a monthly basis for the business owner, and then charges them rate that they will charge every single month. The business owner is satisfied, knowing that they are very clear on what services they are getting, and exactly what price they will be charged for it, this consistent pricing means that they can smooth out there cash flow. The accountant has to understand that if they have charged too little, they will end up losing money, and they must to continue to provide a high quality work in order to keep that client.

Red Adair, the specialist who extinguishes and caps oil well fires once said, if you think it is expensive to hire professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur; this is a favourite quote of Edmonton accountant. Business owners need to understand that by hiring a business professional to work on their accounting files, they may not be comfortable with the you that they are being, but as long as they’re getting a great service, they should understand that by hiring someone at a lower price may end up with them getting a much lower quality products service. When it comes to accounting, that can mean poor tax planning that results in a business owner paying way more taxes than they should have. taxes are such a significant expense in business today, that it can make a huge impact on the business if they are paying more taxes than they should. With 29% of all failed businesses claiming that the reason their business failed was running out of money, many entrepreneurs can avoid this fate simply by efficient tax planning.

Saving on tax planning is not a worthwhile strategy says Edmonton accountant, but business owners often don’t have any idea where they need to begin in order to hire the right professional for them. The first thing that they should do is be aware that not every chartered professional accounting firm will do plans. Business owners may assume that all firms do plan, but this is not the case. Also, Edmonton accountant warns business owners that even though a firm may say that they do planning, they don’t do it often enough to make them very good at it. If the business owner is going to hire an accountant in order to work on planning, they are going to want to hire the best accountant they can, because great tax planning means a business owner can save far more money than a business owner would potentially pay an accountant. A great accountant can virtually ensure that they get themselves paid, by helping a business owner save so much in taxes. A great rule to go by, is that if a firm has done fewer than 100 business plans per year, they are likely not good enough habits to be hired.

The next step in choosing the right accountant, once they have identified which accounting firms do more than hundred plans a year, is to go in and talk to those accountants to see a sample of their business plan. Any great accountant will be able to show a business owner what their plans look like. A business owner may not understand what they’re looking want, but accountant should be able to show the business owner which recommendations they made to the client, what ways they are going to help the business owner achieve their objectives, and most importantly point out what measurable’s they are going to use along the business owner to determine if the plan is been effective or not. Ultimately, Edmonton accountant says that a business owner needs to ask themselves if the document looks meaningful. It should be more than one or two pages, most great business plans start at about 30 to 40 pages.