Questions of the Proactive Accountant

What is your accountant doing for your Family, Inc?

Does your accountant ask you these quantitative types of questions, how much do you know about your business’s financial configuration and the different tax savings options?attached to them?

·???????What are your family’s key values?

·???????Are you aware of your industry’s performance benchmarks or understand your small business’s productivity metrics?

·???????May I see your forward-looking projections/budgets/financial statements?

·???????May I see your Fair Market Value/Cost Basis Balance Sheet?

·???????May I see the most recent valuation of your business?

·???????Who is your most trusted advisor, if any? And do they offer high end tax strategies and comprehensive business plans

·???????If there is one thing you could have more of, what is that thing?

·???????What keeps you awake at night?

·???????How may I serve you?

Ultimately, the accountant’s overall value should be determined in terms of your personal and business successes by identifying areas that negatively affect profitability or stagnate growth, and to judiciously recommend cost effective solutions, that are not only practical and technically sound, but also, because setting goals will make for?better business decisions.

·???????Tax Planning is the key to successfully and legally?reduce your tax liability, as well as, to go beyond tax compliance and actively recommend?tax saving strategies?that maximize after-tax income. ?In addition, it is an important aspect of overall financial planning, and effectively, tax planning contributes towards a significant portion of your accumulated net wealth over the long term. Notwithstanding, financial planning should always be the first driving force of personal and business financial transactions. That said, does your accountant exercise their fiduciary duty and use solid business principles to maximize your family’s wealth transfer?

·???????Ensuring the integrity of underlying bookkeeping data, that is, meaningful, well-organized financial records guaranteeing that your business operations will run more efficiently on a daily basis since solid record-keeping is essential for management reporting

• Providing just in time management information that produces accurate and timely?monthly financial reports. Suffice it to say, your small business can be profitable and still run into trouble due to cash flow issues.?However, a customized dashboard of measurements can forecast and evaluate your company’s financial condition, estimate financing requirements, and track cash-flow sources and uses, that is essentially, effectively accessing better data synthesis
• Lending support to informed?decision making. For example, forecasting is a necessity when trying to successfully manage and commendably lead your small business to profitability. Furthermore, from simple projections to complex financial modeling, the data analytics will guide you in achieving your business’s financial goals.
• Streamlining workflows and improving designs to increase productivity that results in improved profitability
• Competing and staying relevant with mobile apps. Using apps on your smartphone, enables you to snap pictures of your credit card receipts and vendor bills, as well as, apps for customer invoices, payroll, expense reimbursements and everything else?in?between.

Finally, but more subtle, does your accountant suggests ways to address the following qualitative questions?

·???????Advancing personal development through mentoring and coaching

·???????Achieving self-actualization and pursuing a managed work life balance

·???????Having a sounding board to bounce ideas off and discuss issues, as well as, challenges

·???????Building long term relationships and maintaining trusts with others