Tax Question:
Why should I stay connected to my accountant throughout the life cycle of my company?
Facts:
Having a strong relationship with your accountant can add value to your business. Your accountant should be one of the professionals you approach when making important business decisions. Keeping your accountant in the loop can help you make wise business decisions and avoid potential pitfalls.
Discussion:
Your accountant is a wealth of knowledge, education and experience and has various professional connections. Accounting professionals typically have connections with bankers, investors, lawyers, valuators and other professionals whose services you may need at some point in the life cycle of your business. Your accountant can refer you to a reputable professional and help you determine what services would be valuable for your business. Over the years your accountant will get to know a lot of information about you personally, your family, and your business. This knowledge can be brought into play at various times.
Starting out: Your accountant can provide advice regarding systems, share structure, expense analysis, sales taxes, financing options, internal controls, and tax planning.
Early years: Your accountant can provide advice regarding financing options, protecting your assets, cutting costs, cost analysis, government programs you may qualify for, and tax planning strategies.
Growth & expansion: Your accountant can provide advice regarding investing options, protecting your assets, restructuring advice, holding companies, foreign tax issues regarding importing and exporting, and tax planning strategies.
Exit strategies: Your accountant can provide advice regarding winding up your company, packaging your company for sale, passing the company to the next generation (succession planning), turning your company into an investment vehicle, and tax planning strategies.
It is, therefore, important to develop and foster a strong relationship with your professional accountant throughout your company’s life cycle. Having your accountant’s continuous involvement and input can help you navigate the complexities of the business world and add value to your business. For information on our Lunch and Learn program to help make accounting advice more affordable, please see our FAQ #126.
Recommendation:
If you would like to discuss how a professional accountant can add value to your business, please contact Gilmour Knotts Chartered Accountants.
