[poll id="3"]
I want to pick your brains! I’m interested to hear your views about accountants and tax professionals (the good, the bad and the ugly). I’m mostly keen to know what services or information you wish your accountant provided. Anything you’d like to share, we are open to listening to.
Your time is valuable so I’m not expecting an essay-length commentary here (though please feel free to provide one if the mood takes you!).
The question is WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM YOUR ACCOUNTANT? After all, you are the client and yours is the only opinion that really matters.
Below are some points you might want to pick through and speak up about whatever ones you have thoughts on…. I’m sure you can think of plenty more…
Do you have a relationship with your accountant or is it a once-a-year in-and-out in 10 minute trip for a tax return? Are you happy with that?
Do they keep you in the loop with things that might be of interest to you throughout the year? Would you appreciate a newsletter from them? What should it contain?
Should accountants stick with accounting issues or would you like household budgeting tips and advice too?
What areas do you wish they took time to speak with you about more?
Are you more confused after speaking with them or do you feel better informed?
Would you like to have resources to take home with you, such as factsheets or a summary of what you have discussed?
Are you comfortable picking up the phone to call them with questions throughout the year?
Do you ever refer friends or family to your accountant? Why or why not? Is there anything they could do to change that?
How important is price compared to actual value for money? Do you feel you get good vaue from your current accountant?
Are you happy with your current accountant? If you are not happy, why have you not moved on?
How could they improve their service to you?
I would really appreciate your input. If you can indicate if you are an individual taxpayer or a business (sole trader, partnership, company, trading trust, etc), that will help too.
Article by Christie Lewis
Christie is Practice Manager at Alan Lewis Accountants . Besides accounting, her passion is for all things small business (and blogging, of course). You can contact Christie directly at christie@lewistaxation.com.au.
Christie has written 799 awesome articles for us at Alan Lewis Accountants – BLOG
Twitter: @christielewis
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
BUMP!!!!!
Not a single response, huh? Okay, let’s offer some incentives. Responses received between now and next Monday night (let’s say midnight 6 July) will have a chance to win a $20 Shopping Card – you can choose between Coles, K-Mart or Bunnings.
Serious responses will go into a random draw (by serious I mean more than a word or two.. please give some thought to your answer). Winner to be announced Tuesday 7 July. Be sure to check back to see if you’re the lucky winner or become a registered user with a valid email so as we can contact you for your details.
If this proves successful, I’ll continue to offer a small weekly incentive until we wrap it up with a grand prize for the most considered/constructive response overall. The more and better the responses we receive each week, the better the incentives I can offer so feel free to invite your friends to join in.
I found lewistaxation.com.au very informative. The article is professionally written and I feel like the author knows the subject very well. lewistaxation.com.au keep it that way.
Hi Christie,
I would like to have a relationship with my accountant where I can feel free to drop an email or give a call to ask a quick question without getting hit with a bill every time. I am happy to pay if it is a longish consultation but my accountant charges me every time I ask a question. Once I asked a question about the trust deed he helped us set up and that one question cost us $300. The only time he calls me would be to sell me something like Managed Investment Schemes. We bought about $50K of Great Southern investments through him where he got a commission of 8%.
I also expect accountants to know their stuff. Each year we do a tax planning session with him before June 30 to discuss what we need to do before end of FY (at a cost $500 for less than an hour). Last year my husband received a bunch of employee shares and I wanted to know how they would be taxed. I read the FAQ on the ATO website and figured it was a certain way and I asked my accountant to confirm and they told me something else. Later they came back to me to tell me they were wrong and I was right! I was also not informed about the Section 139E election which could have given us a $1000 tax deduction. Another time my husband sold some shares he owned for a long time and our accountant’s calculation of capital gains tax was wrong because they did not take into account that some of the shares we bought under the DRP. I only realised it was wrong after I learned how to calculate capital gains tax in a basic tax preparation course from H&R Block. Their mistake caused us to pay more tax than we needed to.
I am shopping around for a better accountant to do the accounts and tax for our two small businesses (a SMSF and a hybrid trust for investment properties) for last FY. We live in Melbourne. Drop me a email if you think you can help us.
.-= Christina´s last blog ..Think like a Professional Fund Manager =-.
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