Should you ‘divorce’ your accountant?
Anuraag Agarwal | August 13, 2019
I’ve often heard people say it’s harder to leave your hairdresser than it is your partner!
While this may be somewhat of an exaggeration, one relationship that can often be very hard to break is that of the client and their accountant.
The client-accountant relationship is a very sticky one, in that it’s very hard to break – or at least, it may seem very hard to break.
First of all, how or even why would you ever get to this point of wanting to separate from your accountant?
Some of the more common reasons may include;
· The accountant isn't acting in a professional or ethical manner. Your accountant is asking you to do things or telling you he/she is going to do things you feel are not ethical. If this is the case, then you most definitely should not be working with this individual or firm.
· The accountant may not be responsive – they may not be responding to your specific needs and/or concerns, they may not be giving you clear-cut answers to your questions and/or they simply don’t communicate with you – e.g. not returning phone calls or emails in a timely manner.
· The accountant has not made any attempt at trying to understand your business and industry so that that any advice they offer is specific to your business and not just general.
· The accountant has a habit of over promising and under delivering – whether it’s meeting deadlines or their ability in a particular area of speciality or even worse, guaranteeing end results without fully understanding your situation.
Speak with your accountant first
Surprisingly, this can be a very difficult and sensitive discussion.
Explain your concerns and why you’re not happy and even more important, outline your expectations for the relationship.
Talk about how both of you can work to make communications better.
If your concerns relate to a specific tax or financial issue, talk about expectations and ask your accountant to be honest about the outcome.
