When to Hire an Accountant for Your SME
For any person running a small business, there are plenty of good reasons why you should hire an accountant. It’s essential for the growth of your business and for the business plan to actualise. Also, an accountant is indispensable during audits, when seeking financing, investor relations as well as meeting regulatory expectations.
However, you don’t have to have a full-time accountant on your payroll. Sometimes, just a couple of hours every so often will be sufficient. There are several accounting services in singapore that your business need. But, you can single out a few that you can do by yourself. However, there are some that are best handled by a drop-in chartered accountant.
Here are some of these occasions where contracting accounting services from a chartered accountant will benefit you.
When Writing a Business Plan
Don’t wait till later to think about hiring a drop in accountant, involve them right from the onset of the business. If you involve a chartered accountant in your business planning process, he or she can use his or her skills to include realistic financial projections and other reports that’ll make it more realistic and more appealing to investors. Besides, your business plan will be more professional because it is enriched by the financial information which could save you money.
When Developing Your Company’s Legal Structure
So, you already know what you will sell, how you’ll get it, where your suppliers are, your distribution channels and your target market. However, you have yet to finalise the legal structure of your business. Will it be a limited company, limited liability partnership, or incorporated? Or would you like to operate as a sole proprietor?
As you carefully consider each structure, hire a chartered accountant to advise you on the tax and legal ramifications of each structure. For instance, if your business is tiny and you are considering to register it as a sole proprietorship, the upside is that you could get some tax breaks due to personal expenditure. However, you are liable (on an individual capacity) to business debts and potential liabilities such as lawsuits amongst others. A chartered accountant will advise you on which legal structure best suits your operations.
When Undergoing Rapid Growth
Small businesses are growing fast. Whereas previously you could do it on your own, as the company grows to do the accounting yourself becomes less tenable. You will start to lose touch with your APs as well as ARs. You will lose sight of key business metrics such as the ratio of overheads to total revenue as well as many other slip-ups.
But a drop-in chartered accountant can help you keep abreast of the situation. You can hire a chartered accountant for just a few hours every week and in turn receive valuable accounting services in Singapore to keep you on top of your business.
If your business is tiny, consider hiring a freelancer, and as you grow, you can contract the services of a chartered accountant.
Finally, Hire an Accountant When Ready to Delegate or Facing Audit
On many occasions, entrepreneurs are seldom specialists in particular fields. You could be a chartered accountant but with a budding business, however, in that capacity accounting is not your thing. You would rather spend time reaching out to clients and attending to business development. Other situations may arise such as receiving audit notifications from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. In such cases, having a drop in a chartered accountant to prepare your books can go a long way in avoiding penalties and fines.