A PARTNER in accountancy practice, French Duncan, is urging SMEs to focus on growth ahead of managing their back office functions.
It follows a survey of 500 accountancy practices and small businesses by Bankstream, a secure transaction data collection service for accountants and their small business clients, which has shown that bookkeeping is taking up a considerable amount of time and causes frustration for both accountants and small businesses.
Begins a spokesperson: “According to the survey, if small business accounting could be made more efficient, 75 per cent of accountants and 68 per cent of small businesses would spend the time saved on growing their practice or business.
“It also revealed that a large proportion of small businesses continue to provide their accountants with hard copy transaction records with many accountants wasting time simply chasing small business clients to provide information.”
Greg Callan, partner at French Duncan Chartered Accountants, said: “The survey findings show that, as we come out of the downturn and expansion opportunities start to arise, SMEs should aim to focus on key elements of growth for their business, rather than focusing their efforts on managing the back office – because that can be a false economy.
“Whilst it might make sense for some SMEs in a recession to seek to cut costs by keeping their book-keeping or payroll requirements in-house, as business prospects start to re-emerge, business owners should focus their efforts on the important things that will help their businesses grow and prosper in a post-recession economy.”
And rather than owner/managers considering their engagement with their accountant as concerned primarily with fulfilling their compliance requirements, Callan suggests that business owners should instead consider their accountant as a trusted advisor that can deliver added value.
“We offer an holistic approach to SMEs so that, in addition to the provision of all the necessary compliance work, we can also offer a range of advisory skills – which small book-keepers cannot – to add value and help them identify growth strategies for their business,” he said.
“We can help owner managers develop their strategy and, in many ways, provide them with the confidence to make the step forward in growing their business. These two services are complementary and differentiate us from the ‘bookkeeping services’ offered by non-qualified accountants.”
ENDS
For further information please contact Greg Callan on tel 01786 451745
Issued on behalf of French Duncan by Liquorice Media tel 0141 297 1699 www.liquorice-media.com
Date: 24th April 2014
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