If someone were to ask you what accountants do, what would you say? For most people, they wouldn’t be able to provide much detail beyond “someone who looks after financial accounts.” Well we don’t blame you. There’s a lot of misconceptions around accountancy and what accountants do day-to-day. It’s for this reason that we thought we’d shed a little light on the subject. We can even promise you that it’s not nearly as boring as people think!
The overarching responsibility of an accountant is to prepare and analyse financial records for their company or their clients. It is the responsibility of the accountant to ensure that all financial ingoings and outgoings are expected, accurate and most importantly, accounted for. They must certify that all monetary movements are included in the financial records of the company or client for various different reasons. One of the most important of these reasons being tax.
Financial records have to be precise to ensure that a company is taxed appropriately. If the numbers are off, this could mean that tax is over or under charged. An issue which can have significant consequences for a company depending on the level of inaccuracy. Something that we accountants are here to help businesses avoid at all costs.
With the introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) this month, the inputting of tax is now a far more efficient process. All taxes now being computed digitally. This means that tax returns and timely payments are much more achievable (without hundreds of paper receipts flying around the office). Especially as the preparation of tax returns is another crucial responsibility of an accountant.
Accountancy involves a great deal of analytical ability. Accountants need to know how to observe and interpret numerical data and then apply that analysis to financial advice and planning. It’s not just about sitting around number crunching all day long. Accountants devise financial strategy and ways to improve financial efficiency for their clients. They make recommendations to reduce overheads, optimise revenue and generally improve profits. Their keen eye and familiarity with their client’s financial records mean that they are aware of how the financial records should look. Therefore, they are able to spot abnormalities (be it overspending or underpayments), as they appear. Not only that, but they are then able to pinpoint where these abnormalities are likely to be coming from. They provide an indispensable eagle eye on all things financial and can be a key component in resolving financial mistakes and devising a plan to optimise financial performance.
An accountant is more than just someone who handles your business receipts. Accountants are hugely important elements to any successful business or company and can be a true asset to a team, particularly when it comes to boosting profits. So while you can rest assured that your tax returns and receipts will be well taken care of, there’s definitely a little bit more to us accountants that you might first think.
With Total Accounting you get a dependable, established & focused accountancy firm. We really are here to help. Find out more about the Total Accounting team and see who you will be dealing with here.
Be sure to check out our great articles on the new Marking Tax Digital (MTD) requirements and an overview of the QuickBooks accounting Software.
For more information call us today on 0141 887 7766.
