The Don’ts When Changing Your Accountant
In business establishments, an accountant plays a vital role, whether it is a big company or a small business entity. He records, monitors, and analyzes all financial operations of the company. Indeed, it is impossible to operate a business without an accountant.
A company can employ a full-time accountant to do all the accounting works for the company, but they can also be hired on a contractual basis. With advanced technology in our midst, employing online accountants is a viable alternative for hiring an accountant. These evolving trends in accounting practices are one of the causes of why some companies are changing their accountants. Some specific reasons may be incompetence, inability to adapt to new systems and policies, and differing work ethics and principles.
Changing your accountant should be given much thought. You should not rush. You should weigh all the pros and cons of letting an old guard go and hiring a new on. But if your decision is final, just make sure that you do not make the following mistakes.
Don’t End the Contract with Some Bad Blood
You should end your working relationship on friendly terms. Explaining your move will let your accountant understand your objectives. Let him tell you his idea of your action, and you can also say your side of the story. The business world may be too small that you will not be meeting each other and who knows you will need him in the future.
Don’t End It Too Soon
Termination of the contract of your accountant should be made instantly. Informing him one month or earlier about the termination of his contract will let him complete some of his unfinished works. He will also be able to prepare and organize all documents that are needed during the turnover of responsibilities to the new accountant.
Don’t Let Your Outgoing Accountant Go without Meeting Your New Accountant
It will be ideal to let your incoming accountant meet your outgoing accountant. They will still be working on some documents like the disengagement letter, which is the list of documents that are completed so far by your outgoing accountant. The new accountant will also be asking the outgoing accountant for relevant data. This is called the professional clearance letter. When they meet in person, animosity will be avoided, and there will be a fast turnover of documents and functions.
Don’t Change Your Accountant near the End of the Year
Your accountant will be very happy if you change him near the end of the year. It near the end of a calendar year when accounting works may be at its most rigorous moments. This is undoubtedly the busiest part of the year for an accountant. It is the time for closing of the books, which means all financial records should all be completed by the last day of the year.…