When you’re on the lookout for a new business accounting service, you may dig your heels in the sand. Maybe the devil you know really is better than the devil you don’t…
But don’t brush it off as simply a fear of making the wrong decision – because what’s a “wrong decision” anyway? We need to get specific. Let’s dive deeper into the fears you may have and how to feel better about them.
At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we’ve provided small business accounting for nearly 60 years. That means we’ve talked to thousands of prospective clients about their fears of changing accountants. Here, we’ll discuss:
- The six common business accounting fears
- How CSI addresses your fears
6 Business Accounting Fears
“What if I end my relationship with my accountant, but the next one I work with is worse? What if I waste my money? What if this doesn’t solve my problems?” Almost everybody has these thoughts when switching accounting services!
Here are the categories of fears that we hear about from prospective clients:
- Audits and compliance issues
- Poor communication or getting ignored
- Higher taxes
- Paying too much or facing hidden fees
- Shrinking business or missed growth opportunities
- Back taxes not paying off
1.) Audits and Compliance Issues
While this is a common fear, it’s not often due to an accountant’s work. Unless you’ve been burned before, you probably assume an accountant knows what they’re doing.
Everybody fears audits and the IRS – these fears are just more top of mind when looking for a new accounting service. It may be peaceful now, so you don’t want to do anything different at the chance that it could open Pandora’s box.
2.) Poor Communication or Getting Ignored
This is another one where it might not be one of your fears – unless, of course, it’s happened to you in the past.
After all, it’s common for some accountants to get overwhelmed during tax season if they work with anybody who walks in the door. Then your emails and calls go unanswered.
They may even charge you by the minute for communication, resulting in many small business owners cutting the calls short before realizing they didn’t get all of their questions answered.
3.) Higher Taxes
There’s a huge myth that accountants can save you on taxes. Tax breaks aren’t all that common, and credits and deductions either apply to you or don’t.
Your accountant’s power is mostly limited to advising you on year-round strategies to be able to claim more credits and deductions.
Be wary of accountants who don’t do this but promise to lower your taxes. They’re either lying or using methods that can put you at higher risk of an audit.
4.) Paying Too Much or Facing Hidden Fees
Accounting should mostly be treated like an investment, but budgeting and being aware of hidden fees are still important.
If one accounting service costs more, it may be because they’re providing more – or they’re very transparent with their fees.
Meanwhile, if another accounting service costs less, it could just be providing less – or they have some hidden fees up their sleeve. Do they bill hourly instead of monthly but take longer to get your work done? Do they charge extra for certain services that you want? Do they require you to partner with them for other services that cost extra?
5.) Shrinking Business or Missed Growth Opportunities
If your business isn’t growing, it’s shrinking. Accounting can be a strategic tool to help you identify growth opportunities, but many lower-quality services don’t look that deeply into your financial data, or they even charge extra to give you this critical advice.
Just be aware that an accounting service can’t directly influence your business's growth or shrinkage – they can only advise you in this area. It’s up to you whether or not you take the advice and make the changes. There is always a chance that your accountant will tell you something that you don’t want to hear.
6.) Back Taxes Not Paying Off
When there are gaps in your bookkeeping or taxes, a new accounting service will often require you to pay for them to fill in the gaps.
However, back work and back taxes aren’t cheap! What if you pay for these services and your books still look like a mess? What if you end up owing a lot in taxes? All of these are valid fears with some accounting services, but having current, accurate books is always the best option.
How CSI Addresses Fears
At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we know most small business owner fears – that’s why we center our website around addressing them.
However, we’ve been told this makes us sound too good to be true. What if you pay more to work with us than your prior accounting service, and we don’t do what we say we’ll do?
Before you even contact us, you can educate yourself with our Learning Center and gain trust from our reviews and case studies.
Then, we make you feel right at home with excellent communication right out the gate. Our consultants find out if we can be a good fit for your business – and if not, they send you in the right direction! You can expect the same attention to detail during our onboarding process. At any point during these processes, we will address your specific fears.
Finally, moving forward, we will earn and nurture your trust the only way we know how: with high-quality customer service. You may have read about it in the reviews and case studies, but you deserve to experience it firsthand, too.
Turn Fear Into Confidence With the Right Accounting Service
Now that you know about the six fears when changing accountants, are you ready to check out monthly accounting services?
If so, please consider CSI Accounting & Payroll! We want to show you how we’re different from your last accountant. To see if we can be a good fit for your business, click the button below for a free consultation:
Not ready to talk? That’s okay! First, learn more about what it’s like to work with us by clicking the image below:
