Does Your Accountant Really Need to Know Your Industry?

You’ve probably been told that you need an accountant who knows your industry. Is that true, or is it just marketing?

It falls somewhere in between. Industry expertise is a nice bonus, but it’s not the holy grail that many think it is. I’ll explain why.

At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we’ve provided monthly accounting services to a wide range of industries over the past 60 years. We pitch our industry expertise a lot, but we realized we may be feeding the stereotype that your accountant needs to know your industry… which makes us look bad when we encounter an industry that we haven’t seen much of. So, let’s address these questions:

• When does industry expertise matter?
• When does industry expertise NOT matter?
• What should actually be a priority when choosing an accounting firm?

When Industry Expertise Actually Matters

Industry expertise is always a good thing for your accountant to have. It mostly applies to the advice aspect of accounting, as the rest of the bookkeeping, financial statements, and tax processes are universal across industries. 

But for many businesses seeking a monthly accounting service, the advice portion is the biggest selling point anyway. Many of our new clients come from accountants who had no industry knowledge, so they could only offer surface-level, generic advice.

CSI Accounting & Payroll has such a long history and large client base that we can confidently advise on industry margins to aim for. Much of what we know is inspired by our clients’ successes in various industries, such as these auto repair shop Matrix Pricing Templates.

When Industry Expertise Does Not Matter

We love to boast about experience in an industry, but we also say that accounting is… accounting. It’s fairly consistent across industries when it comes to:

• Bookkeeping
• Financial statements
• Tax processes

The main point? It’s okay for your accountant to not know your industry as long as they’re willing to learn. 

At CSI, we don’t understand every industry. (There are new niche industries practically every year.) However, we promise that if we don’t have much experience with your industry, we’ll proactively learn as much as we can so we’ll be in the best position to provide industry-specific advice.

What Matters When Choosing an Accounting Firm

Industry expertise isn’t a necessity, but it’s certainly nice to have. If two firms have the same positive traits, but only one knows your industry, then that’s the one you should choose. 

So, what are the positive traits that you should consider when choosing an accounting firm? Here are our top picks:

• Understanding your business. This is even more important than knowing your industry because businesses can vary so much within the same industry.
• Many years in operation. Most small accounting firms only have a few years of experience. Try to find a firm with decades of knowledge because those are the firms that have seen how your industry evolves.
• Low employee turnover. If you’re lucky enough to find a firm that will give you a dedicated accountant (since big-name firms don’t), you want to make sure they don’t leave when you need them the most! 
• Great communication. Annual tax services and big-name accounting services are notoriously hard to contact, charge you for their time, and don’t speak in plain English. A small or midsize firm will be the complete opposite.
• Accuracy and compliance. This is one of the basics. If your accountant is making mistakes, you should find a different one ASAP because accounting numbers build on each other over time.
• Audit representation. Most firms charge to support you in an audit… or they just don’t help you, period. Find a firm that will support you in an audit at no additional cost.
• Pricing transparency. If a firm doesn’t list a universal fee, tiered pricing, or their average fee and fee range, that’s a red flag. The same goes for firms that spring on hidden fees after you’ve already started working with them. 
• Testimonials and Google reviews. What’s the point of all of the positive traits above with no proof? The right firm will have at least dozens of five-star reviews.

The good news? CSI Accounting & Payroll meets all of the criteria on this list. (Most firms don’t.)

We have processes to learn your business during onboarding. We’ve been open for 60 years and have very low turnover. Communication is our top priority alongside compliance, which makes us confidently include audit representation at no additional fee. 

And before you even meet with us, you can learn about our pricing on our website and read our hundreds of five-star Google reviews.

We’ll Be Experts on Your Business!

Now that you know how industry expertise matters for advice but the rest of accounting is universal, as well as which positive traits you should actually consider, are you ready to check out monthly accounting services?

If so, please consider CSI Accounting & Payroll! 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, estimate what your monthly accounting fee may be by clicking the image below: