How To Choose The Right Accountant

How many people in your life would you consider trustworthy? Probably your parents, hopefully your children, brothers, sisters, possibly a few close friends. These people you consider trustworthy based on years of experience. You’ve know them “forever”. In our personal lives we are aware of precautions to take, lock your car and front door, check your credit report periodically, don’t share your PINs, and the list could go on.

How about in your business life? How do you determine if someone is “trustworthy”. There are many times when we put our trust in people and it ends up badly. The job applicant that doesn’t show up for an interview, we depended on (trusted) that person to not waste our time. Or what about an employee who treats a customer rudely? We may consider this a bad hire, it is because this person is not trustworthy. These are examples of how we trust people on a daily basis.

The question becomes, how do you know you can trust someone? For the job applicant that didn’t show up for the interview, you know the answer, be thankful they didn’t show up so you didn’t have the opportunity to hire them. Once we get someone in for an interview, how do we figure out whether or not they are trustworthy?

There are many ways, do they look at you straight in the eye when answering questions, what is their body language saying, how do they react to difficult questions? We also employ tools such as background, drug, and personality tests. These are all great ways to ascertain a potential employee’s trustworthiness.

What about hiring an accountant? The principles are the same! You need to take the time to interview multiple accountants before deciding upon one. You are going to be giving this person key financial information that you probably won’t give to some of the most trusted people in your personal life. Another important thing to look for is whether or not this person is really interested in your business or are you just another name on their list of clients. Don’t underestimate this, when you are running a small business, you need a great team of people to help you become successful. This is another position that should be a cheerleader for you, not just a bean counter. The experience this person brings to you will be invaluable.

So, how do you find this list of accountants to interview? Referrals are the best way, but don’t just get one, ask multiple colleagues and friends as well. Another great person to ask is the CPA who does your taxes for you. This person probably has a list of good accountants that you can talk to. Sometimes they offer those services themselves. But don’t just assume that is the best person to handle your normal accounting. It may be, but it may not be. You need to take the time to figure this out yourself. If you feel comfortable with someone, go to the next step and check references.

By far, the most important characteristic for your accountant should be trustworthiness. If you don’t feel the person is the most trustworthy person you found, don’t use them.

What other characteristics do you think are important for your accountant to have?