My accountant already does this." Do they?
By Andrew Isaacs, CIMA Member in Practice ·
It is the most common response we hear, and it deserves an honest test. Filing your accounts and tax is compliance. Helping you decide what happens next is a different job, and not everyone does it. <img class="shot" style="max-width:440px;margin:34px auto 0;display:block" src="/assets/img/blog-does-your-accountant-actually-do-this-ig.jpg" width="440" loading="lazy" alt="AI Finance Partners infographic, Filing accounts and tax is compliance. Helping you decide what happens next is a different job."> <p class="shot-cap" style="text-align:center">The numbers behind this.</p>
Three honest questions
When did they last call you with an idea for the business? Do you get numbers every month, or once a year long after you could act on them? Do they explain, or just send? A report you do not understand is not advice.
Compliance is not partnering
One keeps you legal. The other helps you grow. Both matter, but they are not the same, and paying for one does not mean you are getting the other.
You may not need to switch. Many clients keep their existing accountant and add us for the thinking. The value is in the conversation, not the filing, so expect more from the relationship.
Andrew Isaacs is a CIMA Member in Practice and Practising Certificate Holder, and the founder of AI Finance Partners, the outsourced finance function for professional services firms turning over £500k to £5m across the South East. Legal cashiering is not part of what we do.