In today's economic climate it is more important than ever that small businesses keep control over their business expenses. Sometimes a substantial burden on a small business can be the professional fees their accountant charges. Below are a number of tips that may be useful when managing the impact of these fees. Although these tips are aimed at UK small businesses they may be useful in part to businesses worldwide:

Tip1 - Organise your books and records

When preparing a tax return or a set of accounts, if your business books and records are haphazardly arranged then it will obviously take your accountant longer to carry out the work..

Tip 2 - Use an appropriate book-keeping method

Many people wrongly believe that if they use a computer to complete their books then it will dramatically reduce their accountants time and subsequently their bill. This is at very best is only a half truth. Yes if a good book-keeping package or spreadsheet is correctly used on a computer then it should save your accountant considerable time. The emphasis here however is on "correctly used", if you are going to use a computer package then make sure it is one you can understand fully and can enter data correctly on. If a computer software package is used incorrectly it can take longer to unravel than it would have done to prepare accounts from a good set of manual records. It is highly recommended that you speak to your accountant first, prior to implementing any new book-keeping method.

Tip3 - Check there is no omissions or arithmetical errors in records

If your accountant has to spend time on correcting simple errors in your records then your bill will be needlessly higher.

Tip 4 - Provide your records to your accountant with adequate time to meet filing deadlines

If you don not know how much time your accountant will require then discuss this with them. Many accountants charge extra, for the overtime they have to pay staff to work on clients records to meet deadlines if the client has supplied their records to them late.

Tip 5 - Use your accountant to improve your business and save you tax

Instead of just being a financial burden most good Chartered Accountants will be able to help you improve your business and suggest ways to save you tax.

Tip 6 - A cheap accountant is not always the cheapest in the end

The term "accountant" is not regulated in the UK. This means that anyone can call themselves an accountant regardless of qualifications and experience. Many accountants with no professional qualifications are very cheap, but often are largely unregulated and may not have professional indemnity insurance. A Chartered Accountant may cost you a little more, but their expertise and experience could save you tax and help you build your business. In addition Chartered Accountants are regulated by their professional body and are required to hold adequate professional indemnity insurance.

The author does not guarantee the accuracy of any information provided in this article and recommends that you do not take any action, whatsoever, based on the information provided. By the fullest extent permitted by law, the author does not accept any responsibility for any actions you may or may not take based on information contained in this article. This article contains general information and is not a substitute for specific independent professional advice.