How to choose the right accountant for your business
Price is rarely the deciding factor. How fast you get an answer you actually understand usually is. A few questions that save years of friction.
Most founders pick their first accountant on price, because at the start there is nothing else to compare. That is understandable, and it is also why so many change within the first year.
The difference between a good accountant and the right accountant for you does not show in the quote. It shows in month three, when you have an urgent question on a Friday afternoon.
Ask who will answer you, not who is selling
The first conversation is often with the person who sells the service. Ask directly who will handle your file and who you will speak to when something is unclear. A vague answer is a signal.
There is nothing wrong with working with a team. But you need to know who to call.
Ask for a response time, not a promise
“We reply quickly” means nothing. A committed window means something. Ask how long a written question takes, and what happens when the answer is complicated.
A “no” the same day is worth more than a “we’re on it” that disappears for three weeks.
Check whether they explain or just deliver
An accountant who emails a trial balance every month with no commentary is doing the job literally, but not helping you run the company. Ask to see a sample monthly report and see whether you understand it.
If you do not, and you are told “that is just how accounting works”, that is a signal. Almost anything here can be explained in plain words.
Ask what happens when you are the one who slips
You will forget an invoice, send a document late, sign something without asking. Everyone does. The real question is how they react: do they catch it early and fix it, or forward you the penalty at month end?
Warning signs
- They will not say clearly who handles your file.
- They dodge questions about response times.
- They promise outcomes that depend on someone else.
- They quote a price having asked almost nothing about your business.
- They speak only in technical terms, even when asked to simplify.
And about price
Price matters, of course. But compare what sits inside it: how many documents, which filings, whether conversations are included or billed separately, what happens in the busy months. Two quotes with the same number can mean very different things.
The most expensive accountant is the one you replace after eight months, because then you pay twice: once for the service, once for the time lost handing the file over.
