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It’s often said, “There are three types of people in this world: Those who are good with numbers and those who aren’t.”

Jokes aside, when it comes to advising business owners, there are two types of accountants:

1. Accountants who help you comply (lodge the tax returns, “tick the boxes”, complete the forms etc.), and 
2. Accountants who do all that, but who also help you thrive (pay less tax, increase your profits, improve the business, reduce your risk, give you a plan for a successful business exit etc.)

It’s clear that when it comes to advising businesses, not all accountants are created equal. 

As a business owner you need to be careful when choosing an accountant because your business can live or die by the quality of the business advice you receive.

Here are 5 key traits to look for when choosing a business accountant…

1. PROACTIVE: The power of proactive advice

Any accountant can say they are a business accountant, but often what they really mean is that they prepare tax returns for business owners.

This is reactive work and business owners—whether their business is big or small—should be looking for proactive business advice about how to improve results, and not simply reactive advice telling you how much tax you need to pay, or only providing business advice if you specifically ask for it.

You want a proactive business accountant who guides you to make smart decisions based on regular analysis of your situation.

Yes, in the short-term you may pay more for a true business accountant versus a standard everyday tax accountant. But as always, the adage “you get what you pay for” holds true.

In the long-term you should expect to be significantly in front financially when you have a proactive accountant who helps you:

• protect
• manage and 
• grow your business… 

…as well as prepare your financials and lodge your tax returns.

2. COORDINATED: Coordinated advice is crucial too

You’re not just a business owner. You’re also an individual. And part of a family. You have your own net worth and investments separate from your business interests.

The last thing you want is an accountant who looks mainly at your business’s tax needs and ignores your personal and family wealth creation plan. After all, the reason you’re working so hard in your business is to fund a lifestyle for yourself and your family — both now and in the future.

It’s important that your business adviser is guiding you in line with your accountant’s strategy and your personal financial plan.

And if you have a financial adviser and they don’t understand your business or your tax position they may inadvertently be advising you to implement strategies that are not in your overall best interests. 

The ideal situation for your business success and personal wealth is to be supported by a advisory team that includes:

• business advice
• tax and compliance advice
• personal and family wealth advice

This is what we’ve created at The Hendrie Group. We’ve built cross-functional teams who can provide consistent and unbiased advice across all your important business and financial areas:

• tax
• asset protection
• wealth creation
• retirement planning
• business growth.

3. STRUCTURED: A structured approach makes all the difference

Talk is cheap. What matters is advice that results in you taking action along a clear and structured step-by-step path.

That’s why we developed the Financial Freedom Wheel (and have written a best-selling book about, “Unlocking Your Financial Freedom – An 8 step guide for business owners”) to make sure we methodically and comprehensively help each of our clients achieve financial independence.

4. AUTHENTIC: Advice from someone who has done it themselves

If you were a sports professional and wanted someone to help you reach the next level, you probably wouldn’t look for advice from the person who updated the scoreboard. You’d want advice from someone who had already achieved what you wanted to achieve.

The same applies in business.

At The Hendrie Group we’ve built our own successful business over the past 40-plus years and in the process have helped many of our clients build millions of dollars of wealth for themselves and their families.

This means we’re not just “crunching numbers” and teaching theory: When it comes to succeeding in business, we know what works and we know what doesn’t.

And that’s what guides our advice to our clients.

5. PASSION: We love the game of business

This might sound weird, but we LOVE doing tax returns. Why? It keeps you out of jail and saves you lots of tax. But the stuff that really juices us is getting you off the treadmill where you’re working way too many hours for not enough reward and moving you to a place where you can work less, earn more, and spend more time doing the other things you love.

We want to help you WIN in business

If you’re tired of having an accountant who “just does your tax” and who is only ever reactive to tax deadlines or questions that you raise, get in touch and we’ll start by mapping out with you the current state of your Financial Freedom Wheel and then working out a clear and achievable plan for getting it really rolling.