A Curious Accountant + Your Business = Successful Company
How often do you hear the phrase “it’s all about the numbers?”
Many accounting firms concern themselves with just the numbers, your numbers to be specific. But in reality it’s not all about the numbers. The numbers reflect the results of your businesses systems and processes, so if you ignore what generates the numbers and focus just on the results how are you going to become more successful?
A “curious” accountant asks lots of questions about your goals, plans and objectives. It’s critically important to know what you are aiming for so that we can strategize the most efficient and effective ways of achieving your goals.
A “curious” accountant doesn’t just take the numbers at face value, but questions how your company arrived from an operational sense at the number in question.
- What were the marketing strategies that generated the sale?
- What was the conversion rate of prospects to customers?
- What is the average sale value?
- What are the costs (variable and fixed) associated with the sale?
- What are your payment terms with your customer?
- What are your payment terms with your suppliers?
This may seem a lot to ask, but to find out how to grow the bottom line we first need to look at all the components that make up the end result.
Questions need to be constantly asked to ascertain what needs to be done and to see if there is a better way of doing things. This constant questioning or curiosity is what a good accountant needs to be providing to help grow your business.
At Oxen our primary focus is to ensure you have the ‘finger on the pulse’ of your numbers and operating at maximum profitability.
In some of our upcoming Oxen Blogs we will discuss “The Vital Questions Your Accountant Should Be Asking You”, “Is Your Accountant Interested in Your Cheque Book More Than You?” and “Let’s talk about listening”. We will talk about your relationship with your accountant, and how it’s not just about the numbers.
We will emphasise:
- How to focus first on growing the business and then look at the compliance.
- How compliance issues are managed in a professional and timely fashion.
- The questioning processes we use to uncover the “hidden capabilities” of your business.
- How this deeper understanding can positively impact your company results.
