Читать книгу Start & Run a Bookkeeping Business - Angie Mohr - Страница 16

The most successful entrepreneurs in the world understand that no business survives and thrives in the long run without being surrounded by a competent and visionary group of external advisers: lawyers, accountants, financial planners, and a board of directors. It can be a very daunting task, though, to choose those advisers. How will you know what their credentials are? Will you feel comfortable with them? Will they align their goals for your business with yours?

When you first start your bookkeeping practice, you may think that this would be a good area in which to conserve your already limited start-up funds. As a financial adviser yourself, you may think you know enough about the financial, legal, and accounting aspects of your business that you don’t need to bring expensive consultants on board. I highly recommend, however, that you invest in good external advisers. A few hundred dollars now can save you a few thousand (or more) later.

Different advisers will provide different services, but in general, here’s what each adviser can provide you and your business:

(a) Your lawyer. You will need a lawyer to advise your small business on many issues, including the following:

• Incorporation

• Labor laws

• Contracts (with customers, suppliers, and employees)

• Mergers and acquisitions

• Estate planning matters

• Exit strategies

• Personal wills and powers of attorney

(b) Your accountant. Although, as a bookkeeper, you already have a strong financial and accounting background, a good accountant has experience in the following areas:

• Selecting and setting up your record-keeping system

• Developing your monthly management operating plan

• Defining your key success factors

• Preparing cash-flow projections

• Tax planning

• Exit strategy planning

• Mergers and acquisitions

• Human resource interviewing and screening

• Growth strategies

• Estate planning

(c) Your financial adviser. Of all of your advisers, your choice of financial planner can have the greatest impact on your personal and business wealth. Most financial planners can do the following for you:

• Draw up an investment plan for your retirement

• Recommend the mix of investments your portfolio should contain

• Recommend specific investments and even be able to purchase them on your behalf

• Help you determine your insurance needs

• Recommend other financial products, such as mortgages and tax-deferred shelters