Another five tips

1. Tell your accountant as soon as possible of changes or problems in your business and circumstances etc. This will avoid the accountant wasting time on things that may no longer be relevant; they will want paying for the work regardless.
2. Ensure your accountant tells you what information they will require before they start work and then make sure it’s available.
3. Get a commitment from your accountant to produce your tax return within a specified period of you supplying all relevant information.
4. Ask for rough projections of your tax bill and for these to be kept uptodate.
5. Is your accountant able to advise on tax efficient investments or will you need to pay an IFA too? Some promoters of tax incentivised investments are biased so you want to ensure you get independent advice from someone who really understands the related tax issues and risks. What you don’t want to do is pay twice for such advice.