Monday, August 28, 2006

Does the answer warrant the question?

I have commented in a previous blog that accountants don't know all the answers. Although many questions you might have will be commonplace, it is equally possible that your accountant has not encountered your precise situation before.

During my many years in practice I often encountered situations where the cost to a client of resolving a problem could have been greater than the tax at stake.

Accountants need to adopt a commercial approach so that they don't charge more in fees than the amount of tax they are trying to save their client.

A great question to ask your accountant is "have you ever come across that before?"

If your accountant says 'yes' you will probably find that it will not cost much to give you the answer to your question. If the answer is 'no' - you can ask how much it's going to cost to find the answer and to give you advice.

If your accountant says 'no' too often, perhaps you should find one who knows more about the sorts of things that are relevent to your situation.

Here's a related tip:
Whenever you ask your accountant a question, make sure you find out how much tax is at stake and how much it will cost to get an answer. If you get the impression that your accountant doesn't relate one to the other, maybe you should find a new accountant.

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