The type of small business accountant you should be looking for is one who wants to know what’s important to you and your businesses future, not just what you’ve done in the past. Does that describe your business accountant or do you anticipate feeling threatened, talked down to – even before you get to their office.

Business accountants who cause their clients to feel that they have to sit there with their hat in their lap waiting for pronouncements from on high are often what business owners have come to expect. They are afraid they’ll have to respond to “and why did you do that” questions.

Their interview questionnaires and fact-finders focus on the details of taxation, accounting, audits, etc. – they are upside down. The small business accountant you are looking for is one who wants to know more about you. Over two decades ago I read a quotation (it was ages old then) that stated, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” and nothing could be more accurate when looking for a professional advisor and especially when looking for an accountant for your small business.

Many business owners feel threatened by having to justify decisions they made long ago and far away as far as their memory is concerned. Decisions that may have been based on their gut instinct at the time or the advice of a well meaning friend or possibly something they read in their industry’s association magazine.

The small business accountant you are looking for does not do these things. They are someone who wants to understand you as a person, not to test your knowledge or display theirs. As time goes by an excellent small business accountant will work in the background to fix problems some of your clever ideas have created, and they will do it without throwing it in your face.

Excellent business accountants are exceptional with people skills. They never step on your pride to display their superior knowledge and importance. They would never say, “see how much money I saved you” rather they would say, “it looks like we’re going to do better this year than last” – with the emphasis on the “we” part of the statement.

You should be looking for someone who will listen to your concerns with interest and then counsel you on what should be done based on their experiences with other business owners like you. You are looking for a business accountant who is willing to invest their time in understanding you and what’s important to you personally as well as what is important to your business.

Business accountants who are experienced in your industry are a bonus. Generally laws are consistent for all businesses, but you know that certain things are unique to your industry. Doesn’t it make sense then to have a small business accountant who is not only on top of tax planning in general, but it your industry as well.

The result is that an even higher level of advice comes your way and someone else has already paid for their education in learning it. The opportunities unique to your industry they have come across offer instant possibilities to you, something that someone not familiar with your industry might never stumble upon.

Business accountants, the kind you’re looking for anyway – will be excellent at asking the right questions. But asking the right questions though is not enough. They need to ask them in the context of what they know about you and your business. Because they understand you and where your want to go, and because they see where you are right now – their questions will help the two of you uncover what’s possible to achieve.

The right small business accountant is also someone who, if your answers seem to be taking them down a road that is not part of their special expertise – they will tell you so. They will pick up the phone and introduce you to one of their colleagues who specializes in the areas under discussion.

They will say, “this is not something I can give you the best advice in, so let me get someone on the phone who can” rather than taking your money and trying to figure it out for themselves.

They will have business accountants in their Rollodex who are knowledgeable in that area, people they can pick up the phone and call – on the strength of their continuing relationship, that might result in a quick authoritative answer without charge. Or it may provide you with a close-personal-friend introduction to a specialist at a huge sayings – because they will trust the work being done for you by your accountant.

Self confident business accountants do not feel threatened by the specialist and they certainly don’t want to spend your money for both them and the specialist looking over each other’s shoulders in order for them to learn something they may never need to know again.

The small business accountants you’re looking for are confident in their knowledge, understand you and they know that you know that they have your best interests at heart.