What to look for when getting an accountant for the first time?

[league_of_ordinary_men]

Hi all

My business is starting to pick up and I think it's time I start looking for an accountant to do my books...etc.So I was wondering what quality's I should look for in an accountant?Is there a certain bookkeeping program I have to buy.....etc?

[adrianh]

You need a part time bookkeeper, not an accountant.

[league_of_ordinary_men]

Hi,can you please check out these guys and tell me what you think?http://www.boshoffvisser.co.za/services.html

[adrianh]

Where exactly are you based?

What exact services do you require?

How do you currenly handle your invoicing?
How many invoices do you process on average per week?

Ok, I ask these questions because you need to work out whether you want to do realtime bookkeeping or whether you want to do after the fact bookkeeping.

Realtime - quotes, orders, invoices etc are done in a program like Pastel then and there when they are required.
After the fact - You take all your documentation to your bookkeeper one or twice a week and they capture the information.

After the fact is probably what you need right now - they normally charge a basic monthly fee and then charge per invoice and per service. So, if you want them to handle your vat return, tax, etc each service would incur a fee. You are looking at anything between R3,000- R5,000 per month (my best guess)

I honestly wouldn't know how to judge whether that company is any good.

[flaker]

that software should be such simple that it provides various easy features of accounting so that a person who don't know accounting can also do this task easily with this software.

And the name of that Accounting Software package is ????????????

Some suggestions?

[Neville Bailey]

Is there a certain bookkeeping program I have to buy.....etc?

Give me a call on 082 456 7881 and we can discuss your setup and which system will best suit your requirements.

[Dave A]

And the name of that Accounting Software package is ????????????

In the past my answer would be Quickbooks without hesitation, but I believe other packages have been making progress in terms of ease of use for people without an accounting background.

In terms of the OP, I think it's an interesting question and probably dependant on your current systems and your expectations.

What are your current arrangements when it comes to bookkeeping?

[Elijah]

When choosing an Accountant/Bookkeeper, bear in mind that it "should" be a long-term relationship, and the Accounting business must be truly concerned about the future success and growth of your business, they should also be prepared to explain all the technical jargon and reasoning behind the sometimes seemingly complex scenarios.

[davidbann]

From on accounting package perspective, I would recommend Xero - www.xero.com. It's an online system that integrate with South African bank accounts, so no need to manually capture all of your transactions - it pulls it all in automatically, and all you have to do is reconcile it. We are currently migrating over to it from our traditional desktop accounting system - have been testing it for about 2 or 3 months now...

A powerful feature with Xero is that you pay per company, not per user. So you could go for the smallest option for only $19 per month, or the medium for $29. You can then give full accountant access to your accountant so that they can do your books directly in your system for you... You do most of the work in Xero since it is very user friendly, and get your accountant to log in once a week or month to fix up the mess you have made

[Dave A]

We are currently migrating over to it from our traditional desktop accounting system - have been testing it for about 2 or 3 months now...

What accounting package were you using before?

[davidbann]

What accounting package were you using before?

We started with QuickBooks, then moved to Palladium (after comparing various products including Pastel), and now moving to Xero

[Yolanda Botha]

David,, I've heard of Xero,,,sounds good. If I may ask how's the support been so far?