Advisory
Seven signs your business has outgrown its accountant
Your accountant can be doing nothing wrong and still be the wrong accountant. Filing on time, answering emails, keeping HMRC quiet — that's the baseline, and for a young business it's enough. But businesses change shape, and the service that fitted at £60k of turnover can quietly become a bottleneck at £600k. Here are the honest signs.
The seven signs
One: all contact is deadline-driven. You hear from them in January and at year-end — never in between, never with an idea.
Two: the numbers arrive too late to matter. Accounts landing nine months after year-end are history, not information. You can't steer with them.
Three: every suggestion comes from you. You ask about pension contributions; you raise the company car question; you found out about ID verification from a blog. Advice should flow the other way.
Four: they talk about last year; you're worried about next year. Compliance looks backwards by design. If nobody's helping with pricing, cash, hiring or margins, that whole layer is missing.
Five: questions feel like a burden. Slow replies, jargon, or an hourly-rate anxiety that stops you asking at all.
Six: they've never been in your numbers mid-year. If the first look at your figures is at year-end, every planning opportunity that year has already expired.
Seven: the fee is a mystery. Surprise invoices, unclear scope, billing for phone calls.
What "more" actually looks like
It isn't a fancier compliance service — it's a forward layer on top: management accounts during the year, someone reading them with you monthly, tax planned before the year ends rather than reported after, and an adviser who brings things to you. That's the gap our advisory sessions and Fractional FD service exist to fill — and it's why we start with a paid Numbers Review rather than promises: one session, your actual figures, three findings, three actions, in writing.
The graceful exit
If several signs hit home, know this: switching accountants is a standard professional process your new firm handles almost entirely. And a good incumbent won't be offended — sometimes a business simply needs a different gear. If you'd like a second opinion on whether you're well served, that's a free, honest ten-minute call.
This is general information, not advice for your circumstances. If you'd like it applied to your situation, get in touch — the first chat is free.
Related: Our services · Work with David · All posts