How to choose an accountant

The first contact with an accountant, whom the entrepreneur wants to entrust with his settlements, should take place before the establishment of the company, its acquisition or acquisition. The arrangements at this stage of cooperation will avoid costly mistakes for both parties.


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The first contact with an accountant should take place before the start of the company, when the entrepreneur makes the first and most important business decision, which is the choice of the form of business. It can be a self-employed business, commercial or civil law company. The accountant, after getting acquainted with: the intentions of the entrepreneur, his knowledge of the industry in which the established company will operate and the knowledge of contractors (suppliers, recipients), as well as the anticipated number and value of orders, should advise on the selection of the best form of business, form of taxation and periods settlements with the tax authorities. If the entrepreneur chooses the way of doing business without consultation, registers the company and declares the method of settlement with the tax office, the accountant - even if the choice is unfavorable - will not be able to do much.

Large companies will probably choose the option of employing employees of accounting and HR departments on a contract of employment. Smaller companies, and they constitute about 90 percent all enterprises in Poland will be inclined to transfer accounting, human resources and payroll to the accounting office.
Regardless of the choice made, the entrepreneur is responsible for keeping the company's accounts and calculating and paying taxes and ZUS contributions. In joint-stock companies and cooperatives, it is the management board, in general and civil law partnerships - partners conducting business affairs, in partner companies - management board or partners conducting business affairs, in limited partnerships - general partnership partners, in foundations and associations - management board, in the case of persons natural persons conducting economic activity - persons conducting this activity, and in state enterprises - the director.

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LIABILITY CANNOT BE CEDDED

In many situations, entrepreneurs' awareness of their responsibility turns out to be insufficient. Often, merely assigning a company's accounting service to a third party is considered to transfer its responsibility for the correctness of settlements. This is not the case. Admittedly, in the event of an unintentional mistake by a full-time accountant, he may incur a financial penalty, but up to a maximum of three months of remuneration due to him on the day of the damage (without compensation for lost profits). With intentional damage you can claim full compensation and compensation for lost profits, but you must prove deliberate damage.
If an error is made by the accounting office, you can bring a civil action against him for damages. Accounting offices are required to have third party liability insurance, which can be used to cover claims for a mistake (up to a certain amount specified in the policy), and often have extended insurance, including settlements with ZUS or errors in calculating remuneration.
In this context, the selection of an accountant (whether employed in a company or employed in an accounting office) is particularly important. Therefore, the decision about who we entrust the financial and accounting matters of our company should be made with great caution. Choosing an incompetent person can expose the company to large losses, and in extreme situations - lead to the collapse of the company. It is not only about the wrong calculation of tax liabilities (adjusted tax anyway), but about penalties and sanctions threatening entrepreneurs due to incorrect and unreliable settlements with the tax authorities.

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

The basic criterion for choosing an accountant is trust, because the profession of accountant is treated as a profession of public trust. Franciszek Wala, President of the Main Board of the Accountants Association in Poland, put it well in the introduction to "Professional ethics in accounting": "If we wanted to describe the expected effect of professional ethics in the most synthetic way, including accounting, then trust should be indicated. We mean our confidence in a person, her attitudes and behavior, and at the same time to the results of her work. " The quality of work performed by the accountant affects the development of the unit employing him, directly translates into the decisions of various groups of users of information from accounting.

COMMUNICATION IS THE BASIS ...

One of the most desirable features of an accountant is effective communication, i.e. the ability to make contacts, listen to an entrepreneur looking for solutions to problems that arise during the management of a company, and to convey his opinion clearly and comprehensively. In these activities, the key element is information available to the accounting officer. He knows the terms of contracts and contracts, and has all the information about the company's condition. Knowledge of relevant information about the company and providing it to the entrepreneur in reports and reports makes the accountant extremely helpful in making business decisions.

SO ARRANGE THE DETAILS

When establishing the terms of cooperation between an entrepreneur and an accountant, its scope, detail, form and frequency of providing accounting information should be specified. The data provided are not only for the achieved financial result on the company's activity (profit / loss), but also for the result arising from the implementation of specific business ventures, the structure of costs and revenues, cash, the state of settlements with contractors, etc. When providing information from accounting, you cannot limit only to applicable reporting periods. Often, data from a few months, weeks, and often days ago in the process of making current business decisions is useless. Current and up-to-date information is needed. On the other hand, however, the observation carried out by the accountant and the correct interpretation of phenomena occurring in the company at a given time can be the basis for undertaking long-term strategies in the company.
Companies often have situations that are difficult to predict, emergency, stressful, requiring rapid response. Then the accountant should be support for the entrepreneur, not "panic", but "cool" and always look for solutions in a manner consistent with applicable law. In such situations, the valued traits of an accountant will be self-control, stress resistance, the ability to set and justify priorities, as well as the ability to work under time pressure.
The fate of many contracts depends on the accuracy, speed and reliability of information developed and made available to the entrepreneur by the accountant. An accountant who has a well-organized work and knows how to effectively manage work time will find himself in difficult times for the company. Logical thinking and the ability to make the right decisions will prove themselves not only in crisis situations, but also in the daily work of an accountant.