Find the Right Accountant

Finding the right accountant to help you with all your financial matters when you start your own restaurant is just as important as finding the right chef.

When you find the right accountant, you will realise that many of them are just OK – fine for business purposes and perfectly well informed about accountancy issues, but perhaps not totally in tune with you and your needs.

Find the right accountant for you and you will have a very much appreciated listening ear that will help you reduce tax, increase profitability and give you an insight into what you could be doing better.

They can also give you a welcome place to go to talk business, when you may be finding that your friends and family have had their fill, or that they are unable to give you the business advice you need.

A Little Help from Your Friends

So how do you find such a super specimen? Well, a good place to start is with your friends. Not necessarily your best friends, although if they also happen to run their own business with a similar profile to yours, then go ahead.

Ask around your friends and see if they would recommend their own accountant, or if they know of someone that would suit you. You can then arrange to call them and mention your friend, perhaps with a view to having an initial chat about your needs so you can see if you’re compatible.

Ask Local Business People

It is also a good approach to ask local businesses that you respect who their accountant is – people are only too pleased to help, especially if you make it clear that you will tell the accountant who recommended them. This is also a great way to make contact with fellow local business people and helps you to start up potential friendships with like-minded people.

Ask at your Local Chamber of Commerce

You can also try going to your local chamber of commerce to find a good accountant. They are usually quite friendly places that meet at the same time each week, or they may have a full time manned office. You can talk to their staff and members about accountants in your areas and they may also suggest accountants that they work with.

Try Networking Groups

Networking groups and networking meetings can be a great place to meet good accountants – it is usually the more modern, up to date accountants that attend this sort of thing, so even if they are not your perfect person, they may well be well suited to your needs.

Perhaps You Only Need a Bookkeeper?

It is also worth bearing in mind that you may not need to pay an accountant for all of your financial paperwork requirements. You may find that a local bookkeeper is perfectly adequate for the majority of your day to day needs, using a more costly accountant for your annual tax paperwork.

Bookkeeping experts are great at balancing the books. Although it can be helpful to have built up a good rapport with your accountant for the benefit of your own business, rather than just calling in a panic once a year, so do try to stay in touch.