1) An accountant will help me plan for the future.

Sadly, this is often not true. Many accountants are simply historians. They record information you give them to create financial statements or tax returns that show the history of your company. Often, because of their workload, they don’t make the time to help you plan the future. Other times, they simply do not have the training or experience to do so. You’re left locked-in to the same old rut.

2) An accountant will give me business advice.

Unfortunately, many accountants do not have the training or experience to provide business advice, including marketing and systems development. Many business owners are forced to look elsewhere to try and find a business consultant or throw in the towel and give up.

3) An accountant works with many businesses and can share ideas with me that I can use to be more profitable.

While it is true that an accountant does work with many businesses and comes across many ideas that could benefit you, those ideas are rarely shared with you. Again, the difficulty comes in the accountant's workload and their inability to have sufficient free time to proactively share those ideas with you. You’re left fighting an uphill battle … alone.

4) If a particular accountant doesn't work out, I’ll simply change to another one.

Unfortunately it becomes difficult to continually change accountants when the relationship is not working. If your accountant gives you bad tax advice, overlooks an opportunity that you could profit from, fails to share a significant idea, is unable to communicate in a way that you understand, or doesn't have time to work closely with you, the result will be costly. You’ll miss out on the overwhelming advantage of having a truly great advisor from day one.

5) Even if I'm late getting my information in, my accountant will always do a great job for me.

The reality is, the later you give your information to the accountant, the less time they'll have to go over it and to do a quality job. You aren't the only one bringing your information in late. Therefore, a word to the wise, always be prompt. The difference can put real dollars in your pocket.