Lots of people ask me what the difference is between an accountant and a bookkeeper. My answer is that in most cases accountants are important for filing your year end accounts and tax return, and a bookkeeper is the one who supports you with running the business each week or each month of the year.

Our clients know that when they need to decide whether they can afford to buy equipment, we can have a chat and we can give them up to date figures to help them make a decision.

If they need a loan, their figures are up to date, ready to submit to the bank.

If they have an unexpected cost to cover, we can tell them which customers owe money so we can have a chat about who to send statements to.

At the end of the year, we can send the figures with supporting documents to the accountant, and they can work their magic for the tax man. We can answer the accountant’s questions and set up the payment for the tax when the figure is finalised.

We find that many accountants have a growing number of clients needing their taxes done and this doesn’t leave enough time to do the hand holding that small business owners need.

Our bookkeeping practice WILL answer the phone, WILL return your emails and WILL listen when you need to talk your plans through. It is not always possible to get this support from an accountant, some clients find their accountant difficult to talk to.

So the best plan is to have a bookkeeper supporting you throughout the year with making business decisions and an accountant to have an overview once a year and submit the right figures to Companies House and HMRC.

Contact BW Bookkeeping if you would like to chat about how we could help you.