SmallBizResource Blog -- Economy

How Often Do You Talk To Your Accountant?

Posted by Gayle Kesten Friday, Mar 20, 2009, 02:43 PM ET

A new study uncovers a disconnect exists between how well accountants think they're servicing their small-business clients and how well those customers say they're being serviced.

Intuit -- the company behind the ubiquitous QuickBooks -- has been polling accountants and small businesses annually since 2003. But in light of the falling-apart economy and the entry of a new administration, the company broke from tradition and resurveyed those people at the six-month mark, in January 2009.

"Probably the biggest surprise for us was in that six-month period, the demand from small business owners for personal financial planning advice and business consulting nearly doubled," says Rich Walker, a former CPA who leads Intuit's accountant communications group. "The demand for those types of services has been pretty consistent over the five years we've been doing this study, and then there was this significant rise in the past six months."

According to Intuit's latest survey, more than 80% of the 250 small business owners (averaging 7.5 employees) polled said they wanted their accountants to offer the following additional services:

• Personal financial advice -- 41%, up from 28% in the '08 survey
  
• Business advice and consulting -- 40%, up from 25%

Given the economy, that increase makes absolute sense, yet the biggest surprise for me was in comparing those figures to the nearly three-quarters of 250 polled accountants who said they have been proactively advising their clients on how to conduct business during the economic downturn. Might they not be doing as proactive of a job as they think?

This all reminded me of something that John DeJulius, a consultant who's all about the customer experience, said at a speaking engagement last week, courtesy of The New York Enterprise Report. He asked 300 companies to self-rate their level of customer service; 80% labeled themselves "superior." Then he went to 3,000 of their customers, of which just 8% used the same descriptor. (Related to this aside, DiJulius offers this online Customer Service Aptitude Test to help you assess how you're doing; free site registration is required.)

Back to the point about proactivity, which had already been on my mind following a conversation with tax expert Barbara Weltman for this week's Wednesday's Woman profile. "Accountants could provide so much valuable help and advice to business owners -- for example, just informing them of new laws," Weltman said. "We just had almost $300 billion in tax breaks enacted in February. I would question how many small businesses owners received any communication from their accountants about what the breaks were and whether they're entitled to them."

Intuit's Walker places the onus on accounting professionals to communicate with their clients. "We actively encourage accountants who use Intuit's offerings to communicate frequently with their clients, such as with newsletters," he said, referring to the company's Certified ProAdvisors, who are specially trained in QuickBooks and are provided with the tools they need to better keep reach out to their clients.

Lest you think the implication is small businesses bear zero responsibility in their relationships with accountants, not at all. It's a two-way street, and small businesses will literally pay in the long run -- in the form of possibly avoided taxes, Weltman pointed out -- if they're merely waiting for their phones to ring. "In this time of economic uncertainty, small-business owners should be saying they're going to accountant, who is also my friend, coach, teacher, and advisor," Walker said.

Some other key takeaways from Intuit's survey:

• 35% of accountants have invested more in technology to help maintain the success/growth of their firms
  
• 70% of small business owners consider generating new customers/revenue streams their biggest challenge
  
• 41% of small business owners are up at night worrying about how they'll pay their bills
  
• 49% of small business owners use the word "optimistic" to describe prospects for their businesses' continued growth/success during the slow economy (down from 57% six months ago, though still more than findings from the latest American Express OPEN Economic Pulse survey)
  
• 65% of small business owners said they would feel more confident having an accountant during this time

Do you think your accountant is doing enough to help your business? Would you go so far as to say your accountant is proactive? How often do you reach out?

Economy