What Does an Accountant Do?

You probably don’t have daily contact with an accountant year-round. You probably send them your tax documents around March, they do your return, then maybe you reach out with a couple questions throughout the year if something out-of-the-ordinary arises. So, what else are they doing?

Accountants are busy year-round helping to keep your business on track. They are the financial backbone of your business. They help to come up with financial goals, plans on how to achieve them, and then put those plans into action. Simply put, the primary task of accountants is to prepare and examine your business’ financial records. This task is much more time consuming and difficult that you’d think. Business make 100s if not 1,000s of financial transactions per day. Your accountant tracks each and every one of those records and makes sure that they are accurate, and that all payments, including tax payments, are paid properly and on time.  

Accountants perform overviews of the financial operations of a business to help it run efficiently.  You accountant will use numbers and financial statements, to describe the health of your company by using their skills in math, accounting, and finance. They analyze profits and losses, provide information that you, as the business owner or potential investors, need to evaluate just how well your company is doing over a period of time. This information forms the basis of reports and legal filing reports.

Not only do accountants keep your day to day records, they also draft and file your tax returns, and help if your company (or you personally) ever gets audited. It’s incredibly important to have an accountant on retainer for your business if you want to thrive and grow.