If you are not very good with numbers, whether in your personal or business life, you should hire an accountant. Whether you have accounts payable problem, a tax discrepancy or issues with payroll, they are there to help. With that said, here are a few mistakes to avoid when you are trying to hire accountants in London.
Choosing The Cheapest Accountant Available
The reality is that many of the accountants that are willing to work for pennies are the ones you should try your best to avoid. In many cases, this is an indication of the quality of work you can expect. Inexperienced accountants in London tend to charge lower fees in order to lure in new clients. It is not necessary to select the most expensive, but price often correlates with skill and expertise.
Hiring Without A Background Check
You should never hire anyone without running a thorough background check. This will help you learn more about them, including their educational background, work history and license information. Without all of this information, it will be hard to tell if the candidate is even worth considering.
While you want to find someone who has a solid university background, you should never hire someone based solely on their ability to get passing grades. Their skill level, specialty and relevant experience are far more useful when weighing your options.
Assuming All Accountants Have The Same Knowledge
It is not actually possible to make an assumption about a person’s knowledge simply because they are an accountant. For example, if you are experiencing a tax-related conundrum, it would not be very useful to hire someone who is far more skilled when it comes to accounts receivables and analyzing ledger accounts. Even if there is some brief allusion to a certain specialty when speaking with them, hire someone else if they do not have a solid background.
Ignoring Experience In Other Fields
When you look at the resume of someone who is applying for an accounting position, everything needs to be taken into consideration. This means that experience that is out of the scope of the job requirements should still be kept in mind. This is very useful since it takes more than being good with numbers to be a successful accountant.
Areas that may seem irrelevant but can offer a little insight into who you are hiring include the following:
– Management
– Customer Service
– Data Entry
Having these particular skills is useful across a broad spectrum of available positions; not just accounting. Consider all of this the same way you would with any experience that seems particularly relevant.
The financial arena is one that can be very overwhelming and confusing to people who are not very familiar with it. This is why it is so important for you to hire an accountant to take care of this for you. If you want to hire the best possible option in the area, you should avoid making any of these mistakes.
