Many accountants believe they are problem solvers but spend a fair proportion of their time helping clients comply with filing and tax computational issues.

From a clients’ perspective, having accounts and/or tax returns completed and filed does solve a problem; its not an activity that they feel qualified to undertake in-house and it helps them meet their filing obligations.

But paying an adviser to be compliant could be seen as a grudge purchase, a payment for services required by government but funded by taxpayers.

This is not a good starting point for firms that would much rather be paid for helping clients solve real problems, like solving cash flow or increasing profitability.

Perhaps we should lobby for compliance costs to be met by HMRC, after all, professional advisers are facilitating the assessment and payment of taxes. This would leave firms free to offer advisory services to clients and break the long-standing battle to sell value based advisory work as well as compliance services.

For accountants, this is an issue that will be front and centre of their minds in the coming months as financially battered business owners grapple with the challenges of emerging from COVID restrictions. It will be a time when negotiating support with non-compliance problem solving comes up against the glass ceiling created by previous “grudge” purchases from professionals.

Ironic that problem solving – a much needed and valuable activity for accountants – become a problem in its own right.
 

Source: New feed