Accounts Preparation

A limited company has a legal obligation to file annual accounts with Companies House. Failing to do so could land the Directors in very hot water indeed.

Many accountants do the bare minimum necessary to prepare the accounts. This often means the only time the client sees their accountant is once a year when the accountant presents them with their accounts documents to sign. It’s so often a ‘sign on the dotted line please’ exercise. It’s hardly a surprise, given this level of explanation, that the client goes away and sticks the accounts document in the filing cabinet without looking at them or understanding them. Whilst this might keep everything legal, it does nothing to help the business make informed decisions based on the financial data.

We certainly don’t advocate a single annual meeting with our clients, but even if this were the case, we would always take the time to explain what the figures within the annual accounts mean and more importantly, what consequences the numbers might have for the business.

If your accountant has ever just asked you to sign the accounts without a proper explanation, a new accountant should be high up on your shopping list!