An accountant’s job today involves much more than just keeping business records. From an accounting agency, you must expect experience, knowledge of laws, and expertise. Only in this way an accountant can assist their client in operating successfully.
Read more about the various tasks an accountant performs, what to expect, and how to choose the right accounting agency below.
Accounting and Accounting Services
To keep any business running smoothly, accounting services are a must. Although accountants and bookkeepers have some overlapping responsibilities, they are fundamentally different roles.
Bookkeeping services focus on recording all of a business’s transactions, such as sales, purchases, revenue, and expenses, as well as entering documentation provided by clients that has a direct impact on the company’s assets, liabilities, and equity.
Accounting includes bookkeeping and goes beyond it, involving the collection, organization, and processing of data, planning and analysis, financial operations management, and auditing for a business.
Using the data collected through bookkeeping, accounting performs calculations, analyses, reports, and other essential operations necessary for the business.
What Does an Accountant’s Job Entail?
An accountant’s role entails recording business transactions using various accounting books, such as the journal, general ledger, and auxiliary books (registers).
The accountant must record all changes in the books based on the submitted documentation to prove that business changes have occurred.
Moreover, by keeping track of these business changes, the collaborating company can always stay informed about the state of their business.
What Are the Additional Accounting Services?
The primary task of an accountant is to record business transactions in accounting books. However, in practice, other accounting services are provided as part of accounting services, as clients expect. First and foremost, payroll services for employees.
In addition to salaries, clients expect accountants and accounting agencies to provide tax, personnel, and other mandatory accounting services and administrative tasks. These are usually:
- Registration and deregistration of employees and other workers for social security,
- Drafting employment contracts,
- Documentation Preparation or employment termination,
- Calculation of travel orders, daily allowances, and expenses for business trips abroad or in the country,
- Calculation of tax payments,
- Calculation of sick leave,
- Keeping personnel records,
- Completion and submission of forms,
- Calculation and submission of tax returns,
- Legal and business consulting,
- Financial and tax services (tax incentives and benefits for employment, year-end financial statements, tax consulting),
- Preparation of documentation for company establishment (registration of entrepreneurs and opening a limited liability company in Serbia),
- Services for obtaining residence and work permits for foreign nationals, and also setting up a company for foreigners,
- Preparation of transfer pricing studies,
- Other services.
Importance of Timely Submission for Quality Bookkeeping Services
A bookkeeper is expected to record all business transactions promptly and legally. The precondition for this is the timely submission of documentation, which is also a precondition for the successful and quality work of the bookkeeper.
Regular submission of documentation for booking and notifying the bookkeeper of any changes significantly affect the accounting agency’s quality of accounting services.
Timely submission of documentation requires regular exchange of documents with the bookkeeper. This includes daily submission if the company has daily business transactions, or submission of documentation weekly or monthly, depending on how often changes occur.
The documentation submitted must be original and correct. It is always possible to personally deliver documents to the bookkeeper. However, advanced working methods and software development now allow business documentation to be submitted through cloud business solutions and email.
What are the Qualities of a First-Rate Accountant?
An experienced and top-notch accountant is expected to possess many qualities, and the most important ones are the following:
# Reliability and Trustworthiness
A bookkeeping agency and accountant providing services will have access to confidential data. Therefore, the engaged accountant must be reliable and trustworthy, as he is both an advisor and a collaborator, someone the client can rely on.
Whether an accountant is trustworthy can be seen very quickly. For example, if he has experience in complex tasks, areas or branches of business, and complex client requirements. For these reasons, it is recommended to establish cooperation with a bookkeeping agency immediately after opening a company.
Then, a reliable bookkeeping company must be professional. That is, it should be familiar with laws and regulatory compliance. In this way, it demonstrates a good example of a reliable partner who values its reputation.
# Precision
A quality accountant must have high precision when recording business transactions. This includes meticulousness in record-keeping, carefulness, systematicity, and accuracy in data entry to ensure that all changes are correctly recorded and to avoid any errors that may arise during data entry, recording, or calculation.
# Promptness and Responsibility
Promptness is another key attribute. A prompt accountant will complete all tasks on time and within the legally prescribed deadline (e.g., tax and contribution calculation and payment). Additionally, a prompt accountant has a transparent work style and will be open to discussion and communication. They will inform the client about business-related details and status and allow access to files, invoices, and other business documents.
# Responsibility and Efficiency
When it comes to working with multiple clients, a competent bookkeeper is expected to demonstrate efficiency and accountability. To ensure their clients receive undivided attention, a reliable and thriving accounting agency should have a well-organized structure in place.
This may involve scheduling sufficient time for clients and delegating tasks to bookkeepers appropriately. Ultimately, the client’s needs should always remain the top priority.
# Advanced Working Methods
Bookkeeping has come a long way in terms of technology in recent times. A bookkeeper who stays up to date with the latest advancements, adheres to legal regulations, and avoids duplication or accumulation of work can gain a clear understanding of how their client’s business operates.
Modern bookkeepers utilize cutting-edge software, tools, and programs to streamline the bookkeeping process. Thus, this attribute holds significant importance as it helps accelerate the pace of work.
What to Consider When Choosing an Accounting Agency and Accountant?
Choosing the right accounting agency and accountant to provide accounting services is critical to meet the client’s requirements and needs. However, several factors must be considered when determining whether the accounting agency is suitable.
To start, the cost of accounting services should be evaluated, and the services provided by the agency for the proposed cost should be examined. It is better to choose an accountant who will assess the state of the prospective client’s business accurately and price their services according to their specific needs rather than opting for package prices or hourly rates.
Furthermore, it is crucial to consider the expertise, experience, and competence of the accounting agency’s founder and employees when selecting an accountant.
Engaging a reliable accounting agency with a team of experienced professionals, including accountants and advisors with expertise in tax, legal, and business matters, is advisable.
Lastly, the accounting agency or accountant must have a strong and healthy business relationship based on mutual trust with their clients.
Who Can Provide Accounting Services?
Accounting services, including keeping business books and preparing financial reports, can be provided by an accounting agency registered in the Register of Providers of Accounting Services, whose registration deadline expired on January 1st, 2023.
Furthermore, an agency has fulfilled all the requirements for obtaining a license to provide accounting services. The most important ones are:
- Its predominant activity is registered for providing accounting services,
- The founder of the agency (or its owner, ultimate owner, or member of the management board) has not been convicted of criminal offenses,
- There is at least one full-time employee among the employees with a professional title in accounting or auditing.
Then, the accountant engaged in keeping books must meet some additional requirements related to educational qualifications (at the level of professional qualification), professional competence, work experience, knowledge of accounting software, and other related requirements.
We have covered this topic and the legal provisions on who can perform accounting tasks in more detail here.
When you hire a bookkeeping agency, you want them to be top-notch in every way possible. They should exude professionalism, have a firm grasp of legal regulations, and be experts at keeping your business books in order.
Above all, they must be accurate and punctual in their work, always keeping you informed and providing valuable advice when needed, and preventing any costly mistakes from happening along the way.
HLB T&M Consulting Belgrade is a reputable, experienced, and reliable agency providing accounting and bookkeeping services. Our team consists of experienced professionals and accountants. You can expect professional bookkeeping services, fair business cooperation, and other high-quality services tailored to your business needs from us. Contact us.
