More than accounting and tax

With a very narrow lens, accountants and tax professionals focus on helping clients understand

how their business is performing and to assist them in meeting their tax compliance obligations.

Although tax compliance and the importance of getting things right is often the ‘pitch’ to both

existing and prospective clients, it is appreciated that the internal priorities of clients are more

complex.

In a country dominated by small and medium sized enterprises, it is well understood that

businesses are often in the middle of a juggling act. It goes without saying that accounting and tax

is complicated; but so is the challenge of health and safety, banking obligations, resource needs

(whether tangible or intangible), technology advances, the growth of artificial intelligence,

competitor activity and changing employment regulations – all of which have been more complex

in the last decade.

With every successive change in government there will always be new tax legislation that will

need to be worked through and implemented. However, the range of legislative reform that

impacts businesses is much wider - the implications of which need to be understood with respect

to the various industries that clients operate in. Whether it be changes in environmental law to

sweeping regulations that change the outlook of an industry overnight. A meaningful example of

this are the reforms that are expected to come from the policy changes in the US driven by

President Trump, including the tariffs being proposed. It is difficult to know what changes this will

bring, both direct and indirect, and what pre-emptive strategies might be put in place to help

mitigate potential losses.

When we step back, it may not be tax compliance and an upcoming tax payment that is keeping

someone up at night. It could be a regulatory change, a resourcing issue or a problem on the

factory floor. That being said, accounting professionals are in a unique position of working with

individuals and organisations across sectors, and as such, the assistance provided may also be

in the form of a contact or knowledge picked up through interaction with other clients.

Going forward, leveraging your accountant’s wider expertise, in talking about more than

accounting and tax, could prove valuable in not only navigating the inevitable challenges

businesses face, but also result in untapped value being realised by your business.