Can An Accountant Become A Business Advisor?

Yash Thaker
10/07/2021

Can An Accountant Become A Business Advisor?

The line between being an accountant and a business advisor is blurring. Around 82% of accountants say that their clients want a wider service. This includes the business as well as technical advice. As the accounting industry is increasing its focus on data analytics, and many accountants are shifting into advisory roles. The real question arises, can an accountant become a business advisor?

Clients want their accountants to take a more engaged role in predicting their cash flow in an unclear future. This allows them to tackle the day-to-day operations.

As a result, to solve these new and complex needs, accountants must come up with a new way of working. They will be needed to add to the traditional, compliance and reporting aspects with business advice and consultancy. To do this, they need to move skillfully with a firm grounding in technology and data control. Developments in accounting technologies allow them to give more accurate insights and provide their clients with valuable advice.

What Is A Business Advisory?

Accounting firms have been changing into business advisory firms. However, these firms have greater business knowledge as they’ve helped previous clients in many situations. Therefore, they add value to their clients’ efforts to run the business more skillfully. Giving a high level of advisory services to your client will help ensure their long-term success as well as yours. Though the question still stays, what is a business advisory accountant?

They are those who are capable of aiding changes that will make a huge impact on their clients’ profit. As well as capable of taking a full view of the business. This allows other consultants to focus on just the sales or operations. They get benefits like increased revenue, more predictable cash flow, less competition on rates, longer client relationships, and increased business value.

Providing information, advice, support as well as guidance to organizations. Their role is to help their clients meet their goals, strategic as well as organizational. “Business Advisory” is said to be a catch-all term.

With the new laws and the change in the economy that continue to make businesses more and more complicated, Business Advisory Accountants have become the ‘go-to’ for advice. This is because not everyone can provide loyalty, commitment, and trusted experience to clients without having partnered with them.

Key Skills A Business Advisory Accountant Has

In a growing company, there are lots of new problems that pop up. These problems need to be viewed from a new POV. This is where a Business Advisory Accountant comes in.

Below are eleven key skills that they have:

Strong Business & Commercial Awareness
Able To Work Under Tight Deadlines
Communication
Interpersonal Skills
Problem Solving Skills
Insight
Creative Thinking Skills
Negotiation Skills
Sales and Marketing Skills
Strategic Planning Skills
Management Skills

Services A Business Advisory Accountant Provides

A Business Advisory Accountant provides information, advice, support, and guidance to those running and leading organizations. Above all, their role is to help their clients meet their strategic and organizational goals.

Below are the services they provide:

Corporate Services
Mergers & Acquisitions
Business Management
Risks Advisory
Finance Function Effectiveness
Loan Application Support
Corporate Restructuring
Business Development
Operational Effectiveness

What Are Business Advisory Accountant Services?

Their services can be divided into three sections namely:

Compliance:

Compliance-based services are the first of three sections. This involves giving only the services necessary to keep clients compliant with the law.

Services such as Tax Advisory, Assurance, and Bookkeeping are some examples of what is included in this section. These are usually billed by the hour. Though firms that give such services are now facing lower-income and fewer customers as cloud computing streamlines and automates them.

Some more services that can be included in this section are:

Financial Statements & Income Tax Returns (Individuals, Companies, Trusts, Partnerships & Self-Managed Superannuation Funds)
Business Activity Statements (GST & PAYG Withholding)
Fringe Benefits Tax Returns

Performance:

These services are provided to look over the health and performance of a business. However, this section is more involved in the here and the now. To clarify, this section is a stepping stone to future-focused services, it makes sense for firms to begin giving performative searches first. As a result, it gives them a chance to understand what the customers want and how they react.

Advisory:

This is the final tier of the pyramid. As a result, it involves reporting on performance as well as helping on strategic plans, risk assessment, and succession plans. They are slowly becoming the best option when it comes to the services offered by firms.

Some more services that can be included in this section are: