Accountants are all the same, right?
Wrong.
Just about anyone who deals with numbers could call themselves an accountant. They don’t have to be trained or qualified in anything or be subject to monitoring from any recognised professional body.
Being ‘chartered’ means someone is professionally qualified and includes not only accountants but also surveyors and engineers. Chartered professionals have had to train to the highest standards there are and maintain a high degree of ethics and professional conduct. We’re also obliged to undertake regular technical training to ensure we can offer the best and most timely advice to our clients.
When you first come across an ‘accountant’, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) suggests asking:
- Are you a qualified chartered accountant?
- Do you offer the services and have the experience I need?
- Are you authorised to do audit work?
Some of the areas we can help businesses with include:
- Planning your business, so accessing finance, preparing a business plan and advice on self-employment and limited company status
- Starting your business – Tax advice for owner-managers and the employer aspects too, VAT, record keeping, forms and legal issues
- Managing your business – we can advise on cash flow, budgeting, management accounts and employing staff
- Expansion of the business – access to different types of funding, restructuring issues, exit planning
We also offer personal tax services from tax compliance and capital gains tax to estate planning and trusts.
Curo Chartered Accountants is also part of the ICAEW’s Business Advice Service. Chartered accountant members of this service offer a free hour’s advice to businesses and help guide them in their plans. If you are interested in speaking with a qualified chartered accountant, please either get in touch direct on [email protected] or try the Business Advice Service on www.businessadviceservice.com
We look forward to hearing from you!
Curo Chartered Accountants
January 2014.