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SME performance data reveals the significant value and guidance that accountants provide their SME clients.
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Why the strategic advice of accountants is vital for SMEs in 2024
08 November 2024
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The strategic business value of a good accountant can’t be underestimated. Much more than a ‘number cruncher’ - an accountant is a key business partner and integral to the success of any small or medium sized business.
Savvy founders and business owners bring their accountant into their circle of trusted advisers and look to them for guidance on anything from understanding their tax obligations to technology investments or how to maximise profit margins.
Our recent MYOB SME Performance Indicator shows that professional services businesses, including accountants, have remained resilient in the face of economic hardships. Gross value added (GVA) from this group of professionals remained fairly steady over the last three years but started to soften in recent months.
The challenging conditions facing the broader business sector mean some businesses are cutting back on their spending with external professional service providers. Continually adding value to your clients will help keep your services in high demand.
Adding value and driving growth
Overall, the small business sector has taken a dip. In August 2024 MYOB’s SME Performance Score, measuring small business performance deviation from GDP, decreased to -2.3, down from -2.0 in May, suggesting a challenging landscape marked by cost pressures and slowing consumer spending, especially in retail and hospitality.
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With many businesses doing it tough, the guidance of accountants is essential to help clients find new growth opportunities. This could mean helping SME clients to identify cost-saving measures, adapt to regulatory changes and manage cash flow effectively. By analysing historical data and being acutely aware of the macroeconomic environment, you can offer actionable insights to improve profitability and financial stability.
Understanding technology investment
As part of the evolution beyond purely financial roles, SMEs are looking to accountants for advice on technology investments as the business landscape becomes increasingly digitised.
This includes technology tools that might deliver a return on investment by streamlining operations, managing security or helping drive growth, while also understanding the tax incentives available for major technology investments.
Compliance remains key
Compliance with regulatory obligations remains a priority, so being well-versed in both financial and regulatory frameworks means you can offer clients expert guidance on complying with up-to-date requirements to reduce compliance risks and avoid penalties.
Beyond compliance, helping clients navigate tax-saving opportunities will help them make investment decisions for their business’s bottom line.
Budgets and forecasting
In an environment where every dollar matters, detailed budgets that align with growth objectives and minimise unnecessary expenses are hugely valuable for SME clients. Accountants can support growth by analysing data to identify the high-potential areas of a business and create financial forecasts to keep businesses on track with their goals.
Our findings suggest that although the economy is still recovering, the SME sector could see improvements as cost-of-living pressures ease and inflation moderates, especially the hard-hit sectors of retail and hospitality. But this recovery will take time, and the role of accountants will be essential as businesses focus on rebuilding their financial health.
Guiding clients
Small business clients might still see their accountant as the ‘numbers person’ and not realise just how much strategic value an accountant could be adding to their business: expertise and an objective view.
If clients are spending time on business efforts that don’t make financial sense, your advice on the most valuable services and products in their business will be invaluable. This insight can help them put their time and energy into what will ultimately maximise growth and improve their profitability.
The accountants of Australian businesses provide the solid foundation that drives the engine room of our economy.
So this International Accountants Day, let’s celebrate the impact of accountants.
Paul Robson, chief executive of MYOB
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