Is it time to fire your business accountant?

As the proprietor of a business, it’s your right to fire your accountant when they’re not doing the job to your satisfaction. You can act at will, without giving advance notice. It’s important to understand this concept because, regardless of why you’ve decided to let you accountant or CPA go, they’ve been handling highly sensitive materials and need to be denied access immediately upon their release from the company.

Has your accountant made critical input errors or been unable to get important financial documents ready on time? When it becomes clear that your accountant is unable to perform his or her job correctly and in a timely manner, don’t hesitate to replace them with someone who can. However, incompetence is only one of a number of reasons to get rid of your current accountant. 

It’s not just about numbers

Because the financial stability of your company is in their hands, your accountant should display excellent responsiveness to you, the staff, and customers.

Do you find yourself asking numerous times for a report or other document? Are customers complaining that they can’t get an answer to a billing issue? Answering yes to these questions is an indication that your accountant is either incompetent or uncooperative, both of which can be detrimental to the company. 

Another reason you may want to fire your accountant is if they don’t act in a professional manner. All employees are representatives of the company and should conduct themselves in a way that reflects its standards. If your accountant’s behavior crosses the line into unethical or illegal territory, then you’ll need to report them. Contact your state CPA association or accounting association to report an ethical violation and get additional information about how to proceed. 

Another potential problem you may face is that your accountant misrepresented their professional experience in order to acquire the job. This becomes obvious when, despite adequate time and proper training, they still lack a clear understanding of your business. In this case, they may fail to follow through on their responsibilities, miss deadlines, and blame the resulting problems on anyone but themselves. 

Your safety net

If you plan to fire your accountant, have a backup plan in place so business continues uninterrupted during the transition. The best way is to hire a new business accountant before you let the current one go, and have the out-going accountant provide comprehensive account information, including passwords and all pertinent information to the incoming accountant. 

Accountants handle critically important data. You may feel exposed and insecure when discovering that yours is not competent in their job. Hiring a consultant will ensure that security measures are put in place to prevent breaches and that the process is painless. 

GYL provides accounting consulting services for businesses, everything from cleaning up the mess left by an incapable accountant to creating a successful business plan to move forward.