If your bookkeeper and your tax preparer work at different firms, you’ve probably been the go-between at some point. Maybe you forwarded an email from one to the other, or re-explained a change you thought they both already knew about. This is how mistakes slip through, and you may not find out until a notice arrives or a return has to be fixed.
At Dillon Business Advisors (DBA), an outsourced accounting and advisory firm for small businesses, every client gets a Team of 3: three specialists who each own a different part of your accounting. One keeps your day-to-day books and payroll current, one handles your taxes and compliance, and one helps you plan for cash flow and growth.
Because all three people serve the same client, information moves between them instead of through you. This post explains what can go wrong when accounting work is split up and how a connected team keeps details from slipping through.
What Happens When Your Bookkeeper and Accountant Don’t Talk?
DBA learned this firsthand. Years ago, the firm was organized like many accounting firms, with tax work in one group and accounting work in another. Both groups did good work, but what happened in one group mostly stayed there. One client’s experience showed DBA’s leadership how much that divided setup could cost.
The client had recently made an S corporation election. As a result, the owner started paying themselves a salary through payroll instead of simply taking money out of the business as owner’s draws. That meant they would receive a W-2 at year end, and that income needed to go on their personal tax return. One person at DBA prepared the business return, and someone else prepared the owner’s personal return. The second person didn’t know about the change, so the W-2 was left off.
In response, DBA’s leadership team reorganized the firm around the Team of 3, so each client has one team that sees the whole picture.
How Information Moves on a Team of 3
On DBA’s Team of 3, your Client Service Manager, Client Controller, and Client CFO all work from the same picture of your business.
Say your Client Service Manager notices a large equipment purchase in this month’s books. Your Controller already knows about it when it’s time to review the accounting and plan for taxes. Your CFO can factor it into your cash flow for the coming year. Nobody has to remember to pass it along, and you don’t have to explain it three times.
Faster Answers When Responsibility Is Shared
At some firms, every question works its way up to a senior partner before anything happens. On DBA’s Team of 3, each role has real responsibility and the authority to act on it.
Your Client Service Manager can answer a payroll question on the spot, and your Controller can resolve a review issue without escalating it. That means faster answers for you, and it frees the firm’s most senior people to focus on planning and advice.
What Happens When Your Accountant Leaves?
When your only accountant leaves, much of what they knew about your business can leave with them, and getting someone new up to speed can take months. In the meantime, you’re the one explaining your own history.
With a team, a departure looks very different. If one person moves on, the others are still in place. They already know your history and your plans, so your service continues while a new teammate learns your account.
Next Steps: How to Tell If Your Accounting Team Is Connected
Start here:
- Ask whether your bookkeeper and tax preparer talk to each other. Find out how information gets from one to the other, and whether it depends on you.
- Think about the last big change in your business. A new entity type or a large purchase can affect your books and your taxes at the same time. Check whether everyone who needed to know about it heard.
- Find out what happens if your accountant leaves. Ask who else knows your account and how much of your history is written down.
- Notice how many questions wait on one person. If every answer depends on a single busy partner, delays will grow as your business does.
Get Help Connecting Your Financial Team
DBA’s first step is a free business analysis. The team walks through your finances with you and shows what your Team of 3 would tackle first. Get your free business analysis to see what a connected accounting team could look like for your business.
