Celebrating the under-appreciated small business heroes this International Accounting Day

Every year, International Accounting Day marks a time for us to stop and celebrate the accounting professionals who make such important contributions to small businesses and our economy.

Small business owners are really feeling the pressure at the moment. With inflation rising, small businesses face a double-hit on their finances, with costs rising and consumer spending falling. Many of these small businesses face supply chain issues and tighter cash flow, and owners are feeling the stress. Some of our recent research found that small businesses are struggling to reward their staff this year, with 81% saying they have granted pay rises, but over three-quarters have now stretched pay for their staff as far as they can.

Small businesses will continue to experience challenges in the coming months, so knowing where they can get the help they need will be crucial. These businesses require support from professionals to help streamline their finances, improve their back-office processes, and allow them to refocus on running the business itself – and those best positioned to help are accountancy professionals.

At Intuit QuickBooks we recently undertook research showing just how important a role accountants play. Many small business owners rely on their accountants to not only help them save time and money, but also help ease growing financial pressures.

The findings highlight that eight in ten UK small businesses say their accountant has helped alleviate the impact of inflation on their business, while nine in ten actually credit their accountant with their business’ success. In terms of time and money saved, making use of a qualified accountant saves UK small businesses an average of 59 working days per year, and an average of £28,000 – a considerable 7% of the average UK SME’s annual turnover. 

The best way for small businesses to survive and thrive in the current climate is to make sure they are making the most of all the support available to them. As well as leaning on their accountant, small businesses can also use the multitude of digital tools at their fingertips to help them succeed through this challenging time.

At QuickBooks, we want to continue to innovate by building and delivering the product experiences, training and programmes that help all accounting professionals and their small business clients grow. We offer a full range of digital software with specially-designed tools, which can help small businesses with everything from invoice tracking and automated reminders to guard against late payments, to tools focused on helping them get set for government compliance changes such as Making Tax Digital. In September, QuickBooks also officially launched QuickBooks Online Advanced, which boasts all the features of Intuit’s most popular small business software solution, QuickBooks Online Plus, as well as enhanced services to make it the perfect fit for growing business owners. 

Digital technology has the power to change the game for small businesses and accounting professionals alike. Using online technology enables accountants to create more efficient and productive practices, which in turn allows them to offer higher value services.

This is where the opportunity lies for accounting professionals to start the conversation with clients and build their position as trusted partners to these businesses. Accounting professionals play a critical role in helping clients get set up with the right financial management software for their needs. Already, eight in ten small business owners we surveyed said their accountant helps them make better use of technology to run their back-office.

During such a tough period for small businesses, accountants have proven once again that their support and expertise should not be underestimated. We have a very simple mission, “To Power prosperity around the world” and this is exactly what accountants continue to do for the small businesses that they work with. Through the use of advancing technology and partnerships, accountants have the tools and resources to not only ensure small businesses survive, but to thrive as well.

Nick Williams, product director, Intuit QuickBooks