There have been big changes in the accountancy landscape in Ireland in recent years. International and indigenous firms have been buying up smaller accountancy practices at an unprecedented rate. Evolving business practices and client expectations mean that the ways of working with and requirement for an accountant have also changed. So how do you choose the right accountant for 2025 and beyond?
Dynamics are shifting fast within our sector. In February 2024, Chartered Accountants Ireland and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) Ireland elected to join together as a single professional body. Unlike in the UK or elsewhere, CPAs and ACAs will now work under the same umbrella, with as yet unknown implications on the quality of service delivery.
Stricter regulatory requirements and increased complexity make it challenging for smaller companies to operate profitably in the audit space, so we are also seeing fewer audit firms in the market. The idea of an accountant as the friendly one-man band in your neighbourhood is already being eroded. What does this mean if you’re picking an accountant for your business and you want to work with someone long-term?
The stability of your relationships
As the market transitions from lots of smaller firms to fewer larger firms, corporate practice affects the work delivered. In larger firms, the more senior employees work on the bigger projects for the bigger clients. If you are an SME, the people working on your accounts will be a pool of more junior employees, quite possibly working on the other side of the world with no direct experience of running a business in Ireland.
This isn’t something that will be obvious at first. In fact, your initial meeting(s) with the firm will probably include a reassuring number of their top executives and any other razzle dazzle that will convince you to sign up. After that, your account is handed off to someone you haven’t picked and don’t know. This is the corporate way of cutting costs. It’s not a bad thing in itself, but it is bad if poorly executed.
It also might not suit SME owners who want to work with someone they know, working in the same time zone as them, and plugged into the same business ecosystem as they are. A good accountant gets to know the ins and outs of your business beyond its financial comings and goings, giving you proactive advice that goes far beyond daily financial management.
The importance of local
For many business owners, having a direct line to their accountant is essential and fosters a relationship built on trust and understanding, which can be pivotal in navigating complex financial decisions. You might be someone who wants in-person meetings at key points during the year, especially if services such as Outsourced CFO are included in your package. An accountant that you can visit easily becomes a must.
The movement of data across borders is another consideration, as a lot of the bigger firms will have offshoring as part of their back office. Questions about data security and compliance with European Union regulations become paramount. Understanding where your financial data is being processed and stored is vital, as this could have significant implications for compliance and security. In plenty of business agreements today, the location of data storage is an important consideration.
Another factor when choosing an accountant is who owns the systems you’re using – you or the firm? How will your data be returned if you need to break away from the firm in the future? That’s one reason we love Xero, because you can simply hand the subscription over at the end of a relationship. Many bigger firms have proprietary systems, so double-check how this will work.
What’s in a name?
You can’t assume all accountants are the same (in fact, the term “accountant” isn’t even legally protected). The benefit they bring to a business will depend on what experience they have, what other roles they have had during their career, how they gained their qualification, and their membership of a professional body.
Here in Ireland, becoming a Chartered Accountant traditionally meant four years in practice before qualification. You learn a lot in that time; varied real-world experience and solid best-practice processes. Today, however, your training can be in industry, which can therefore be quite limited.
In some countries, becoming a CPA requires just a couple of years of study. With the merging of Chartered Accountants Ireland and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants, we may be facing a future where CPAs and Chartered Accountants will have just one professional designation; making it hard to judge the skill and value they can bring.
Making your choice
To understand if a potential accountant is a good choice for you, I recommend investigating their client base and the work they do. Quiz them on their understanding of your business type, model, and sector. Read the reviews clients have left. Beware of the promise of slick marketing and look into HOW your service will be delivered. It doesn’t matter whose face is on the website if lazy automations and generic systems are doing the heavy lifting.
This due diligence is important because changing your accountant too often is not a good idea. With the loss of continuity, gaps form and mistakes will happen. You ideally want to find the best accountant for your business and then stay with them for as long as they continue to be the right fit for your company.
