Top Rated Accounting Companies

Accounting is the recording and analysis of financial transactions related to a business and its activities. This includes a number of tasks, including recording both income and expenditure, calculating and paying appropriate taxation, creating reports as per local legislation and financial statements that summarise the overall financial position of a business for a given period.

Accounting is an essential part of any business, from a single person trading on eBay to a multinational generating billions a year in revenue. Accurate recording of income and expenditure is essential for understanding how profitable a business is, but it can also identify areas where too much is being spent, or which products are not as effective as others.

Accurate data recording for financial activity also means accurate reporting, so you can see where the money in the business is being spent. Think of it as a credit card statement for your business, showing what has been purchased. Just with less impulse purchases of Baby Yoda plushies, obviously.

While every business, of any size, needs some level of accounting to track performance and maintain legal compliance, the scope of the service required varies depending on business size, whether it operates across different countries and jurisdictions and so on. Even the type of business and the industry it operates in can make a difference to the accounting requirements.

If we look at this logically, it makes sense that a company that operates factories in two countries and employs thousands of people, buying materials from dozens of suppliers in multiple countries will have more complex accounting than a tradie who landscapes gardens for local residents from his truck, occasionally with the help of his mate Bob. Both need accounting, but very different levels.

However, in general, you can expect an accounting service to always be based on the following principles:

An accredited accountant may offer a wide range of solutions to suit businesses of all kinds, but everything they do will be based of these principles. By maintaining these basic ideas, your accountant will deliver accurate, effective accounting and reporting that gives valuable insight and is acceptable for legal compliance.

Some may say the answer is simply to depress you, but the reality is that accounting is at its core a way to measure the financial performance of a company. In this way, the purpose of accounting is to accumulate and report on financial information about the performance, financial position, and cash flows of a business. This information is then used to reach decisions about how to manage the business, or invest in it, or lend money to it.

In this way, accounting is used by multiple stakeholders. Business owners or leadership use accounting to understand the financial health of the business, identify areas where expenditure is excessive or not leading to growth, see where revenue is strongest to understand where future investment would benefit the business and more.

For potential investors and lenders, accounts give an accurate overview of the financial health of the business, its current profitability and future potential, as well as any weakness that could be a risk to their involvement.

aspects of accounting are mandatory for legal operation within a given jurisdiction. Having accurate accounting is a necessity for any business to operate legally. This aspect of accounting is one that shouldn't be overlooked, especially if you operate in multiple countries or jurisdictions. It can be easy to stray the wrong side of the law by not having the right reporting or tax processes, and the penalties for that can be extreme. In that scenario, hiring an accounting firm is such a simple precaution to take.

While there are many accounting firms that offer a full-service solution that covers every need, others specialise in particular areas. For most larger businesses, whether using a single company or multiple dedicated services, they will need more than one type of accounting solution to take care of everything they need.

The most common accounting types are:

Some will only be required in specific cases, for instance a forensic accountant is dedicated to identifying fraud and other types of financial misrepresentation, and would only be required if suspicion of crime or mismanagement are suspected.

Auditing is another specialised service, that takes an in-depth look at the accounts over a specific period to assess the accuracy and legitimacy of the records. Audits may be required as part of some certification processes or simply a regular process as part of compliance. It has been described as a colonoscopy for business, but some say this undersells the experience.

For most businesses, a general service accountancy firm can cover every aspect of their accounting requirements, while those specialist providers can be called in as required. Many businesses operate without ever requiring a forensic accounting service and other solutions, but if you do, contacting a specialist offers the best approach to dealing with such an issue.

As with any service, the cost of an accountant can vary depending on the scope of the service needed. However, in Australia today, you can expect to pay anywhere between $100 per hour for basic bookkeeping services to $350 an hour for a forensic accountancy solution.

This translates into anywhere between $200 and $2,000 for specific accounting tasks, depending on what is required.