There comes a time in every successful small business’s life when the books begin to get a little more complex, and outside help is needed. What can be tough is to establish precisely when that line is crossed, and the penalties for failing to engage a professional could be huge – you could be landed with a larger than expected tax bill or miss the threshold for VAT registration – and a good accountant can pay for themselves by maximising both your and your business’s tax efficiency.

Remember that your expertise is in running your business, and not all business owners have a natural head for figures. Many businesses hire an accountant to complete their end of year process, but some find that using their services throughout the year makes life a lot easier, and makes the end of year reporting go much smoother. The harder you find it to keep the books up to date, the more time you will spend on it, and all of that time could be better spent doing what you do best: running your business.

Of course all business owners are trying to save money, and make as much profit as possible. However it need not cut too far into the bottom line to engage the services of a finance professional to help your business. If you count up the amount of time you spend doing the books, and work out how much you could earn if you were working during that time, then you can quickly assess the costs versus the benefits of taking on someone else to help out.

The price of accountants varies wildly. You can usually get your end of year books completed for around the £200 mark whereas to get occasional advice can cost anything between £20 and £80 per hour (and higher) – depending on the nature of the task and the local conditions. It pays to shop around but don’t just pick the lowest price: you have to balance it with the right level of service for you as you will be entrusting your accountant with your livelihood.

One of the areas that a professional accountant can really help you in is in the area of claiming appropriate tax deductible expenses. There are huge opportunities for savings, and any small business owners remain completely unaware of some of the opportunities they are missing – and also of some of the risks associated with an incorrect claim, which could result in huge fines and unexpected tax bills.

Every business’s needs are different, and only by discussing your circumstances with an accountant can you be sure that you are claiming everything that you are entitled to – and not incorrectly claiming anything that could result in you getting into trouble at a later date.

Once your business begins to turn over a certain amount of money (currently as of 2016 that is £83,000 in a rolling year), you are required to register for Value Added Tax (VAT). Your business may be small and have a low-turnover now, but many small businesses have fallen foul of the concept being based on a rolling year, because they only complete their accounts annually. This can mean that a business could suddenly find that their book keeping has become a whole lot more complex, and it could be very costly to employ someone to put it right. Investing early in the right accountant could save you a lot of time and trouble – and money – if you are nearing the VAT threshold.

Although it is good practice to keep a business plan up to date at all times, most companies and sole traders only write one when they have to – usually when starting up, or applying for a loan or an overdraft from the bank. The financial figures and projections that are required as part of a well developed and credible business plan take time and expertise to get right, and hiring an accountant could be the impetus for your business to successfully obtain the cash injection that it needs.

An accountant can advise you on the most efficient structure for your business: your status as a Sole Trader, a Partnership or a Limited Company has wide-ranging implications. You may be able to claim part of your living expenses against tax, or employ yourself through a company to cut costs. There are different levels of personal liability for each structure and an expert can guide you through the ins and outs – including guiding you through the minefield of preparing the documentation you need to submit for compliance, tax and any statutory accounting.

Your accountant can help with payroll, and make sure that your employees are being paid correctly. They also can make sure that you have taken care of any legal requirements such as the forthcoming auto-enrolment of employees into a pension scheme. And are you totally confident that they are being paid the Living Wage, and their tax codes are correct? An accountant can take all of those headaches away from you.

It is possible that one day the tax inspector will decide to take a look at your business. Although this is not an everyday occurrence, and some business are never inspected, it remains a risk, and you need to ask yourself some questions before cutting corners on your financial management.