Most small businesses resort to outsourced accounting services to cut their expenses and other employment costs short.
The business owners may be new to the field of remote working and do not have much idea about the questions they must solicit to the candidates while interviewing them for the position.
Certain questions should not be missed and must be clarified in the first round of the interview itself to save a lot of time and resources.
Don’t hesitate if you are new to remote working or interviewing. Before hiring a remote accountant, use our cheat sheet containing the most relevant and unmissable questions.
Table of Content
Questions to ask before hiring a remote accountant
- For how long have you been in the business?
A skilled accountant can take your business to great heights and help you save money.
Find an accountant with who you have relevant experience in working with small businesses.
You will have to teach them less, and they will already be familiar with the pattern of small businesses.
Experienced candidates can add excellent value to the business than newbies.
- How do you communicate with your clients regularly?
You must be aware of the communication preference of the Accountant, and this will help you to check that both of you are on the same page or not.
Do they prefer regular face-to-face meetings, or the entire process, including the submission of financial reports and other necessary information, to be done virtually?
You can ask about his software preferences and make a note of them.
- Which credentials and certifications do you hold?
Accounting regulators issue specific credentials and certifications based on the certificate of the candidates. These certifications or credentials are issued post-completion of training or an exam.
Some of these certifications are necessary to conduct public practice.
- What is their domain of expertise?
Accounting is a vast subject with numerous sub-specialties. Every Accountant might not be capable of performing every task.
Hence, before hiring an accountant, you must clearly discuss the job roles and responsibilities.
- Are they familiar with your company’s accounting software and other apps?
It is quite probable that your firm already has accounting software.
You need to check with your Accountant if they are familiar with the software and technologies being used by your company.
They must at least be willing to learn to work with your company uninterruptedly if they are unfamiliar.
- Can you please share what you know about a specific deduction?
Look out for a deduction relevant to your company or sector, and you come across it usually while filing your taxes or dealing with our accounts.
You can check out the candidate’s views and look for any uniqueness in the answer; they might add on or tell you something related to the deduction that you were completely unaware of.
- How can you contribute to boosting the company’s profits?
One of the prime responsibilities of the Accountant is to reduce your tax liability with the help of every lawful measure.
You can give the candidate a dummy of the general summary of your company’s financial statement. Allow them some time to analyse and come up with some suggestions.
- Can you provide valuable suggestions for improving my current financial system?
There is a high probability that your company’s current financial statements and reporting system aren’t up to the mark.
You can ask your potential Accountant to have a look at your current financial procedures and provide some suggestions for improving them.
- Can you tell me the necessary steps that I should take to get prepared for the tax season?
The upcoming Accountant should ensure that there is no rush during the year-end and that you are well prepared for the tax season.
All the papers that will be required during the tax season should be prepared beforehand only so that all the deadlines for submitting the tax-related documents are met and you have a hassle-free year and experience.
- On what basis do you charge?
Some accountants charge on an hourly basis. Some work on a flat-rate basis. Others use a value-based billing approach, or they can even take a monthly salary.
Before hiring an accountant for your firm, discuss how their costs are calculated to avoid ambiguity in the future.
Summing up
You can self-evaluate, and if you still feel underconfident about taking charge of the hiring process, don’t panic.
You can take the help of any genuine accounting matchmaker like Experlu to help you hire the best talent.
If you find yourself alone in the hiring journey and need a hand to sort out your queries and hiring requirements, you can reach out to Experlu.
We provide the best accounting talent with relevant experience and budget-friendly fees. You can drop us an email or call us to get a quote.
We understand your needs, and we are there to provide a one-stop solution for all your accounting needs.
