Many business owners have a relationship with their accountant that can best be described as cordial, transactional, and largely seasonal. A bag of paperwork is dispatched at year end, a bill arrives shortly afterwards, and everyone politely agrees not to discuss it again for another twelve months.
Some owners even refer to their accountant, affectionately or otherwise, as a ‘necessary evil’, which is rarely how people talk about relationships they intend to extract value from.
This approach may keep a business compliant, but it does very little to support growth, improve decision-making, or reduce the number of unpleasant surprises that arrive with tedious regularity.
The irony is that most accountants are perfectly capable of adding significant value to a business — when they are allowed to.
The Problem Is Not the Accountant
It’s tempting to blame accountants for being reactive, conservative, or overly focused on compliance, but in practice this is usually a symptom of how the relationship is structured rather than a lack of capability.
Accountants work with incomplete information more often than most business owners realise. They’re typically brought into conversations after decisions have already been made, and are expected to produce insight at speed having been given very little context.
When this happens, their role collapses to reporting and compliance, not because that is all they can do, but because it is all they can responsibly do.
Cost vs Value: The Mental Shift Most Businesses Never Quite Make
Businesses that see their accountant purely as a cost tend to optimise for the lowest fee, minimal interaction, and maximum efficiency in getting the statutory work done. Businesses that treat their accountant as an investment behave very differently. They communicate earlier, share plans more openly, and are willing to pay for advice when it matters, rather than resent the bill when it arrives. Unsurprisingly, they tend to receive better service, more proactive input, and fewer unpleasant surprises. Driving down fees may feel commercially astute, but it often results in exactly the service you are paying for, nothing more.
Five Ways to Actually Get More from Your Accountant
1. Exploit their network
Accountants are exposed to a wide range of businesses, advisors, funders, and professionals, and many are more than happy to make introductions where there is mutual benefit. Very few will do this unprompted if they believe the relationship is strictly transactional.
2. Stop being a once-a-year client.
It’s extraordinarily difficult to provide meaningful advice when the only information available is historic and late. Regular updates, even informal ones, allow issues to be anticipated rather than explained afterwards, which is almost always cheaper and less stressful.
3. Be honest, even when it is uncomfortable.
Accountants are there to help manage risk, not judge decisions. Withholding information, particularly around significant transactions or changes, rarely ends well and often results in missed opportunities or unnecessary cost.
4. Ask for advice explicitly.
Many accountants are reluctant to appear to be “selling” additional services, particularly where clients are sensitive to fees. If you want input, say so. If your accountant is unwilling or unable to move beyond basic compliance, that tells you something useful.
5. Treat them as part of the wider management ecosystem, not an isolated supplier.
Used properly, accountants can complement internal finance, external advisors, and leadership decision-making, but only if they are engaged deliberately.
Why This Still Often Falls Short
Even when business owners follow the advice above, there is often a persistent gap between what accountants can offer and what the business actually needs in real time.
Accountants are experts in reporting, tax, and compliance. What many growing SMEs struggle with is financial leadership — the translation of numbers into decisions, priorities, and trade-offs. This is not a failure of accounting; it is simply a different role.
Accountants Are Only Human (and That Matters)
One of the most consistent themes from experienced practitioners is that the strength of the relationship matters enormously. The better the accountant understands the business, its drivers, and its ambitions, the better the advice they can provide.
But relationships require time, openness, and a willingness to engage beyond the minimum required to stay compliant. Advice given too late is rarely advice; it is usually commentary.
Regular conversations, clarity about goals, and an understanding of risk appetite — particularly around tax and investment — allow accountants to act as critical friends rather than distant reporters.
Where a Fractional FD or CFO Changes the Dynamic
A part-time FD or CFO sits between the accountant and the business, ensuring that information flows both ways, that advice arrives when it can still influence outcomes, and that financial insight is woven into day-to-day decision-making rather than appended at the end.
They help the business ask better questions of the accountant, frame issues clearly, and integrate tax, reporting, and compliance into a coherent commercial strategy. In short, they turn the accountant from a year-end necessity into a genuinely useful part of the wider advisory picture.
If you feel that you are not using your accountantto the full, isunderwhelming, or is peripheral to decision-making, a conversation with Tectona can help you rethink how financial insight is structured in your business, often through the introduction of a fractional FD or CFO who ensures that advice is timely, relevant, and commercially grounded. If you’d like to explore what that could look like in practice, email mark.nicholls@tectonapartnership.com