Assessing the Role of Accountants in Small Business Success

This report delves into the critical role of accountants in small businesses, addressing the research topic of assessing their importance. The report begins with defining the research question, outlining the required information, and identifying key resources such as scholarly journals and websites. It emphasizes the accountant's multifaceted role, including managing financial data, preparing financial statements, and providing financial advice. The report highlights the importance of financial data management, the preparation of financial reports, and the accountant's role as a financial advisor and interpreter for both internal and external stakeholders, including customers, financial institutions, and vendors. The report also touches upon the use of Gantt charts for project management. The report concludes by acknowledging the cost implications of accounting services for small businesses, referencing various sources.

What is the role of accountants
in small business

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Research topic..............................................................................................................................1
Research question........................................................................................................................1
Information required....................................................................................................................1
Keywords.....................................................................................................................................1
Key resources...............................................................................................................................1
Determining key areas.................................................................................................................1
Gantt Chart...................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

Research topic
To assess the role of accountants in small business.
Research question
 What is role of accountants and importance in small business?
Information required
The research question could be answered by undertaking various examples of
accountants in small business and functions of various professionals.
Keywords
Management accounting, role of accountants in business
Key resources
The data would be undertaken by scholarly journals, books and authenticated website
related to management accountants in small business.
Determining key areas
The financial functions are performed through accountants such as collection, recording,
accuracy, analysing and presentation of particular business or financial operations. The
accountants have numerous variety of administrative function within operations of company.
With reference to small business, account role comprises collection of initial financial data, entry
and to generate report. Accountant could be utilised as financial advisor and interpreter as he
might reflect financial data of company to people in the business and outside as well. In simple
words, accountants deal with third parties like customers, financial institutions and vendors
(Quinn and et.al., 2018).
Managing financial data: The organization's accounting structure is referred as essential
component to operations of business. The accountant's primary role is engaged with maintaining
and collecting financial data related to firm or company. They ensured financial records which
are maintained in accepted and lawful policies and procedures at corporate level. The company's
financial information must be pristine as it is key component for managing and operating any
business. The financial data must be managed and it also considers various sophisticated duties
like implementing, maintaining and developing financial data bases and it also monitors and
establishes control procedures.
However, it is referred as art of tracing records of every financial activity of business or
any organization. It helps in encouraging transparency and provides better spending of money
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and carried transactions. The accountants are properly trained in bookkeeping and positioned for
performing best work along with lack of professional services and bookkeeping and lead to
various mistakes and collapse of whole business. Small business has requirement of appropriate
financial foundation for thriving business.
Simultaneously, accountants prepare financial statements which consists of yearly and
monthly accounts on basis of financial information which is analysed and compiled. The
formation of financial management reports comprises quarterly and year end closing documents.
There are various reports which are compiled and applicable for association with continuous
support along with appropriate management of activities which are budgetary forecasted. These
reports are useful for financial officer or director for purpose of development, operation and
implementation of organization's financial system and software like Excel and Hyperion (What
Role Does an Accountant Play in Business Operations, 2018).
Accountants helps for filing various forms which are mandatory. The owner of business
whose time is spent on filing and completing form for stock issue, financial forms, taxes along
with quarterly financial reports are undertaken then it brings inefficiency and lack of focus in
business. Hence, accountant completes forms and file them in proper format and gives advantage
to business owner for other duties.
Affiliation with external business: The accountants works with various financial
professionals with perspective of four major industry fields such as government accounting,
management, public and internal auditing. The accountants might give data to consultant, tax
service professional and auditor. These accountants are useful for government, non profits,
corporations and organizations for analysing and recording business's financial information
where they are employed. On the contrary, they also advise creditors, regulatory agencies,
company executives, tax personnel and stockholders. They might work with various government
officials who are maintaining and examining financial records of different private business for
employed accountant linked with taxation along with various government regulations (Wells,
2018).
These are some methods which are used by accountants to work with owners of small
business. The bookkeeper and accountant could form effective accounting team for small
business. However, with application of accounting services control has been lost with certain
things. The business owners would be undertaking all financial documents and dump on
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accountant's desk with tax structure. The accountant is also human and they might make
mistakes, if there is presence of any small error and able to quickly corrected but if it is big then
it is huge harm to organization. Sometimes, accounting services are considered in cost as it could
pay himself with method of saving money on taxes but in the similar aspect, fees of accountant is
huge as compared to its savings. Hence, it could be considered as expense to business entity
which could not be affordable (Basak, Saha and Shekhar, 2018).
Gantt Chart
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Basak, S., Saha, K. and Shekhar, S., 2018. Energy Management and Auditing in Indian MSMEs:
A Business Ecosystem Perspective. In Maintaining Sustainable Accounting Systems in
Small Business (pp. 152-178). IGI Global.
Quinn, M., and et.al., 2018. Future research on management accounting and control in family
firms: suggestions linked to architecture, governance, entrepreneurship and
stewardship. Journal of Management Control. 28(4). pp.529-546.
Wells, P. K., 2018. How well do our introductory accounting text books reflect current
accounting practice?. Journal of Accounting Education. 42. pp.40-48.
ONLINE
What Role Does an Accountant Play in Business Operations. 2018. [Online]. Available through
<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/role-accountant-play-business-operations-411.html>.
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