It is advisable only to hire an accountant who is a member of a professional body. In Europe and the UK the licensing bodies of the Institute of chartered accountants, the chartered Institute of management accountant, and the Association of chartered certified accountants. Anybody who has gone through the tests and exams that these organisations set up will be thoroughly qualified and experienced enough to handle accounts. Similar to the Law Society, these accounting bodies also have disciplinary procedures in place to weed out rogue members.

The other good thing about these organisations is that the accountants are all so tested every year. This qualifies them for a practising certificate without which they cannot work. This also ensures professional indemnity insurance, and ongoing training throughout their careers keeping them up to date with current legislation and finance directors.

For new start-up businesses in the East Midlands, probably the best place to find a reference for one of these firms of accountants is the business killed in your local area. In other words, to find a Northampton accountant who has references from local businesses then contact the Northampton business killed for more information.

How you go about selecting an accountant or an accountancy firm is very important. You should not view your accountant as some kind of slave driver or class master! He is actually a valuable partner in your business that can advise you and steer you away from danger, financially speaking, and streamline your business operation. Before hiring an accountancy firm it would be a good idea to spend some time talking things through with several companies to assess not only their professional acumen, but if you get along with them personally. You could find the most qualified and experienced accountant in the world but there may be some type of personality clash which will stop you getting along. This could hinder you in the sense that he may not consider their advice when you need to.