The accountant is not a partner like the others for the company. He accompanies his manager as closely as possible. He knows his values, his strategy, and the state of his company’s finances. This “intimate” vision of the company, coupled with a range of in-depth knowledge and skills, acquired after more than 9 years of theoretical and field studies, allows the accountant to intervene at different levels.
The chartered accountant for business creators
At the start, the business creator calls on a chartered accountant to help him establish his financial forecasts, support him in setting up a profitable economic model and a realistic financing strategy. At this stage, the accountant can also guide the entrepreneur to choose the legal status and the tax and social regime that will suit him best.
The chartered accountant to support growth
Once the company is created, the first mission of the accountant will be to keep his accounts:
- monitoring and recording of financial flows
- bank reconciliations and accounting review
- preparation of annual accounts and tax formalities
- possibly, social formalities (payslips, link with social organizations)
These tasks are generally accompanied by an advisory mission: management advice, financial strategy, and possibly tax and asset optimization for the company and/or its manager. When the business grows, the chartered accountant can also help the entrepreneur to structure his human resources and to respect labor law.
The chartered accountant in case of difficulties
In the event of difficulties, the accountant is often the first point of contact the manager will turn to. The partner expertise firm can indeed audit the financial state of the company, recommend the implementation of a collective procedure, support the manager in the formalities and advise him in his decisions. The accountant can even go to the commercial court by his side to face this ordeal.
How are accountants’ fees set?
As we have just seen, the chartered accountant intervenes at different stages in the life of the company and at all levels, whether in creation, in day-to-day management, for long-term financial strategy, or for tax optimization. But it’s up to the manager to define his needs and express them to the accountant during a first business meeting. The firm will then be able to offer him a detailed and personalized engagement letter, according to his expectations, and likely, of course, to change over time.
The fees of accountants depend on the volume of invoices to be processed
The first criterion for setting fees is the volume of work entrusted to the accountant for keeping the accounts. The more invoices the company records, the more entries the accountant has to make and the higher the fees. In this context, a trader will have more fees to pay than a liberal profession.
In general, prices are logically a function of:
- the business sector of the company
- the size of the company and its turnover
The fees vary depending on the number of payslips to be made
When the company develops and recruits, the manager must organize his human resources and in particular payroll management. This can be entrusted to the chartered accountant. The latter generally invoices payslips individually. The price for this service will therefore depend on the workforce.
Consulting fees
Finally, as we said, the chartered accountant supports the manager in his decision-making, in terms of management, financial strategy, and tax optimization, sometimes also in his commercial and human resources decisions. It happens to audit the company, to set up then to analyze the dashboards. Here, the fees will be based on the manager’s needs.
In short, consulting fees
In short, the engagement letter proposed by the accountant may include only a few services. On the contrary, it can list a whole range of interventions according to the needs expressed by the company. In this context, fees are generally calculated:
- from an hourly cost (different depending on the task to be performed and its level of complexity)
- and multiplied by an estimate of the number of hours used by the employee during his mission with the company. (volume of invoices, need for advice) …
The rates of a firm responsible for supporting VSEs / SMEs vary between 50 and 250 euros per hour, depending on the mission. Let us take some examples. Accounting entry costs around 50 euros per hour. An accounting audit assignment can cost up to 100 euros per hour (average rates).
The price list for the chartered accountant is freely set. It depends on the reputation and the seniority of the firm. It is also a function of its location and the cost of local living. Finally, the price list adapts to the supported clientele. A firm that manages the issues of large accounts, for example, encounters very complex legal, social and fiscal situations, requiring the intervention of employees on very specific issues, at higher prices.
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