Accountants and Corporate Treasurers
Provide services relating to financial reporting, taxation, auditing, investigation, insolvency, accounting information systems, budgeting, cost management, planning and decision-making by organisations and individuals, provide advice on associated compliance and performance requirements to ensure statutory and strategic governance, and provide treasury valuation services and systems to individuals and organisations.
Return week at the accounting firm
You are an accountant in a small firm, a week before the deadline for a batch of business returns, with a full desk and a phone that keeps ringing. It is Monday morning. Twelve client files are waiting on your desk, a junior colleague needs help and a client is expecting a quick answer. The deadline is not going to move.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I've found a payment in the Hoang family's accounts that I can't work out. The client says it is a loan, but there is no paperwork. I've spent two hours on it and I'm afraid to ask you in case I look incompetent.
Thank him for asking, look at the records together and ask the client for the paperwork
The client finds a short agreement in an email, and Leo learns how to chase evidence politely. Asking for help early is a sign of good judgement, not weakness.
Take the file from him and work on it yourself, because you are faster
You solve it in twenty minutes, but Leo learns nothing and loses confidence. Doing it for him is quick, and teaching him pays off over a year.
Tell him to treat it as a loan, as the client says, and move on so he does not fall behind
The entry is made, but later it turns out the payment was something else, and the return has to be amended. A client's word is where you start, but the records finish the job.
I have all my receipts in two boxes and I need my return in by Friday. My last accountant said it did not matter if some were missing, just estimate the rest. Can you do it that way?
Agree to estimate the missing parts, so that he can meet the deadline
The return goes in, but the estimates are not supported by anything. If the tax office asks questions, neither of you can answer them. An estimate presented as a fact is a risk to you both.
Explain what you can do, set a realistic plan with a date for the records and ask if an extension is available
Mr Tran sorts the receipts over the weekend and you lodge the return correctly, with a short extension if needed. A realistic plan serves a client better than a rushed return.
Tell him you cannot take him on as a client at this time of year
You protect your workload, but Mr Tran is left in a panic with nowhere to go. A kinder refusal would have suggested a way forward.
The figures for the Hartley account do not tie up and the client is expecting the return tomorrow. I will sign it off if you tell me it is ready. I trust your judgement. Is it ready?
Say you're not sure and ask her to decide
Gillian signs it because you said you weren't sure, not that it was wrong. You gave the decision away without giving her the facts. A professional says what they know.
Tell her it's ready, because the difference is small and the deadline is tomorrow
The return goes out, and a month later the small difference turns out to be a missed item. Small differences are often where the larger problems begin.
Tell her it's not ready, explain what you found and how long you need
Gillian approves a short delay and speaks to the client herself. You find the missing item by midday the next day. Being honest about readiness protects the client and the firm.
How it went
By Friday evening the returns are lodged and the office is quiet. Accounting is detail, deadlines and judgement, and a lot of conversations with people who are nervous about money. Would you like being the calm person who makes their numbers make sense?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The holiday that became a business trip
A fictional case set in a fictional accounting firm in a regional city, in the weeks before small business tax returns are due.
The situation
Helen Dacosta was an accountant at Harbourview Advisory. A long-time client, Ravi, who owned a successful bakery, sent his records for the year. Among the expenses was a family holiday overseas that he had labelled as a business trip to look at suppliers. Helen had known him for years and liked him. He called to say that his last accountant had always treated it that way and he expected the same, as the bakery had done well and he wanted to keep his tax down.
What they did
Helen listened to Ravi first, then explained that she could only include expenses that were genuinely for the business. She asked what he had actually done on the trip, whether any supplier meetings had happened and whether he had records. She separated the part of the trip that could be supported from the part that could not. She was kind but clear that her professional duties meant she could not sign off on the rest.
How it turned out
Ravi was unhappy and threatened to take his work elsewhere. After a week, he came back, having spoken to a friend who had been audited. He accepted the correct treatment. Helen kept the client and slept well, knowing the returns she signed were honest.
What would you do?
- Why did Helen ask questions before she said no?
- How would you say no to someone you like and who has been loyal to you?
- Why does an accountant's signature mean something?