Fergus Cleaver: Small Businesses Benefit from Professional Accounting Services

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- New research reveals that 49 percent of small and medium businesses trust the expert advice of financial professionals and that these businesses report extremely high levels of happiness and confidence with the services received. Fergus Cleaver asserts that this demonstrates the value that professional accounting services hold for small businesses.

Voxy reports that new research indicates the value that professional accounting services holds for small and medium business enterprises (SMEs). Fergus Cleaver, a financial professional who offers accounting services to corporate and individual clients, believes that this research proves the importance that professional accountants hold in any business model.

According to the article, 49 percent of SMEs have hired professional accountants to assist in their financial processes. Of these SMEs, 95 percent report a high degree of happiness with the services these professionals provide and 94 percent report a high degree of confidence in the abilities of their financial professionals.

The SMEs surveyed during the study reported the amount of time it took to conduct their own accounting activities as one of their major complaints regarding the business's financial responsibilities.

"A key frustration cited by SMEs was the time required to do their books, particularly among those using spreadsheets (36 percent), paper-based records and cashbooks (both 21 percent)," reports the article. "The more feature-rich cashbooks were shown to be the more time-intensive. A total of 80 percent of cashbook users spent time manually entering their transactions, while 42 percent invested over 11 hours on their bookwork on a bi-monthly basis."

Richard Reese, the General Manager of Operations for BankLink, believes that these results indicate the serious need for guidance experienced by SMEs: "The array of accounting solutions available can be confusing and leads to many SMEs selecting a full 'bells and whistles' package thinking it will be the best option [...] While 'DIY' solutions are great products for some people, it's not a case of one-size-fits-all."

Fergus Cleaver agrees, stating that SMEs need personalized attention from professional accountants in order to get the most out of their financial processes. This entails not only daily accounting activities, but also compliance with tax and other regulations. As such, Fergus Cleaver believes that the guidance of a financial professional is invaluable to SMEs that are hoping to continue growing within their field.

"In the current economic climate it is imperative that businesses know where they are. The last thing an organization needs is unnecessary shocks," commented Fergus Cleaver. "The value of a good relationship with a reliable and trustworthy accountant to a small business cannot be underestimated."

ABOUT:
Fergus Cleaver is an accountant based in Auckland, New Zealand. Known for his service to both business and individual clients, he serves as the Senior Accountant at Cleaver Richards. At this firm, Fergus Cleaver assists in providing business and personal services, as well as tax guidance. An established professional within the financial industry, Fergus Cleaver understands the importance of personalized service and the fact that every client has unique financial goals and needs.

SOURCE Fergus Cleaver