Let me guess how you found your current accountant. A mate recommended someone, or you went with whoever did your tax that first year and never got around to switching. Am I close?
Look, no judgement. That’s how most people do it. The trouble is it works right up until it doesn’t, and it usually stops working at the worst possible moment: when you’re buying premises, taking on your first employee, or staring down a BAS that’s gone sideways.
I’ve spent years doing digital marketing for small businesses around Melbourne, which means I’ve had a front-row seat to which ones quietly thrive and which ones quietly fall apart. More often than you’d expect, the difference has nothing to do with the marketing budget. It’s whether someone competent is watching the numbers. A good accountant isn’t a once-a-year expense you grudgingly tolerate. Done right, they’re one of the best business partners you’ll ever have.
Here’s how to find one worth keeping.
Work out what you actually need first
Before you go shopping, get clear on the job. A sole trader with one simple return needs something completely different from a business juggling payroll, super and a self-managed super fund.
Broadly, accounting help splits into two camps. Compliance is the mandatory stuff: tax returns, BAS, financial statements, keeping the ATO off your back. Advisory is the good stuff: cash-flow planning, structuring, forecasting, and helping you make decisions based on actual numbers instead of a gut feeling and a prayer. Plenty of firms are great at the first and hopeless at the second. If you want someone who’ll genuinely help you grow, say so upfront and make sure they can deliver more than a shoebox of receipts turned into a form once a year.
Check the credentials, then keep digging
In Australia, the baseline is a registered tax agent (you can look them up on the Tax Practitioners Board register) who’s a member of a professional body like CA ANZ or CPA Australia. That’s the bare minimum, not a gold star.
The part most people skip is specialisation. An accountant who spends all day with tradies lives in a completely different world from one who works with not-for-profits, medical practices or property investors. Ask who makes up the bulk of their clients. If your business looks nothing like anyone else on their books, you’ll spend half your meetings explaining your own industry to them, which is not what you’re paying for.
The better firms tend to cover the whole spread under one roof: taxation, business services, audit, super, financial planning, the lot. The accountants in Blackburn at RDL Accountants are a solid example of what that looks like. They’ve been going for 60-odd years with a team of specialists across all of those areas, which means you’re not forced to start a brand new relationship every time your needs change. That continuity matters more than people realise. So when you’re weighing up options, ask whether a firm can grow with you, or whether you’ll outgrow them in two years and be back to square one.
Stop worrying so much about location
A decade ago you wanted your accountant a short drive away so you could drop off a folder. Cloud accounting quietly killed that requirement. With Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks your books live online, and a good firm can work with you just as easily whether they’re in South Melbourne, Blackburn or the middle of nowhere.
That said, don’t completely write off local knowledge. A firm with deep roots in Melbourne understands the local business landscape, the property market and the specific headaches of running something here. So don’t rule out a firm across town if they’re clearly the better fit, but do give genuine local experience the weight it deserves.
The questions worth asking before you sign anything
Treat that first meeting like a two-way interview, because that’s exactly what it is. A few questions that’ll tell you more than any glossy brochure:
- Who actually does my work? Sometimes the impressive partner reels you in and a junior does the heavy lifting. Not necessarily a problem, you just want to know who you’re really dealing with.
- How do you charge? Fixed monthly fee, hourly, per job? A fixed fee makes budgeting painless and means you’re not sweating every phone call in case it lands on an invoice.
- How fast do you reply? Slow responses at tax time are the classic horror story. Ask what turnaround you can expect, and quietly note how quickly they answer this very question.
- What will you tell me that I didn’t think to ask? A good accountant is proactive, flagging opportunities and risks before they turn into problems.
- Can you help me plan, or just report? Reporting looks backwards. You want someone who helps you look forward too.
The red flags
A few warning signs are worth taking seriously. Be very wary of anyone promising suspiciously fat refunds or nudging you toward aggressive claims, because when the ATO comes knocking, the penalties land on you, not them. Steer clear of firms that vanish for 11 months of the year and only reappear at tax time. And if they’re already slow and vague while they’re trying to win your business, that’s a preview, not a fluke. It rarely improves once you’ve signed.
The bottom line
Choosing an accountant feels like a boring admin decision right up until it turns into a very expensive one. Take the time to match the firm to what your business actually needs, check the fundamentals are in place, and treat that first meeting as the interview it is. Get it right and you’ll have someone genuinely in your corner, quietly making the whole thing easier. When you’re trying to build something in Melbourne, that’s worth a lot more than it sounds.
