Opportunity beckons as survey shows shift away from accountants

Scottish Pacific has engaged specialist research firm East & Partners since 2014 to conduct six monthly polls involving more than 1,200 SME leaders across all states and key industries to test SME sentiment and concerns.

The latest Scottish Pacific SME Growth Index revealed that only a minority of SME owners and leaders consider their accountant to be their most trusted business adviser.

When asked to identify their most trusted business adviser, only 9.3 per cent of respondents named their accountant.

Interestingly, 25.8 per cent named a business colleague or trading partner, 10.3 per cent would rather turn to a friend and 8.5 per cent a family member. Alarmingly, 39.3 per cent said they do not feel they have any trusted business advisers.

Scottish Pacific CEO, Peter Langham, said there is tremendous scope for accountants to have an even greater impact on the SME sector.

“It’s fairly troubling that so many SMEs failed to nominate a trusted business adviser, instead attempting to ‘go at it alone’ despite the fact that outside advice might help them overcome their barriers to growth and other business issues,” Mr Langham said.

On a more positive note, SME owners and leaders who do turn to their accountant reported the highest positive impact on their revenue.

When SME owners and leaders were asked which advisers had the most positive effect on their business, accountants came out on top with 93 per cent, followed by family members at 69 per cent, and colleagues at 59 per cent.

Mr Langham said despite colleagues emerging as the main source of advice for SMEs, the incidence of positive experiences is considerably lower than those who sought out an accountant for advice.

“For SMEs with accountants as their most trusted business adviser, 35 per cent said they had a very positive impact on their business, with 47.9 per cent reporting a positive impact,” he said.

“This rates more highly than those SMEs seeking advice from colleagues – 26 per cent very positive and 32.8 per cent positive impact.”

Further opportunity exists in how frequent SME owners and leaders consult their trusted adviser, with over one in 10 only seeking advice annually and only 6.3 per cent seeking advice on a weekly basis.

One in two consult their trusted adviser monthly, and almost one in three consult as required for one-off matters needing specific expertise.