How accountants can help drive business success
- Leomar Cabarles
- Mar 12
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 12
WHEN people think of accountants, they often picture them with heads buried in spreadsheets, crunching numbers, preparing financial statements and tax returns. While those are their essential functions, accountants can (and should) offer far more value to businesses.
In the Philippines, where businesses include small shops, medium-sized family-owned enterprises, and international conglomerates, accountants have a unique opportunity to be more than just compliance officers. They can be strategic advisors, risk managers, and catalysts for business growth.
Accountants have a deep understanding of financial data, but their real value lies in interpreting this information to guide business decisions. In the Philippines, where micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) comprise over 90 percent of businesses, many entrepreneurs struggle with financial literacy.
Accountants can help business owners make sense of their numbers, identify profitable opportunities, and plan for sustainable growth. They can dispense advise on budgeting and forecasting, pricing strategies, cost management, profitability analysis, and even expansion and diversification plans, ensuring businesses remain competitive in a dynamic market.
The Philippine tax system can be overwhelming, with frequent changes in tax laws and complex compliance requirements from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, local government units, and other relevant government agencies.
While tax preparation is a given, accountants should go beyond merely filing returns. They can proactively guide businesses on tax efficiency, helping them avoid unnecessary penalties while maximizing legitimate deductions and incentives.
They can also represent businesses during BIR audits, ensuring compliance, and resolving disputes efficiently. They can assist in structuring businesses to optimize tax obligations and support future growth, which is crucial for startups and expanding enterprises.
Internal controls
Financial mismanagement and fraud remain significant challenges for Philippine businesses. Whether it's improper handling of cash flow, unauthorized transactions, or internal fraud, accountants can help implement internal controls to protect assets.
They can help set up policies to prevent fraud, detect irregularities, and ensure operations with integrity. This is important for family-owned businesses, where informal financial management practices can sometimes lead to financial risks.
Specifically, accountants can do the following:
– Design robust processes for cash handling, inventory management, and expense tracking to reduce the risk of fraud
– Conduct periodic financial audits to detect discrepancies, ensure transparency, and prevent financial misconduct
– Advise businesses on safeguarding digital financial data from cyber threats
– Educate staff on ethical practices, financial protocols, and early warning signs of fraud
Technology
With the rise of digital banking, cloud-based accounting software, and automation tools, accountants need to help businesses leverage technology for efficiency. Many still rely on manual processes, leading to inefficiencies and errors.
Accountants can introduce digital accounting systems that streamline operations, improve accuracy, and provide real-time financial insights. By embracing technology, businesses can scale faster and make better financial decisions.
Other ways accountants can support digital transformation include data analytics and reporting (using data visualization tools to provide real-time insights into financial performance and business trends), process automation (payroll, invoicing, and expense tracking), and e-commerce integration (helping online businesses implement automated sales tracking and inventory systems).
Many Filipino entrepreneurs start businesses out of passion, but not all of them have the financial acumen to sustain their ventures. Accountants should take on the role of educators, simplifying financial concepts and helping business owners develop sound financial habits.
Survival
The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of resilience in business. Many entrepreneurs suffered due to lack of financial preparedness.
Accountants can help businesses in developing strategies that ensure long-term business survival. These strategies include key areas of cash flow management aimed at maintaining liquidity during economic downturns or crises; scenario planning by creating multiple financial projections that assess best- and worst-case scenarios to improve preparedness; cost optimization through identifying non-essential expenses that can be reduced during difficult times without compromising business operations; and insurance and risk mitigation by advising on appropriate insurance coverage to safeguard against unforeseen risks.
Accountants must embrace their role as more than just number crunchers. They have the expertise and insights to shape the success of businesses, from small sari-sari stores to large corporations. They can be strategic partners, compliance navigators, fraud preventers, tech enablers, financial educators, and crisis managers — thus creating unparalleled value to the business community.
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Leomar R. Cabarles, CPA, is an audit, assurance, and consulting partner at AMYu & Associates, CPAs. This article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice.
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