What You Should Expect From Your Accountant (and What to Do When They Ghost You)
It's Halloween week, so let's talk about something scary that has nothing to do with costumes: sending your accountant a question and hearing nothing back.
A business owner told me recently that she'd fired two accountants in two years. Not because the work was wrong - because nobody answered. At one point she didn't even know whether her extension had been filed.
That story stuck with me because it's so fixable. Here's what every founder of a growing service business should expect from their accountant, and what to do if you're not getting it.
What responsive actually looks like
Responsive doesn't mean every email gets answered in five minutes. It means you never wonder whether your message landed.
At Primary Care Financial, our standard is simple: you always hear back, and promptly. Sometimes the reply is the full answer. Sometimes it's "Got it - here's when you'll have it." Either way, you're not left guessing.
A few signs you have a responsive accountant:
You get a quick acknowledgment, even when the full answer takes longer
You know who your main contact is, and that person knows your business
When something is waiting on you, they tell you clearly and early
You should always know what's next
The second piece is visibility. You shouldn't have to send a "just checking in" email to find out where things stand.
A good accountant checks in proactively. If they need a document from you, you hear about it. If a deadline is coming, you hear about it before it's urgent. If something looks off in your numbers, you hear about it while there's still time to act.
The test: can you say right now what your accountant is working on and what they need from you? If not, that's worth a conversation.
What a good monthly rhythm looks like
Most accounting headaches start as small piles: a stack of receipts, an account nobody has reconciled since summer. A steady monthly rhythm keeps them small.
At a minimum, I'd expect:
Books closed every month. Bank and credit card accounts reconciled, transactions categorized, and loose ends cleared on a consistent schedule - not "when we get to it."
Reports you can actually use. A profit and loss statement and balance sheet each month, on a predictable date, with a short note on what changed.
A regular check-in. A standing conversation to walk through the numbers, answer your questions, and flag what's coming up.
When that rhythm is in place, year-end stops being a scramble. Your books are tax-ready, and your accountant can coordinate with your tax preparer using clean numbers instead of rebuilding the year in January.
Questions to ask your current (or next) accountant
How quickly should I expect to hear back when I email or call?
Who is my main contact, and who covers when they're out?
What day of the month will my books be closed and my reports delivered?
How often will we meet to review the numbers?
How will you let me know when you need something from me?
How do you work with my tax preparer, attorney, or banker?
Can I see in writing what's included each month?
Vague answers tell you something. If the answers are great but the day-to-day doesn't match, say so directly - one honest conversation about expectations often helps.
A note for law firms and professional services firms
Responsiveness matters even more when your business runs on billable time and client trust. You know what it's like to be the person your clients are waiting on.
Law firms that hold client money in trust have an extra layer. Trust funds have to be kept separate from operating money, and the records behind them need to be accurate and reconciled regularly. Many firms do a monthly three-way reconciliation of the bank statement, the trust ledger, and the individual client ledgers. The exact requirements come from your state's rules of professional conduct and bar guidance, so your ethics counsel or bar resources are the authority there. This isn't legal advice.
What your accounting team can do is keep the operating books clean, keep trust activity clearly separated in the records, stick to a monthly close, and flag anything that doesn't tie out while it's still small.
Other professional services firms - consulting, agencies, design, engineering - deal with retainers, work in progress, and uneven collections. The answer is the same: a monthly rhythm, and someone who answers.
What to do if you're being ghosted
Put your expectations in writing. Send a short, friendly note about the reply times and monthly schedule you need.
Ask for a calendar. Close dates, report dates, and check-in dates for the next few months.
If nothing changes, start looking. Use the questions above, and ask any new firm how they'd handle the handoff from your current accountant.
The bottom line
You deserve an accountant who answers, keeps you posted, and keeps your books current every month.
If you'd like to see what that could look like for your business, let's talk. Book your free Strategy Session - it's free and takes 30 minutes.
Not ready to talk yet? Take our free scorecard: https://healthcheck.pcfdetroit.com
Steve Koch, CPA, is the founder of Primary Care Financial, a licensed Michigan CPA firm in Detroit providing outsourced bookkeeping, controller and CFO services to founder-led service businesses.
