How to Choose an Accountant in Kent: 15 Questions to Ask

Some reports indicate that 91% of UK businesses considered switching accounting firms in the past year. Not "might consider it one day." Considered it. Actively. Recently. That's not a small, disgruntled minority. That's nearly everyone, quietly wondering whether the firm holding their finances is actually the right one.

We think that statistic says something important, and it isn't flattering to our profession. Too many business owners choose an accountant the way they choose a dentist: once, reluctantly, based on whoever was recommended or whoever came up first on Google, and then they simply stay, year after year, even when the relationship stopped working long ago. We see it constantly here at Cannon Accountants in Folkestone. New clients arrive from Dover, Ashford, Canterbury, and Deal, and the story is nearly always the same: "We've been meaning to switch for two years."

So we've written the guide we wish more business owners had before they signed up with their first accountant. Fifteen genuine questions, the kind we'd want a friend to ask us if they were choosing a firm in Kent today. No jargon. No filler. Just the questions that actually reveal whether a firm will serve you well, or quietly let you down.

Why This Decision Matters More Than It Feels Like It Does

Here's the thing about choosing an accountant. It rarely feels urgent. You need one, you find one, you sign up, and life moves on. It's only eighteen months later, when a tax deadline is missed or an email goes unanswered for a week, that you realise the decision mattered a great deal more than it felt like at the time.

We've taken on clients who arrived stressed, behind on filings, and genuinely anxious about HMRC, simply because their previous accountant was slow, unresponsive, or, frankly, out of their depth with a growing business. We've also taken on clients who were paying a perfectly reasonable fee but receiving almost nothing beyond basic compliance work in return. Both situations are avoidable. Both come down to asking the right questions before you commit, not after.

Let's get into them.

1. Are You Chartered or Certified, and With Which Body?

This sounds basic, but you'd be surprised how often it's skipped. In the UK, "accountant" isn't a protected title in the way "solicitor" or "doctor" is. Technically, anyone can call themselves an accountant with no qualifications whatsoever. That's a genuinely uncomfortable fact for most business owners to learn.

Look for chartered status through a recognised body: ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales), ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), or CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) are the main ones you'll encounter in Kent. A firm that's happy to tell you exactly which qualifications its partners hold, without hesitation, is a good early sign.

2. Do You Have Experience With Businesses Like Mine?

An accountant who mostly works with landlords and property investors isn't necessarily the right fit for a construction contractor dealing with the Construction Industry Scheme, and vice versa. Ask directly: "How many clients do you currently have in my industry?" A good firm will answer specifically, not vaguely.

We had a hospitality client join us from Whitstable last year, having previously worked with a generalist firm two counties over. They'd never had anyone properly explain how VAT applies differently to food sold for consumption on-site versus takeaway, a distinction that matters enormously for a café. It wasn't that her previous accountant was incompetent. It's that hospitality wasn't their area, and nobody had been honest about that gap.

3. What's Actually Included in Your Fee?

This is where vague answers should worry you. A fixed monthly fee sounds reassuring, but "accounts and tax return" can mean wildly different things between firms. Does it include VAT returns? Payroll? Unlimited phone and email support, or a capped number of queries? Bookkeeping, or just the year-end filing?

Ask for this in writing before you sign anything. We give every prospective client a clear, itemised breakdown, precisely because we've seen how much confusion, and resentment, builds up when a client assumes something was included and later gets billed for it separately.

4. Are You Local to Kent, and Does That Actually Matter to You?

We'll be straightforward here: location matters less than it used to, thanks to video calls and cloud accounting software. But it isn't irrelevant either. A firm based in Kent understands things that a national online-only provider often won't, such as how cross-Channel trade through the Port of Dover or the Eurotunnel affects VAT treatment, or how agricultural allowances apply to the farming businesses scattered across the county.

There's also something to be said for being able to sit across a table from someone in Folkestone or Ashford when you need to talk through a genuinely difficult decision. Some business owners value that enormously. Others are entirely happy on a video call. Neither is wrong, but it's worth knowing which one you are before you choose.

5. How Quickly Do You Respond to Queries?

Ask this directly, and press for a specific answer rather than "as soon as we can." We tell prospective clients plainly: same working day for anything urgent, within 48 hours for everything else. If a firm can't give you a concrete response time, that's usually because they don't consistently meet one.

One of our clients, a builder working across Sittingbourne and Maidstone, told us his previous accountant sometimes took two weeks to reply to a simple email. Two weeks, when you're trying to make a decision about whether to take on a new member of staff, is an eternity. He'd assumed that was just how accountants worked. It isn't.

6. Will I Have a Named Point of Contact, or Will I Be Passed Around?

Larger firms, in particular, sometimes rotate junior staff onto client accounts, meaning you explain your business from scratch to someone new every year. Ask specifically: "Who will actually be handling my account day to day, and will that person stay consistent?"

There's real value in a relationship where your accountant already knows your business's history, your busy periods, your particular quirks, without you having to re-explain them every single time you call.

7. Do You Offer Proactive Tax Planning, or Just Compliance?

This is, in our view, the single most important question on this entire list, and it's the one most business owners forget to ask.

Compliance means filing what's legally required, on time, correctly. It's necessary, but it's backward-looking. Tax planning means actively looking ahead: flagging pension contribution opportunities before the tax year ends, reviewing your salary and dividend structure as your circumstances change, checking whether your VAT scheme still suits your business as it grows. Ask directly: "Will you proactively contact me with planning opportunities, or do I need to ask?"

We worked with a limited company client from Deal who had been with her previous accountant for four years, purely on a compliance basis. Nobody had ever reviewed her salary and dividend split, despite her income having grown substantially over that time. Correcting it in her first year with us saved her just under £2,600. That's four years of a fee paid for filing only, with no planning attached, and it cost her real money she never knew she was leaving behind.

8. What Accounting Software Do You Use, and Will It Suit My Business?

Cloud accounting software, such as Xero or QuickBooks, has genuinely changed what's possible for small businesses. Real-time visibility of your figures, automatic bank feeds, simpler VAT submissions under Making Tax Digital. Ask which platforms a firm supports, whether they'll help you set it up properly, and whether ongoing training is included if you or your team need it.

Be cautious of a firm still relying heavily on spreadsheets and paper records in 2026. It's not necessarily a sign of poor service, but it usually means less real-time insight into your own numbers, and more work for you chasing information together at year-end.

9. Can You Give Me a Reference From a Client in a Similar Position?

Any firm confident in its service should have no trouble connecting you with an existing client, ideally one in a broadly similar business, who can speak honestly about their experience. This isn't about catching anyone out. It's simply the accounting equivalent of reading reviews before booking a restaurant, and it's entirely reasonable to ask for it.

10. How Do You Handle HMRC Enquiries or Investigations?

Nobody wants to think about this when they're choosing an accountant, which is exactly why it's worth asking about upfront. If HMRC opens an enquiry into your return, is that support included in your fee, or billed separately, potentially at an hourly rate that could run into hundreds of pounds? Some firms offer fee protection insurance as part of their package specifically for this reason.

Ask plainly: "If I received a letter from HMRC tomorrow, what would happen next, and what would it cost me?" A firm with a clear, rehearsed answer to this has clearly thought it through. A firm that seems unsure hasn't.

11. What Happens If I Need to Switch Accountants Partway Through the Year?

This matters more than it seems, because it tells you how a firm behaves when things go wrong, not just when things go smoothly. Ask how they'd handle the transition if you ever needed to leave. A confident, professional firm will explain the standard "professional clearance" process without any defensiveness, because they know a good relationship doesn't need to trap anyone in.

12. Do You Specialise in Sole Traders, Limited Companies, or Both?

The needs of a sole trader and a limited company differ enormously, from the paperwork involved to the tax planning opportunities available. If you're currently a sole trader considering incorporation, or a limited company considering restructuring, ask whether the firm has genuine experience guiding businesses through that specific transition, not just maintaining businesses that are already one or the other.

13. How Do You Charge for Work Outside the Standard Package?

Ad hoc advice, one-off projects, help with a business loan application, a valuation for a potential sale. Ask upfront what the hourly rate is for anything beyond your standard package, and whether you'll always be told the cost before work begins. We've heard too many stories of business owners receiving an unexpectedly large invoice for what they assumed was a quick, casual question.

14. What's Your Approach to Deadlines?

Ask specifically how a firm manages the calendar for you. Do they send reminders well in advance? Do they chase you for information, or wait for you to remember? A contractor client of ours, working across Canterbury and Herne Bay, told us his previous accountant only ever mentioned the Self Assessment deadline in the first week of January, by which point gathering everything together in time felt like a genuine scramble every single year. We now start that conversation with clients in the autumn, precisely so nobody's ever caught out.

15. Do You Genuinely Understand My Business, or Just My Numbers?

This is harder to assess in a single question, but it's worth trying. Ask something specific about your industry during your initial conversation and see how the firm responds. Do they ask thoughtful follow-up questions about how your business actually operates, or do they move straight to talking about fees? The difference tells you a great deal about whether you'll be treated as a genuine partner in your business's growth, or simply as a filing number processed once a year.

Putting It All Together

Fifteen questions is a lot to hold in your head during a single conversation, so here's our honest, practical advice: don't try to ask all of them in one sitting. Pick the five or six that matter most to your specific situation. If you're growing fast, prioritise proactive tax planning and software capability. If you've been burned by slow communication before, prioritise response times and your named point of contact. If you're nervous about HMRC, prioritise the enquiry-handling question.

What matters most is that you ask something. Too many business owners across Kent choose an accountant based purely on price or proximity, without ever having a real conversation about how the relationship will actually work day to day. That's how you end up, four years later, quietly wondering whether you should switch, just like 91% of businesses currently are.

A Word on Price Versus Value

We'd be doing you a disservice if we didn't address this directly. The cheapest quote is rarely the best long-term choice, and the most expensive one isn't automatically the most capable. What matters is matching the fee to what's genuinely included, and to the level of proactive support you actually want.

A £40-a-month package that only covers basic filing might suit a very simple sole trader perfectly well. That same package would badly underserve a growing limited company with employees, VAT registration, and genuine ambitions to expand. The right question isn't "what's the cheapest option," but "what does this business specifically need, and which firm delivers that properly?"

Why We Built Our Practice Around These Answers

We didn't write this guide from a purely theoretical standpoint. We built our own practice, quite deliberately, around the answers we believe business owners across Kent deserve to hear. We're chartered, we work across a genuine mix of sole traders, contractors, and limited companies from Folkestone to Canterbury, Ashford to Deal, and we tell every prospective client exactly what's included in their fee before they sign anything. We aim to respond the same working day wherever possible, and we proactively flag tax planning opportunities rather than waiting to be asked, because we've seen, repeatedly, just how much money genuinely goes unclaimed when nobody does.

If you're currently weighing up whether your existing accountant is still the right fit, or you're a new business trying to choose your first one, we'd be glad to have a genuine, no-pressure conversation. Ask us any of the fifteen questions above. We'll answer every single one plainly.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it worth switching accountants if I've only been with mine for a year or two?

If your current firm answers these fifteen questions well and you're receiving proactive advice, not just filing, there's likely no need to switch. If several of these questions leave you uncertain or uneasy, it's worth at least having a comparison conversation with another firm, even if you ultimately decide to stay.

How long does switching accountants actually take?

Usually a matter of weeks, not months. Your new accountant handles the professional clearance process directly with your previous firm, so you're not stuck managing an awkward handover yourself.

Should I choose a local Kent accountant over a national online provider?

Not necessarily, but it's worth being honest with yourself about what you value. If face-to-face conversations and local knowledge of things like cross-Channel trade or agricultural allowances matter to you, a Kent-based firm has a genuine advantage. If you're entirely comfortable managing everything remotely, location matters far less.

What's the biggest red flag to watch for when choosing an accountant?

Vagueness. A firm that can't give you a clear, specific answer about fees, response times, or what's included in your package is likely to be equally vague once you're actually a client, and that vagueness tends to cost you money over time.