Business preparation guide · 29 October 2026
How can I compare accounting and tax advisers?
Use this guide to prepare a focused business enquiry and agree a useful professional engagement. It covers information gathering and project planning. Entity-specific tax, legal and accounting conclusions require qualified review of the facts and current requirements.
How should I verify an accounting firm's credentials?
Match the exact legal name to the relevant authority's current register and ask for supporting registration details. Distinguish the firm's approval from an individual's professional membership. Confirm that the proposed engagement falls within the verified scope.
How can I check who will work on my engagement?
Ask for the proposed engagement lead, reviewer and day-to-day contact, together with relevant experience and verifiable qualifications. Discuss availability and escalation arrangements. Do not assume that a public founder biography identifies every person assigned to the work.
What should I compare besides an advisory fee?
Compare the scope, deliverables, information requirements, timetable, review process and exclusions. Ask how additional work is approved and how records are transferred securely. Use the same fact pattern when requesting competing proposals.
How do I send a useful first enquiry to DSB?
Describe the service, entity jurisdiction, business activity, reporting period and timeframe. Provide a business contact and a concise explanation of the problem. Keep passwords, identity documents and confidential financial records out of the initial public message.
Turn the discussion into an agreed scope
Write down the objective, the entity and period involved, the information already available and the decisions still needed. Ask the proposed engagement team to identify the next information request and the person responsible for each response. Keep technical assumptions separate from verified facts.
Before work starts, confirm the deliverables, review process, fees and exclusions in writing. Ask how additional work will be approved and how confidential documents will be exchanged. This preparation supports an informed proposal; it does not determine the business’s legal or tax position.
Authoritative reference
Consult the relevant authority or reporting-standard source for current requirements. This guide provides preparation steps and does not reproduce the authority’s full rules.
Prepared by DSB Chartered Accountants LLC Technical positions, calculations, thresholds and filing decisions should be reviewed by the appointed professional for the relevant period.