Economic gloom offers accountants 'an opportunity'

News Article - 25 July 2008
Category: Business

Accountants in the UK have been urged to see the current economic downturn as "an opportunity rather than a threat" in their relations with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

AccountancyAge insists sound financial advice is more important than ever if these firms hope to cut costs to weather the crisis.

While installing accounting software is one way to do this, the news source reports SMEs will also be relying on more frequent consultations with advisors.

Stephen Alambritis, chief spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses, says: "Accountants are one of the most trusted sources of advice for small business. When we ask our members who they look to for advice, it's always accountants."

AccountancyAge lists several steps the finance professionals can take to aid SMEs including offering accounting software support, sharing advice on market trends and implementing tighter cost control.

Meanwhile, new research from Gartner has revealed that as finance and accounting functions become more popular, it is vital that chief financial officers integrate the role of IT effectively.

Article keywords: Growth Review Framework, Advanced Manufacturing, Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), manufacturing sector, Nick Clegg, Vince Cable, Mark Prisk, manufacturing summit, Access manufacturing and production software, project and job costing module

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