“I have no use for bodyguards,” said Elvis Presley, “but I have very specific use for two highly trained certified public accountants.”

Listen to this dear departed freelancer’s wisdom; he could think of so many reasons to have an accountant that he thought he needed two. But below we give you just five reasons why you need only one good accountant.

You should stick to what you’re good at. Like an accountant does.

If you’ve gone freelance in your chosen profession, then (hopefully) you’re good at what you do. So stick to it. You have an area of expertise and so does an accountant so spend your time earning money at what you’re good at – and employ a good accountant to do the same.

Your time is precious – and a good accountant can save you time.

How much time do you think you spend collating all your receipts, trying to decide what expenses you can claim and frowning at your tax return form or the HMRC website? What else could you be doing with that time – and how much quicker could an experienced accountant get it done?

A freelancer’s life can be stressful – and a good accountant can reduce your stress.

However much we may love the freelancer life, let’s be honest; it’s not without its ups and downs. Besides the famine and feast rhythm of our workload, which can leave us flattened under a pile of work one week and wondering where the next tin of baked beans will come from the next, there’s also all the hours spent waiting to see if we’ve landed that new contract and the constant juggling act between completing work, looking for new work and marketing ourselves. So the last thing we need is the stress of worrying if we’ve completed our tax return correctly and if we’ll get it filed on time. Let the accountant handle the stress for you; make filing your tax return on time their responsibility.

You want to keep as much of your hard earned cash as possible. An accountant can help.

An accountant knows the tax rules inside out. They know what you can claim and exactly how to claim it for you, so that you’re left with as much of your income as possible. They can ensure that every allowance and expense is (if you’ll forgive the pun) accounted for. That’s why an accountant is one of your most worthwhile expenses. Oh, wait – you can claim expenses…

You want meetings with keen, affluent clients, not the HMRC. So get an accountant.

If you employ a good accountant, there are three ways they can help you avoid uncomfortable conversations with HMRC. Firstly, they can ensure your tax return is completed correctly and filed on time, avoiding penalty fees. Secondly, they can handle the majority of communications with HMRC for you. And last but not least, their very presence will help – the HMRC are less likely to investigate freelancers or businesses whose finances are overseen by a consultant.

So the message is clear. If you don’t want your tax return to be ‘Always on Your Mind’, or the HMRC to have ‘Suspicious Minds’, then it’s ‘Now or Never’ – be like the King and get an accountant! Just one will do…

Get more information about changing accountants and freelancer accountants