Growing a business means making decisions constantly. When to hire, when to invest, when to hold back, when to push forward. And behind every confident decision is one thing: clarity.
For many business owners, the relationship with their accountant revolves around deadlines– VAT returns, year-end accounts, tax submissions. Those moments matter, but growth is shaped in the conversations that happen between them.
If you’re building something ambitious in 2026, here are five conversations you should be having with your accountant regularly to create clarity, confidence, and momentum.
1. “What’s Our Cash Position & What’s Coming Next?”
Cash is the foundation of every business. Not just how much is in the bank today, but what’s coming in, what’s going out, and how long your current position gives you to execute your plans.
These conversations should include:
Current cash balance
Expected inflows and outflows
Upcoming liabilities
Short-term runway
Scenario planning if revenue shifts
When you understand your cash position clearly, decisions feel calmer. You know whether you can invest, whether you need to tighten spending, or whether there’s space to accelerate.
2. “Are We On Track, Or Just Busy?”
Revenue alone doesn’t tell the full story. Growth becomes easier to plan for when income is viewed alongside:
Your original plan or forecast
Gross margin trends
Profitability
Cost movements
This conversation creates alignment. It helps you understand whether your activity is translating into progress, and whether your performance reflects your ambitions. When you regularly review revenue against your plan, you can make adjustments earlier, refine your focus, and build momentum through the quarter.
3. “What Should We Be Planning for Now?”
Business moves quickly, and your financial strategy needs to move with it. If you want your finances to support your future goals, you need to be having regular conversations with your accountant on what’s ahead, not just what’s already happened:
Upcoming tax obligations
Hiring plans
Investment opportunities
Funding timelines
Strategic growth phases
When you build forward-looking conversations into your financial rhythm, you create space to prepare rather than react. That preparation makes scaling smoother and decision-making more intentional.
4. “Where Are We Leaving Opportunity on the Table?”
Every growing business has opportunities hidden in its numbers. Sometimes that looks like:
Tax efficiencies
R&D tax credits
Grant eligibility
Margin improvements
Pricing adjustments
Cost optimisation
These conversations create insight into areas that might otherwise remain unexplored. They aren’t about squeezing the business, they’re about ensuring the business structure supports your ambitions.
5. “What Does the Next Level Actually Require?”
Growth changes what a business needs. What worked at £250k turnover may not work at £1m. What worked with a small team may not scale smoothly.
This conversation looks at:
Reporting depth
Forecasting requirements
Finance systems
Board-ready information
Introducing Financial Controller or CFO-level input
Having clarity on what the next stage requires from your financial setup allows you to build it deliberately, rather than rushing to catch up later.
Shifting From Reactivity to Forward Planning
These conversations can happen monthly, quarterly, or at key strategic moments. What matters is that they happen. When you have these structured, meaningful financial conversations:
Decisions feel grounded
Risks feel manageable
Opportunities feel visible
Progress feels intentional
That’s the difference between operating reactively and leading confidently.
If These Conversations Aren’t Happening Regularly
If you aren’t having these conversations with your accountant regularly– and you want proactive insight, forward visibility, and a finance partner that supports your ambitions– there may be an opportunity to bring more structure and clarity into your financial function.
If you’d like to explore what that could look like in your business, book a free discovery call with Complete HQ. Let’s raise the level of conversation in your business.
