What support does my business need?
Accountant or management accountant?
An accountant usually prepares your yearly accounts and tax returns, and many also give advice and monthly figures. A management accountant focuses on the figures you use to run the business during the year.
The short answer
If you need yearly accounts, tax returns and tax advice, you need an accountant. If you also want regular figures during the year to help you decide things, ask your accountant first: many provide management accounts. A separate management accountant may help if your accountant does not offer this, or if you need more detail than they provide.
The difference at a glance
| Accountant | Management accountant | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Yearly accounts, tax returns and tax advice, and often monthly figures and forecasts too | Figures during the year that show how the business is doing |
| How often | Varies: yearly, quarterly for VAT, or monthly if you pay for regular figures | Monthly or quarterly, as agreed |
| What you get | Annual accounts, Corporation Tax or Self Assessment returns, VAT returns, advice | Monthly profit and cash figures, comparisons with budget or last year, sometimes forecasts |
| Legal requirement | The yearly accounts and returns they prepare are required. Whether you need an accountant to do them is covered in Do I need an accountant? | No. There is no legal requirement to prepare management accounts1 |
The line between the two is not fixed. The ICAEW says its chartered accountants can help with cash flow management, and that "annual accounts are not enough to control a business".2 So "accountant" does not mean someone who only looks back at last year.
Which may fit
An accountant on its own may be enough if your business is simple, you can see how it is doing from your bank account and invoices, and you mainly need your accounts and tax done on time.
Regular management accounts may help if you are deciding whether you can afford new staff or equipment, cash is tight even when you seem to be making a profit, or a lender asks for figures during the year. Ask your current accountant whether they can provide them before looking elsewhere.
A separate management accountant may help if your accountant does not offer monthly figures, or you need more detail than they provide, such as profit by product, branch or job.
When you may need both
Some businesses keep their accountant for yearly accounts and tax, and use a management accountant, employed or outsourced, for figures during the year. That can work if the two share records and agree who does what. If your accountant can do both, one firm may be simpler.
Questions to ask
- Ask your accountant: can you send me management accounts each month or quarter, and what would that cost?
- What would the figures include: profit, cash, a comparison with last year or a budget?
- How soon after the month ends would I get them?
- If I use a separate management accountant, how would you work with them, and who keeps the books?
For what useful management accounts contain, see Management accounts: what good looks like. For when they are worth having, see When do you need management accounts?
Sources
- nibusinessinfo.co.uk (Invest Northern Ireland), "Management accounts". nibusinessinfo.co.uk. Checked 12 October 2026.
- ICAEW, "Managing your business" (Find a Chartered Accountant, help with your business). icaew.com. Checked 12 October 2026.