You Can Afford Employees But Not an Accountant?

At a presentation I gave to new and prospective business owners a few years ago, someone said the following to me (and I’m paraphrasing):

“I hired employees and I don’t really know what I’m doing with payroll. But I can’t afford to hire someone like you to help me figure it out.”

Really?

You can afford to pay employees hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars a month, but paying an accountant to help get payroll set up properly will bankrupt you?

Really?

Here’s a perfect example of someone lacking entrepreneurial maturity.

Something else it shows is the disconnect between what accountants do and what clients perceive as being valuable. Obviously the things we do are not seen as having value. I am seeing this as being a growing problem and will be writing about it more in the weeks to come.