If you have decided that you are going to employ the services of a financial planner to help your business then your wise decision has already put you one step ahead of most of your competition. Financial planning is vital for all businesses whether they are large or small, but how exactly do you choose which financial planner to use, and what should you be looking for when choosing one.

The first and easiest way to find a tried and tested financial planner is to ask your business contacts for referrals. Within your local business organisations or networking groups, there are bound to be other business owners who have used financial planning services in the past. Enquire in what circumstances they decided to use a financial planner, and most importantly ask how much of a positive impact they had on their business.

The second place to look is professional bodies that competent financial planners might belong to. The Association of Financial Planners is one such body, as is the Financial Planning Association. Any financial planner who is a member of these organisations or other professional bodies is not likely to do so, nor remain a member for long, unless they have a large portfolio of satisfied clients.

You can also use the internet to carry out searches for local financial planners on sites like Yellow Pages. Local trade and business websites, newspapers and magazines will have many financial planners advertising their services. Regardless of where your research takes you and the method by which you discover any financial planner, always check out their references thoroughly before considering employing their services.

As part of that there are several questions you should ask any prospective financial planner. Firstly, ask what process they normally utilise to create a financial plan for a business. Consider whether this process sounds logical and realistic to you, even if at this point you don’t yet know the details of financial plan they might create for you.

Another important point to establish from the outset is the financial planner’s fees and on what basis they are charged. This may include a flat fee, a commission based on results or both so ensure both of you are agreed on this before work commences.

Other considerations could include the financial planner’s ability to bring in the expertise of other professionals. For example, they might refer to a tax specialist when it comes to planning out the corporate tax affairs of your business. This is a positive provided you can assess the references of any experts they use.

Finally, you should always ask for a satisfaction guarantee, and any reputable financial planner should have no problem in providing you with one. The whole point of their work is that the financial benefits derived from their work should exceed the fees they are charging, so this should form the core of their guarantee to you.