It is common, but it isn’t good. If the only contact you have is a return once a year, you’re getting compliance, not advice — the decisions that actually move your business all happen in the other eleven months, when no one is looking at your numbers with you. A once-a-year relationship can’t catch a cash-flow problem or a structure issue until it’s already cost you.
What it depends on
Where judgement stays human: How often you genuinely need to talk is a judgement, not a subscription tier. The point is that the door is open when a real decision lands — not locked until next July.
Annual-only contact is a symptom of a practice built around lodgement deadlines rather than around you. The return is a look in the rear-view mirror; by the time it’s prepared, the year it describes is over and nothing about it can be changed.
The value of an accountant shows up in the moments you’re deciding — hiring, pricing, buying equipment, taking on debt. If your accountant isn’t in those conversations, you’re carrying them alone.
How often you genuinely need to talk is a judgement, not a subscription tier. The point is that the door is open when a real decision lands — not locked until next July.
Local Knowledge · general information current as at 1 September 2026. This is general information only, not personal financial, tax or legal advice.