Find The Right Accountant For Your Business

Factors to consider when choosing your accountant

Service
Are you only looking for your accountant to prepare your 1040 (personal tax return in the U.S.)

and to report your side business activity on your Schedule C? Or perhaps you run several businesses that are all distinct entities and require their own returns and operate across state lines? Furthermore, get this, accountants do much more than just prepare tax returns! Audits, reviews and compilations, tax planning, business valuation, payroll, and just plain providing you the information that you need to manage and grow your business are some of the many services accountants can provide.

Experience/credentials
In the United States any schmo can prepare your tax return but only lawyers, Certified Public Accountants, and Enrolled Agents can legally sign your return and represent you before the IRS should the need arise. In other English speaking countries the appropriate designation is a chartered accountant. By signing your return, your accountant is actually taking some limited responsibility for your return; that is, they aren’t taking responsibility for the information that you gave them but they are assuming some responsibility for the proper treatment of that information.

Price
Usually, the more complex your return is, the more likely it is that you will be charged by the hour. This can make it extremely difficult to price-shop accounting services but most will give you a ballpark figure and, if you’re an obnoxious pain in the ass, count on paying much more than that.

Compatibility
Is your accountant familiar with and able to work with your accounting system? Are you the type that expects your accountant to work with you online, possibly giving them access to your Quickbooks accounts, or are you more like that person that sends in the shoebox of receipts and a check register and asks them to work their magic? Does your accountant have the ability to work with the software that you use? If not, can you download everything into Excel? Expectations for technological and systems compatibility need to be addressed before engaging an accountant.

Personality
You don’t have to want to take your accountant on your honeymoon with you, but you ought to at least feel comfortable calling them up and asking them about the tax implications of any major purchases or big business deals you plan on making (before you make them, please!). Accountants have the reputation of being stodgy, conservative, and not the best communicators in the world. However, after years of working in the industry and meeting tons of accountants through work, school, and professional associations I can honestly say that, yeah man, it’s mostly true.

Geography
More and more people are wired in and used to doing business by phone and Internet, so much so that geography is no longer the factor that it once was. However, if you’re a last minute type of girl and you know that you will need to drive to your accountant’s office on the 15th of April to sign some documents then it’s probably best that your accountant isn’t located in, say, Bangalore or Manila.

Source: mywifequitherjob

Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. Charting the course for impactful, sustainable, profitable businesses, the beacon is control: of your strategic direction, your money, your time, your staffing, and your ability to bring in business. The Block Group brings together the people, resources and ideas that build results.

Business Coach in Houston.

Business consulting for women entrepreneurs in Houston, Advice for women entrepreneurs, Business Coach in Houston, Growth strategies for small business, Business continuation for women, Growth for women-owned businesses, Houston business coaching, Financial strategies for small business, Small business consulting in Houston, Business management consultant, Business, Consulting, Women, Entrepreneurs, Houston, Coach, Growth, Strategies, Coaching, Continuation, Owned, Owner, Financial, Consulting, Management,