How to choose the right accountant or CPA for your needs

Running a small business is no picnic but when you add in all those extra things like payroll taxes, quarterly taxes, and of course your personal taxes, it can become really complicated. Hiring a CPA or accountant to help you with all of the finances is a great way to avoid getting in trouble with the IRS and to ensure that you are running a legitimate business.

Choose wisely when you are looking into the CPA or accountant for your business. This person is going to have a huge role within your company and you need to be sure that they are working with you and your expectations and needs along with the legal matters and needs.

To figure out what type of CPA you want to hire, you need to define your need for a CPA. Here are some of the common reasons to hire a CPA or an accountant for your business:

1. To organize your business finances


2. To pay your taxes in full ad on time


3. To avoid tax audits


4. To avoid human error and improper recording of your financial transactions

So how do you find the right CPA or bookkeeper for your company? You need to start with asking your friends and family members for good referrals. Trust is the key to finding the right CPA that will be able to help you. Since picking up the phone book and calling a random number is not always the best way to find a trustworthy person, why not ask around for some referrals. This at least a simple way to know that you are hiring a person that someone close to you can trust and has had a good experience with. Referrals don't always come from friends and family, ask your local bank for a list of CPAs they work with along with your lawyer or your financial planner. Online databases will be able to supply a list of local CPAs to you but you will need to meet with them to evaluate their personality and to see if they are trustworthy and you can get along with them.

What do you need your tax accountant to do? This is another big thing you need to take into consideration. If you only need them to file your taxes, look for a freelancer versus hiring a large company because they not as costly and still come with all the experience you need. All you really need is a tax preparer, not really an accountant or CPA to help you with financial statements and audit protection.

Meet with multiple candidates when you are in the process of trying to find a good CPA. Meeting with multiple people will be able to help you see which ones have the best rates and which ones have more experience with the things that you need to have worked on for your business. This person is going to know all the financial details of your company so you need to make sure you are completely comfortable with them.

When you are looking for a CPA or accountant, always ask for an estimate of their services in writing. Having a written statement is vital as you can take it to other CPAs to see what they can do about the cost and possibly reduce their rates or explain to you why their rates may be higher. Keep all the written estimates so you can evaluate them and see which ones are worthwhile and which ones you want to toss out.

Take your time when you hire a CPA. This person is going to do a lot of work for you and you don't want to regret this decision so give yourself plenty of time to make sure you are making the right decision.