As a business owner, it is important that you hire the most qualified person to oversee your finances. This will help you cut costs, file taxes on time and keep your business as profitable as possible. What steps should you take to find the best CPA for your business?
Find Someone With Years of Experience
While you may be able to find an accounting student or someone who is just out of school who can help you for a low price, you ideally want someone with experience. This person should be able to analyze cash flow from merchant accounts and other revenue streams. This person should also be able to describe the benefits and potential profit from using one credit card processing company versus another such company.
Your CPA Should Understand Your Business Structure
Your CPA should be able to give advice tailored to the type of company that you are running. For example, making a recommendation that your deduct health insurance premiums from your business income may be applicable if you are a sole proprietor. Therefore, that advice would be useless, and you are wasting your money for advice that won’t help your company in any way.
Don’t Be Afraid to Pay Good Money for Your CPA
Although you don’t want to pay more than you can afford, do not be afraid to pay whatever it takes to get a qualified CPA for your company. The money saving ideas that your CPA will provide will more than pay for your accountant. This is especially true if your company has credit card processing capabilities or has multiple merchant accounts. This is because the IRS is cracking down on companies that appear to be avoiding taxes by reporting lower than normal numbers as it relates to cash intake. If the reason for this is merely because your company does most of its business online, your CPA can handle the government before your IRS problems get out of hand.
Finding the right CPA for your company will help it save money and become more profitable. Regardless of how much you need to spend, the goal is to find someone with experience and a good understanding of your business structure.