Do You Know How to Hire a Great Certified Public Accountant?

By Daljeet Sidhu

It takes enormous amounts of time and effort to get organized and accurately keep track of your finances. To eliminate this pain, hire a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). A CPA is a trained financial professional that helps individuals or businesses organize and keep track of their financial records.

Besides tracking your finances, developing financial statements and filing taxes, CPAs can also act as business advisers. They can create your budget plans, prepare cash flow projects, advice on investments and help secure business financing. Many businesses hire CPAs to only file their taxes. CPAs are trained to complete tax returns. They can help you organize tax documents and maximize deductions.

How to hire a Certified Public Accountant?

Following is a list of things you need to keep in mind while selecting a CPA.

* Is your Certified Public Accountant familiar with your industry and its accounting standards? Ideally, she should have experience working with clients in a business like yours.

* Does she have good relationships with banks? If you are a growing business, your CPA may be able to help you secure funding.

* Does she have relationships with attorneys? Any business can fall on hard times. She may be able to help you find an attorney to negotiate with your creditors.

* How involved is the CPA going to be with your company? If most of the work is handled by junior staff, make sure they are well supervised.

* How much interaction will you have with your CPA? If the meetings are much spaced out, how much attention will she pay to your company in the interim?

* Has she passed the exams to gain the CPA designation? Does she have the license to practice in your state?

* Is she a member of professional organizations that ensure that their members follow a professional code of ethics and are regularly reviewed for quality? Every country has such professional organizations. For example in the US one such organization is American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

* Does your Certified Public Accounting firm guarantee its work?

* Is it important for you to have regular face to face meetings with your CPA? If not then you may also consider a non local firm. There are many firms that operate nationwide accounting services and may assign a non-local consultant to you.

* Have you checked the references and made sure they are happy with the service?

How much does it cost to hire a Certified Public Accountant?

Accounting service can be expensive. Before you hire, compare price quotes from multiple firms and shortlist a few to interview. Ask your business associates and friends for recommendations. You can also find multiple firms on a B2B Marketplace.

Many Certified Public Accountants bill you hourly for rendering their service. If you are uncomfortable with the hourly rate, ask for a fee based service. Before you sign on, ask for an engagement letter that details costs and services and review it carefully so that there are no surprises later.

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About the Author

Daljeet Sidhu is co-founder at TradeSeam, a Business Network, B2B Marketplace and Business Directory. Compare price quotes from multiple Certified Public Accountants. If you are a supplier, join us to receive sales leads

Source: http://www.artipot.com