Thursday 18 February 2016

What Your Ideal Tax Accountant Should Be




It’s that time of the year when you need to take care of your taxes. You will want to hire a tax accountant that can save your money and keep you away from troubles with the IRS, helping out in your business transactions. It’s a common knowledge to submit to the idea that accountants are only good with numbers. But in reality, a good accountant goes beyond your figures and gives the significance of the numbers to you.

So what should your ideal Tax Accountant be? Setting guidelines can actually save you from all the hassles in the aftermath. Let me give you some tips to help you find your ideal accountant.

Finding your ideal accountant is like finding your perfect shoe size. Surely, there are lots of Tax Accountants out there, but you have to take note that they also have areas that they are better than any accounting task. The shoe mufind someone who is familiar and can understand your line of business. You can consider accountants who have experiences that are at par with the line of your business.

It’s given that your accountant should also be a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) because they have more credentials, certifications and trainings in areas like financial planning and bookkeeping. CPAs also have more experience with wide-ranging financial planning issues, but you can also have an EA (Enrolled Agent) as another option. These EAs are equipped with experience handling taxes and have been an IRS agent with wide experience on audits. They are also certified by the federal government and may have more knowledge on internal IRS activities and requirements. But keep in mind that certifications can be a great factor to choosing your ideal Tax Accountant, but you must also consider different qualifications, such as their availability.

Some accounting firms are seasonal businesses that are only open during the tax season. This can be at a disadvantage if you will run a small business. Small businesses tend to need a Tax Accountant that can help them all year round, so might as well ask for their availability and how often can your communication be possible. With that said, these variations can differ together with their billing approach. Some can charge per hour and some follow a flat rate. You can ask for a quote or estimations from an accountant but it’s better to give them a copy of your previous tax returns first to let them have a grasp on the type of business you are involved in before they give their quotation.

Lastly, accountants usually focus on one task. So if you have a lot of entities, you might want to ask if your Tax Accountant can manage multi-tasking on accounts to avoid hassles and delays in the future. Good luck!

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