This is especially important to make certain that your family or other beneficiaries receive the fruits of your labor without any unnecessary hassles. Your accountant’s support with estate planning ensures that the business you’ve nurtured continues to grow and support the ones you love into the future. Your accountant can make sure that all the how an accountant can help a business succeed tax implications are addressed, and that the necessary documentation is properly filed. This includes understanding estate taxes, valuation of the business, and regulatory requirements. If your business succession planning involves the addition of new owners or a change in ownership, your accountant can also manage the taxes and paperwork.
Many online tax preparers now offer live assistance, so if you do have a question while you’re filing, you can get help in real time. There’s no golden rule about when (or if it’s necessary) to graduate from a do-it-yourself approach to working with an accountant. Some people may never need anything more than quality tax-prep software or another type of tax preparer to complete their annual returns. This could be especially https://www.bookstime.com/articles/how-to-find-good-accounting-firms-for-startups true if your tax situation is pretty simple or you feel reasonably confident about your taxes. If you recoil at the thought of preparing your own tax return and wonder how you can find a good certified public accountant (CPA) or tax professional, you’re not alone. According to the IRS, about 58% of the more than 138 million tax returns e-filed through November 22, 2019 (for the 2018 tax year), were prepared by a pro.
Improving Profits
It’s smart to have expert advice from an accountant throughout the life of your small business, whether you’re just in the planning stages or you already have team members. But advice from a professional can only be helpful if you’re willing to take it. Today’s accountants are way more than number crunchers—think of them as financial weather people.
Kelly Main is staff writer at Forbes Advisor, specializing in testing and reviewing marketing software with a focus on CRM solutions, payment processing solutions, and web design software. Before joining the team, she was a content producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist covering small business marketing content. She is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and holds an MSc in international marketing from Edinburgh Napier University. Magazine and the founder of ProsperBull, a financial literacy program taught in U.S. high schools.
Frequently Asked Questions
These reports act as a health check for your business, reflecting its financial condition. Anybody who works with the public probably has a negative online review from a disgruntled client. But if your research uncovers red flags such as a pattern of client complaints, unprofessional social media posts, or an arrest record, move on to your next candidate. These free programs are sponsored by the IRS and staffed by volunteers who are trained to provide basic tax-prep services to the public.
- Your CPA will ask you pertinent questions about your tax situation and then complete your return.
- A search for “small business accountant” will net thousands of results, and attempting to wade through them all would be a challenge.
- Another option is utilizing the American Institute of CPAs’ directory or the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, which allows users to search by state and region.
- It involves deciding how your business assets will be distributed and managed when you retire or if you’re no longer around.
- A specialty accounting firm located on the internet, but physically based in NY.
- Thankfully, accountants are skilled in solving these puzzles.