Accounting Services

Why would you need a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)?

Are you having a hard time keeping track of your finances? Do you want to save valuable time and effort spent on managing and organizing your finances? Do you often encounter inconsistencies and inefficiencies in financial records?  If yes, hire a Certified Public Accountant to save you time and financial headaches. A CPA is a trained financial professional who helps individuals or businesses stay organized and manage their financial records.

What services does a CPA perform?

In addition to keeping track of your finances, an accountant helps you in developing financial statements and tax filings. CPAs are trained to organize tax documents, maximize deductions and complete tax returns. They act as your business advisors and create your budget plans, and prepare cash flow projects. They also give investment advice and help you in securing business finance. Alternatively, you can hire CPAs just to complete your tax filings.

Hiring Considerations

Consider the following before you hire a Certified Public Accountant:

Experience and Reputation: Hire a professional accountant who has some experience working in your industry and enjoys excellent reputation. Get recommendations from past customers and ask them about his or her quality of work, and prices. The number of big business clients an accounting office or a CPA firm has, often indicates good quality of work.  

Relationships with banks: Your accounting firm should have good relationships with banks to help secure finances for your growing business needs.

Relationships with attorneys: If your business gets into financial trouble, your CPA should be able to help you find a good attorney to negotiate with creditors.

Outsourcing of work: When hiring a CPA firm, ask them whether they will outsource your work to other companies. Additionally, reputed CPAs may assign most of their work to junior staff. In both these cases, the work should be checked by professional accountants to ensure it meets a high standard.

You can opt for a non-local CPA if you do not require face-to-face meetings with your accountant on a regular basis. Many firms that operate nationwide accounting services can assign non-local accounting staff to you.

Work Guarantee: Prefer hiring a CPA service that guarantees its work.

Qualifications and Licenses: Make sure that your chartered accountant has passed all required examinations to gain the designation. Professional public accountants must have more training than simply an accounting degree. In case of a CPA firm, inquire about the educational qualifications of the staff and ensure that they have requisite knowledge and training. Additionally, your CPA should be familiar with your industry, its accounting needs and standards.

Interaction: How frequently is your CPA going to meet with you?  If meetings are too far spaced out, ensure that she pays significant attention to your company in the interim. Your CPA firm should also reciprocate your calls and not make excuses for avoiding them. Their office should remain open during regular hours on business days.

Membership with professional organizations: Find out if your CPA is a member of professional organizations whose members are required to follow a professional code of ethics and are regularly reviewed for quality. Such organizations are present in every country. For example in the US, one such organization is American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

Client Audits: Ask your CPA about how often its clients get audited by the IRS. More audits indicate a poor quality of work.

Security: Ask your CPA firm about who will have access to your social security number and other confidential information. Many CPA firms use software that hides personal information from all staff other than the CPAs.

How much does it cost to hire a CPA?

Accounting services can charge by the hour or a fixed monthly fee. Ask prospective CPAs about their fees and charging method. CPAs are generally expensive. Get quotes from multiple accounting firms to get the best deal. Lastly, make sure that before you hire a CPA you receive an engagement letter detailing costs and services. Take your time to analyze all factors and make the right decision for yourself or your business.