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Subject Author Date
Help find an accountant chambersdon 12-06-2006
Posted by chambersdon on December 6, 2006, 2:04 am
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 Can anyone give me any tips on finding a good accountant to
help me with my small business?

I need to find someone that can actually help me save a
significant amount of money. I have asked some friends who
also have small business and their accountants do their
bookkeeping and payroll and I do this myself.

I'm not really sure what else an accountant really does for
you and what kind of questions I should ask.

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Paul Thomas, CPA on December 7, 2006, 8:11 am
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> Can anyone give me any tips on finding a good accountant to
> help me with my small business?
>
> I need to find someone that can actually help me save a
> significant amount of money. I have asked some friends who
> also have small business and their accountants do their
> bookkeeping and payroll and I do this myself.

You should talk to them, at least, to see if they will do
consulting and tax work for you. Then you'll have someone
local to discuss things with as your business grows. And
who knows, maybe you'll get busy enough to hire them to do
your bookkeeping and payroll.

> I'm not really sure what else an accountant really does for
> you and what kind of questions I should ask.

There are many things that you need to consider in selecting
someone to trust your tax and financial data to. Here's a
bit of information from my state society's website.

http://www.gscpa.org/Content/Consumers/CPAReferral.aspx

Hope that helps.

--
Paul Thomas, CPA
paulthomascpapc@bellsouth.net

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Josh100 on December 7, 2006, 8:11 am
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chambersdon@hotmail.com wrote:

> Can anyone give me any tips on finding a good accountant to
> help me with my small business?
>
> I need to find someone that can actually help me save a
> significant amount of money. I have asked some friends who
> also have small business and their accountants do their
> bookkeeping and payroll and I do this myself.
>
> I'm not really sure what else an accountant really does for
> you and what kind of questions I should ask.

I think the best advice is to talk with your friends and see
who really likes their accountant. Then see if that
accountant can take on more work.

Otherwise I would recommend doing your accouning books
yourself, and then paying a CPA at year end to do your
taxes. Depending on the size of your business and the type
of business platform you're using (S Corp, LLC, etc.) it
might not be too expensive to hve your taxes done.

Josh100

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Victor Roberts on December 8, 2006, 2:07 am
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Josh100"

> chambersdon@hotmail.com wrote:

>> Can anyone give me any tips on finding a good accountant to
>> help me with my small business?
>>
>> I need to find someone that can actually help me save a
>> significant amount of money. I have asked some friends who
>> also have small business and their accountants do their
>> bookkeeping and payroll and I do this myself.
>>
>> I'm not really sure what else an accountant really does for
>> you and what kind of questions I should ask.

> I think the best advice is to talk with your friends and see
> who really likes their accountant. Then see if that
> accountant can take on more work.
>
> Otherwise I would recommend doing your accouning books
> yourself, and then paying a CPA at year end to do your
> taxes. Depending on the size of your business and the type
> of business platform you're using (S Corp, LLC, etc.) it
> might not be too expensive to hve your taxes done.

As a single-employee business owner I would recommend that
the OP keep his or her own books ONLY AFTER spending enough
time with an accountant to understand their tax obligations.
The issue is not just keeping the books, but paying and
withholding the proper taxes and filing the proper forms.

--
Vic Roberts
Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Harlan Lunsford on December 7, 2006, 8:11 am
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chambersdon@hotmail.com wrote:

> Can anyone give me any tips on finding a good accountant to
> help me with my small business?
>
> I need to find someone that can actually help me save a
> significant amount of money. I have asked some friends who
> also have small business and their accountants do their
> bookkeeping and payroll and I do this myself.
>
> I'm not really sure what else an accountant really does for
> you and what kind of questions I should ask.

Sounds to me you don't need a monthly accountant, but one
who can review what you're doing at least quarterly and
ensure that your individual federal and state estimated tax
payments are in line.

May I then suggest visiting www.naea.org and looking for an
Enrolled Agent (EA) in your area? Most, not all, are
involved with small business accounting and can guide you in
the right direction. Ask about the possibility of forming
either an LLC or a corporation in your state.

Good luck.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

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