Tax & Accounting News

The 6 Best Reasons to Choose a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

by
Lee Reams II
on
11/20/2017
The 6 Best Reasons to Choose a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

One of the biggest surprises that small business owners often discover on their journey of entrepreneurship has to do with just how complicated the financial side of the business can be. People often think "Well, I've been balancing my checkbook for decades – I can probably do this on my own, too. After all, how hard can it possibly be?"

The answer, to put it simply, is much harder than you think.

There's a reason why 82% of all businesses that fail do so because of cash flow issues; there are a lot of smaller issues that need constant attention, any one of which can quickly turn into larger (and more expensive) problems if you're not careful. Likewise, according to the Wasp Barcode Small Business Report on Accounting, 52% of respondents said that they felt like they paid too much in taxes. The thing is, they're probably right – they're probably missing one or more major deductions that they could have taken advantage of if they had a certified public accountant working by their side to help make sure this didn't happen.

But that's not all. In truth, there is a wide range of different reasons why choosing a certified public accountant is a step more than worth exploring.

  1. Tax Laws Change Like the Weather

Speaking of taxes, one of the major issues that most small business owners run into when trying to handle accounting on their own has to do with ever-changing tax laws that seem to shift by the day. Not only will these laws lead to you missing out on deductions that you would have otherwise been qualified for, but they can also land you in hot water with Uncle Sam (and on the receiving end of penalties as a result).

A CPA can help make sure this doesn't happen, guaranteeing that you get the latest benefits AND that you're always playing by the book - regardless of how often that book happens to change.

  1. It's About the Long Game

Any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you that for true success, you need to be focused on two things: both the goals you're trying to meet in the short term and the goals that you need to hit in the long run, too. Everything – from your ability to guarantee that your doors will remain open in five years to the ability to scale at the rate you need – is dictated by your ability to keep both of these proverbial plates spinning at the same time.

A seasoned CPA can help you manage both of these in one fell swoop, making decisions today that will both satisfy the challenges of the present and get you ready to meet the demands of the future, too. To say that this is difficult to do on your own when you also have to worry about running a business is a little bit of an understatement.

  1. Saving Time You Don't Have

Remember the first time you tried to do your taxes on your own? Remember how long that took and how frustrating it was? Trying to handle your business accounting on your own is a lot like that, only it's a process that you repeat day after day, week after week, ad infinitum.

Perhaps the most practical reason why you should choose a certified public accountant comes down to exactly that: You'll be able to free up valuable time each day to focus on efforts that actually move your business forward, rather than on trying to maintain the status quo (which you would never be able to do as well as a professional anyway). 

  1. The Personal and the Professional, Intertwined

Another reason why it's always a good idea to hire a CPA comes down to how your personal and business finances meet. Now, this shouldn't happen that often – you always want to keep these two funds separate. But at the same time, you probably have certain goals that you're working toward – maybe you want to buy a new house with some of your business income, or maybe you're concerned with saving for your child's education.

A CPA can help take care of both of these goals at the same time because they deeply understand the symbiotic relationship at play from the perspective that matters the most: yours.

  1. Accounting Is More Than Just Math

Again, small business accounting is probably a lot more involved than you initially realized. According to the Wasp Barcode Small Business Report on Accounting, most people choose to outsource their financials to a CPA for one or even all of the following reasons:

  1. They need help with proper income tax preparation.
  2. They need to get better control of payroll.
  3. They're going through an audit, or want to proactively perform an audit on their own.
  4. They want to get better at tax planning.
  5. They need constant assistance with bookkeeping.

A certified public accountant is more than just a human calculator – they're someone who can make sure you're on the right track with ALL of these goals, giving you the most stable foundation to work from possible.

  1. Your Business Is Expanding

Even if you think you've got a handle on your finances today... what is going to happen when your organization continues to grow in the future? What if you expand into a different industry, or even open a second (and totally separate) business?

Do you know what to do to make sure that everything is reported correctly? Can you guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt that all of the necessary tax forms are filed correctly? Are you willing to risk the fact that you've made a mistake that will kneecap your new business venture before it has a chance to get off the ground? A CPA can help you handle all of this and more – and they'll be ready to do it again tomorrow, too.

In the End

At the end of the day, it's important to understand that partnering with the right certified public accountant is an investment, the same as anything else. But it's more than just an investment in the financial side of your business, or a move to make your day-to-day life a little easier from an administrative perspective.

It's all of this and more – it's a true investment in your continued and future success in every sense of the term. Partnering with the right CPA to meet your needs can make sure that you have the most accurate and actionable information to work from at all times. It allows you superior visibility into the inner workings of your organization on a foundational level, which in turn brings with it the most important benefits of all: allowing you to make smarter decisions and to guarantee that you can take advantage of opportunities when they arise (instead of allowing them to pass you by). CPAs don't just literally help to improve the odds of success for your organization – they also work hard to help provide better outcomes all day, every day, no exceptions.

As a result, finding the best CPA to meet your needs is a process that you need to go through carefully. You need to make sure that any candidate you're looking at doesn't just have experience, but knows the ins and outs of your specific industry better than everyone else. Every industry has its own unique requirements, quirks and best practices – a trusted CPA will help you understand these and lean into them, rather than shying away from them.

In addition to the types of niche specifications that matter the most to you, you should also take great care to read reviews from real clients before choosing any particular CPA for your business. Read both positive and negative reviews to better identify trends and patterns that a resume alone won't be able to provide you. Take a look into a CPA's background, which will allow you to get a better idea of the types of business they've worked for and the types of outcomes that they've been able to guarantee for people.

And of course, you should also make excellent use of resources like TaxBuzz.com that will allow you to compare and contrast available CPAs in your area until you find the person that is the perfect fit, no exceptions.

Lee Reams II, writes for TaxBuzz, a tax news and advice website. Reach him at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.

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Lee Reams II

Lee Reams II

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I am a tax and business news junkie who has spent the last 20 years developing and executing "best in class" word-of-mouth marketing campaigns for tax and accounting professionals. With TaxBuzz and CountingWorks we have taken that same commitment to quality content directly to the consumer. Keeping you up-to-date with the latest tax law changes, business growth tips and planning strategies to help you reach your best financial outcome.

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