A CPA is vital for every business. He or she acts as your financial expert when it comes to filing your taxes and maximizing your company’s tax strategy.
CPAs can also save you a lot of time and money, if you find a good one. How do you know if you have a good CPA? First, they shouldn’t really be working in your books. They should just accept your books and file your taxes with the IRS. They should be concerned with accuracy and catch mistakes, but they shouldn’t want to get too involved in the details. Some CPAs demand perfection and end up billing you $10,000 to save $1,000 (don’t be afraid to get a second opinion when it comes to CPAs).
When you’re looking for a CPA, you should look for someone who specializes in working with business owners, and ideally specializes in your industry. Have conversations with them and find someone who is responsive, easy to work with, and communicates clearly. Look for someone who is approachable, ask questions ahead of time, and is upfront about their estimated costs. Also, they should be e-filing and have a website where you can upload files.
The business owner’s responsibility is to provide his or her CPA with clean, properly reviewed books. You want your CPA to focus on filing your taxes, not cleaning up your books. Sentinel Finance Group helps our clients with year-end preparation in order to file taxes, and we work closely with your CPA to answer questions and ensure your books are filed correctly and on time.
Sentinel Finance Group is an outsourced CFO firm in Kansas City and provides fractional CFO services and controller services to local businesses.
