Taxes are a necessary part of life. You pay taxes on your paycheck, on your home, your car, your pet. It is the same for businesses, everything comes with any applicable tax. Every year, both individuals and businesses must fill out tax returns. If you have never done this before, it may sound like an incredibly easy task. This is not necessarily true. When you are not trained in tax returns, it can be quite difficult to know where to even begin. This is why many choose to hire an accountant. However, knowing how to choose the best accountant for your needs is its own challenge. If you are interested in hiring an accountant for your business or your personal use, you will need some tips and information to get you started. This is exactly what you will find here. After reading this, you will have all of the information you need to successfully hire the best possible tax accountant for your needs.
The first thing you need to do is sit down and make a list of the things that would make an accountant the best for you. Everyone’s list is a little bit different. Because of this, you do not have to be at all concerned as to whether you and choosing the “right” or “best” things to add to your list. All you have to do is add the things that are important to you. Keep in mind, business taxes are more in-depth and complex than personal taxes so this should factor into your list in some way. After you complete your list, you will need to begin compiling a list of accountants in your area. For example, if you are in the East London area, you will want to focus on accountants in East London. The same is true for whatever area you happen to be located within. You can utilize whatever resources you have available to you to compile this list. Locally, there tend to be flyers, billboards, posters, and other similar advertisements to peruse. If this is not satisfactory, the internet is generally your most useful resource.
Once you have your list of local accountants, there are several things that you must look at in order to ensure you are choosing the best one. First, you will compare them to the list you made containing your personal requirements. Next, there are some aspects that are incredibly important. For example, if you are hiring an accountant for a business, you want to be certain that they will be able to represent you in the event of an audit. Ideally, you will not have to deal with an audit, but there is never a guarantee. Not every accountant has the ability to represent you in an audit. In fact, there are three types that do have the ability. This includes CPAs (certified public accountant), an EA (enrolled agent), and an attorney. If your accountant does not have the ability to represent you in the event of an audit, you will be stuck dealing with the IRS alone. This can be quite daunting, especially to anyone who has never had to do so before. Therefore, you will want an accountant that can help you in this area.
The next important factor to consider is communication. You want to find an accountant that has a high and excellent level of communication. It is vital that they let you know when something’s not right when they need to change something or something different. If they are not able to communicate well, these things will become lost. It may seem like communication proficiency would be a part of the job, but this is not always the case. Also, communication goes both ways. Therefore, you need to feel comfortable discussing anything related to your taxes with your accountant. If you fail to tell them something important, it can cause serious problems. Along this same line, the accountant should be personable and your personalities should mesh well. This is all part of being comfortable with your accountant. It is a fact that not everyone will be able to get along and this remains true for those that you hire. If you do not get along well with your accountant, it will greatly affect the level of communication.
The accountant that you choose, needs to be well organized and proficient. If you are hiring an accountant for a business, it is also ideal to find someone that has experience with your industry and business size. Taxes are somewhat different for small businesses versus large corporations. It is best to find someone that is experienced with whichever category your business falls into. This does not mean that you should entirely count out candidates without this particular experience. Rather, it means you should make sure they know what they are dealing with and determine if they can handle it.
Finally, here are some tips to help you find the perfect accountant for you or your business. The first tip is to always ask for references. Along this same line of thinking, it is always best to ask for referrals from friends, family, and/or colleagues. If an accountant is recommended by someone you trust, you are far more likely to trust them. Then, when you compare your referrals to their references, you can really get a good idea of the type of person they are, professionally speaking.
The second trip is to take some time and go through reviews. In this technologically advanced era, you can find reviews on basically anything and that includes accountants. All you have to do is take to your favorite search engine and type in the appropriate name along with the word “reviews”. You can then find reviews on dedicated review websites as well as review based blogs, social media pages, and sometimes directly on the website of the company or individual in question. This will also give you a basic idea of how well you will get along with a given accountant. Reviews provide more information than you can get from any other source, including their resume.