Choosing The Right Accountant: How To Avoid The Landmines by Chris Anderson, PhD

Today, a highly qualified accountant is absolutely critical to your business. However, you have don't already have an accountant that you trust, the is incredible array of accountants and firms to choose from -- now the real question for you and your business is who do you trust?
Just to add in a little more confusion, there is a large number of other accounting related companies that would like to get your business as well: companies such as American Express, which are trying to grow their business base by increasing services that it provides to small businesses.
Like many different industries, the accounting business is changing rapidly. Things like tax returns have become highly commoditized with major distinguishing features simply being price..... for many CPA's, that is a tough position to be in.
With all this confusion and noise in the market place, then how do you select the right accountant? Our recommendation is start with the following set of guidelines:
* What is their reputation?: Talk to friends and business associates that have utilized their services.... believe me, they will have an opinion regardless if good or bad. One of the questions to really ping them on is does their accountant work with throughout the year in tax planning or is this just an end of the year relationship?
Another interesting question to ask is if your friends and business associates needed a different accountant, whom would they choose? Believe it or not, a firm's reputation with non-clients can be critically important as well. Generally, people in an area know who has a good reputation but they may, or may not, have been able to switch to use their services.
* Qualifications: Believe it or not, there are some unscrupulous operators out there who did not obtain the right credentials and are not even licensed. Simply do your homework with your state to make sure the CPA that you are considering does not fall in this category.
* Size: One thing to ask yourself is if the 1 v 1 relationship of a small firm is important to you? The good side of this is that the principal of the firm will know your situation inside and out. The bad side of this is that a small firm may not have some of the specialized services you may require now, or in the future. Really, this is a personal choice.
* Specialization: Small firms may not have all of the accounting specialities covered. Today, accounting is a wide profession with a ton of subspecialties. For example, there are some firms that specialize in handling the accounts of businesses involved solely in real estate investing. Some of the tactics employed by these niche firms can be very foreign to a general purpose firm with a small staff.
So, depending upon your exact needs for your business and personal taxes, there is a wide latitude of options available to you. However, no matter who you decide to use, make absolute certain that you ask for referrals and other people that think highly of their services.