If you are a business owner or an entrepreneur on the lookout for a good New York City accountant, it is a sign that your business is growing. It is also a good move financially. According to a survey conducted with at least 300 business owners, NYC CPA were ranked as the top professional used by a lot of businesses.
From improved cash flow to potential tax savings, a CPA or a certified public accountant is worth your investment; if you find the right accountant. Before you hire an NYC CPA, you need to ask these simple questions.
Table of Contents
Are you a Certified Public Accountant?
The answer should be a resounding, yes. It is the most crucial question you need to ask every potential applicant. You need a New York City accountant that is also a certified public accountant. Anybody can crunch numbers in a calculator or plug data into TurboTax, but that is not what real tax services or accountant are about.
The real task begins before your taxes are due. It is all about making the smart decision, suggested by the accountants that can help your business go to the next level. When it comes to handling the financial aspects of your business, there are four basic kinds of professionals that you can hire. They are listed in order from the least to the most effective.
To know more about CPAs, you can check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Public_Accountant for more information.
Like most of all business owners, you immediately see dollar signs when it comes to hiring an NYC accountant. That is why most of these businesses opt to manage their finances and taxes by themselves. The Do-It-Yourself approach is a very tempting one, but it is also a very risky move. There are things like the latest changes in the tax code, that only people like registered accountants know.
Not only that, time is gold and very precious. You need to perform simple math and compute your hourly rate doing these kinds of services. But CPA’s can do the job half the time, and your time would be better be spent expanding and managing your business. Do not think about the money you will spend on these services. You will get it back in no time.
Bookkeeper
A bookkeeper, as the name suggests, will keep your books. You give them all your receipts, invoices, bank statements and all the essential paperwork with regards to your finances. Bookkeepers record all of these transactions using software like QuickBooks. These people can track all your receivables and accounts payables, handle your 1099 forms, as well as process your payroll.
Accountant
A New York City accountant will go beyond the bookkeeping tasks. They will prepare reports that are needed for taxes, as well as analyze all your finances.
Certified Public Accountant or CPA
If you want your money’s worth, you need to hire an NYC CPA. You know why? Accountants that is also a licensed CPA have gone through a lot of training, and they are licensed by the New York State to provide accounting services. Only a CPA or tax lawyers can officially represent people when they are dealing with the Internal Revenue Service.
To find out the best time to hire a tax lawyer, click here.
If you hire an accountant who is not a registered CPA, they are considered by the IRS as an unenrolled document preparer. A lot of certified public accountant has a bookkeeper on payroll, so it is a one-stop-shop kind of services. There is no need to get the services of a bookkeeper.
Do you work with startups or small businesses?
The answer should be a resounding yes, and we love to do it. The best scenario would be the NYC accountants that you hire will be a certified public accountant, and they have experience as a small business or entrepreneur. After all, these CPAs are also business owners.
As a solo entrepreneur, small businesses or startup, the financial and tax decisions that you make can have a significant impact on the future success of your business. An experienced accountant can help you with those decisions.
Ask them the percentage of their existing client base that is consists of startup and small businesses. The best rate should be at least 50%. You should not feel the second-best to big and established businesses. Any accountants that will make you feel that way need to be removed on your list as soon as possible.