Five Things To Look For In An Accountant
Finding an accountant can be quite challenging because many people work on and understand accounts, but their expertise would vary depending on the clients and industries they were working with. While accountancy is a common task that everyone has to handle in some capacity or the other, professionals would be in a better position to assist and provide more feedback. Some rules and clauses could benefit some people getting through the process, and working with professionals would solve that immediately.
We went through the process and created a list of pointers to assist someone when getting through their accounting needs. We want people to get through the process and have enough information to get the best accountant to assist with their requirements. We also wanted to put down the various pointers that make the process easier for them to process.
1. Availability
How busy is the professional in terms of their total workload? Will they be able to handle your work with a decent turnaround time? Are they going to have to extend your tax return even if you provide all the information? The tax season is an interesting time for everyone because there is a lot to do in very little time. Everyone has deadlines, and most accountants are busy making sure none of their clients have to pay late fees. Clients with their books in order make the process easier while others start working from scratch, which can be challenging, especially with the workload during tax season.
2. Responsiveness
Are they making you a priority? Do you get return calls or emails in a reasonable amount of time? Some accountants are overwhelmed with the number of clients and cannot keep up with all their requirements. You have to find an accountant who would be able to assist with your needs and would be able to get everything done within a timeline, so no one has to face too many hiccups getting through the process.
3. Experience
How long have they been practicing? In what technical areas? Have they worked directly with the IRS? Have they specifically worked in any specialized area that you will need? You have to make sure that they have experience in the area that you are working. You should talk to the clients they worked with and understand the processes they followed. You should also check if they were happy and received the results that they were looking for. Finally, you should make sure they were doing this for some time and did not just start. They should know about the industry, and working with someone just starting can be quite a challenge because you want them to know about the process and not something they figure out along the way.
4. Competency
This may seem similar to experience, but it isn’t. Experience may be making a mistake. Competency is learning from it. Are they able to take the knowledge gained over the years of experience and apply it to your situation? The rules are changing regularly and you want someone who is keeping up with them because some of the changes benefit the work that you are doing. The new tax rules or system that allow for certain companies to benefit from tax breaks could be something that would benefit you, but only if the team you are working with knows about the implementation of the same.
5. Service price
What do they include? - Is your fee hourly or a lump sum? Will you be billed separately for every phone call? Often, the “lowest” bid is not the least expensive. Some bids include everything, while others leave a lot as “out of scope” to be billed separately for each instance. One of the conversations usually skipped, are the ones about costing and pricing. You want to make sure that they know what they are getting into. There are some group services you do not want to be charged for so you should have a conversation with them and ask them if they are making any concessions that would assist in the long run.
If you are looking for a team of efficient accountants, get in touch with Bible Harris Smith, P.C. We are certified public accountants and business advisors and have been in this industry for some since 1949. After understanding the requirements of our clients, we create plans that would assist them with getting through the process. We are always learning more about taxation, and the added knowledge gives our clients an edge over others. If you want to better understand the services we provide, please click here. If you are looking to get in touch with us or think that we can assist in any way, please click here.