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How To Choose Good Tax Adviser and Accountant
There is a major difference between a tax preparer and a tax advisor. Tax preparers, although many may advertise that they can save you money with your taxes or get you a better return, their actual job is really focused on the actual paperwork of filing out your taxes. A tax advisor is actually what you should look for if you are hoping to save money on your income tax.
Here are some tips you can use to choose a good Tax Advisor:
· Make sure that the advisor focuses specifically on tax advice, and is not just a general financial advisor. Many financial advisors, although they may be able to give some good advice, offer so many services that they can not keep up on all the new laws and information available about all of them. If you are looking to have your tax situation seriously considered than find someone who works only in the tax advice field.
· Find out a potential advisor’s credentials. There are Accredited Tax Advisors, and Enrolled Agents who are licensed by the government to represent taxpayers. These type of credentials as well as lawyers and financial advisors that focus specifically on taxes are most likely to be able to save you the most money.
· Shop around for fees and prices. Pick someone who has a competitive fee. However depending on your situation you may not need someone who is expensive, especially if you are looking for help with your individual taxes. If you are looking for help with a complicated business you may want to spend a little more because what they will be able to save you will be worth it.
· Choose a tax advisor that matches your needs and personality. If you run a very conservative business and would rather stay out of the target range as being likely to be audited, you will want to steer clear of aggressive tax advisors, but if you are okay with the possibility of being audited and saving more money go ahead and work with an aggressive advisor. You will want to be careful though and make sure that you trust the advisors understanding and knowledge because if you are audited and a mistake was made, it can cost a lot of money.
· Make sure the advisor is available year-round.
· Stay away from advisors that you feel may try to sell you financial products. They may have a conflict of interest and not really save you all they could have because they were pushing the sale of a product.
· Beware of advisors that promise a guaranteed amount of money that you will save before they know anything about your financial situation or taxes. Look for someone who seems to have a firm grasp of their job rather than someone who is offering a sales pitch.
· Get multiple opinions from a few advisors you feel are professional, especially if a lot of money is involved this will insure that you are well-informed and can choose the plan that offers the best savings.
A tax accountant has been trained as an accountant and is able to inspect, prepare, and maintain financial records for a business or individual. However a tax accountants main focus is on preparing and maintaining tax information.
Tax accountants also advise businesses about the tax advantages and disadvantages of certain business decisions. Accountants must have skills in math and using the computer because computers are often used to make graphs, reports and summaries. Nearly all companies require that a tax accountant have at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and many even require a master’s degree level of education.
Almost all businesses and many individuals would greatly benefit from having a regular tax accountant. So how do you choose the right tax accountant for you or your business? Here are a few questions that may help you make the decision:
· Is one-on-one contact important to me or my business? In this case look for a smaller firm. Or is a team of professionals better suited for my needs? If this is the case look for a larger firm.
· Will I need advice in many different expertise areas? Or will I simply need someone to advise me in tax matters? If you are going to need help in a wide variety of areas consider a team of accountants, or you make sure the firm you are considering has network ties to other firms that could handle things they can’t.
· How complex are my needs? Do I need someone just to handle tax returns and year-end financial summaries or do I need a financial plan, retirement plan, employee benefit plan or other tax related plans? Discuss your needs with potential firms do research and find out what they have done for other businesses.
· Does the firm or individual have a good reputation? Ask for references, talk to friends and business associates, taxes and finances are a major aspect of your business or individual needs and you want to make sure you get someone who can handle your situation.
· Is the individual or firm qualified? Make sure they have liability insurance and a supervisory body you can file complaints with. Make sure they are CPA’s or Certified Public Accountants, which means they have vowed to adhere to certain standards. Find out if they are members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or the New York State Society of CPA’s. If they are it means that they have had continuing education in their field and must undergo peer reviews.
· Do they bring a proactive approach to your financial situation? Do they understand your goals and provide ways to reach them?
· What do they charge? Make sure that their fees are competitive, shop around. If the price is much higher or much lower than other firms it may point to a problem.
· Make sure the firm or office is open year round and that you can get help whenever it is needed. There are some tax accountant firms that close for part of the year.
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