NA CPA selection

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
21,872
Location
west Texas
Display Name
Dave Taylor
Home Airfield
KMRF
I am interviewing new CPAs to ensure compatibility.
What things should I check on?
I will also be asking what they expect of me.
This is for my very small business & personal taxes. I do all the bookkeeping and the CPA does the return. (They plug totals which I provide, into the return). No payroll, no really unusual tasks.

here is my (quickly thought out) list:

-capable of doing it all electronically (email and e-returns) is important to me
-able to produce a return within 2 weeks assuming I provide everything needed on Feb 1 (I think that is the last day I am to receive supporting docs like 1099s etc) I really need to know where I stand early in the year as it helps me plan my expenditures so I typically have it ready by then.
-able to respond to questions and changes to return within 2 business days (the last guy took weeks to respond to the simplest question or change,and put us into an extension)
-being available in the event of an audit.
-charge market rates for the work requested, the location.
-not being a member of the communist party.

I am sure the CPAs requirements for me are things like:
-straight up with all info.
-pay promptly.
-not constantly changing the info I provide or addiing new tasks.
 
I try to find one with one foot already in the jailhouse door. Honest CPAs are useless. :rolleyes:

Rich
 
Interviews are necessary but not the main event. The most important screening is done by networking with friends and acquaintances to get recommendations. Hopefully you have done that.
 
I don't know the what's or whys but if I wanted to secure bonding my CPA can't do the necessary financial audit. If bonding is an issue you might want to ask your CPA candidates about that.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I am interviewing new CPAs to ensure compatibility.
What things should I check on?
I will also be asking what they expect of me.
This is for my very small business & personal taxes. I do all the bookkeeping and the CPA does the return. (They plug totals which I provide, into the return). No payroll, no really unusual tasks.

here is my (quickly thought out) list:

-capable of doing it all electronically (email and e-returns) is important to me
-able to produce a return within 2 weeks assuming I provide everything needed on Feb 1 (I think that is the last day I am to receive supporting docs like 1099s etc) I really need to know where I stand early in the year as it helps me plan my expenditures so I typically have it ready by then.
-able to respond to questions and changes to return within 2 business days (the last guy took weeks to respond to the simplest question or change,and put us into an extension)
-being available in the event of an audit.
-charge market rates for the work requested, the location.
-not being a member of the communist party.

I am sure the CPAs requirements for me are things like:
-straight up with all info.
-pay promptly.
-not constantly changing the info I provide or addiing new tasks.
Click to expand...

I have had the same guy / firm for 25 years.. Been happy but they being in Fla and me in Wyoming gets kinda dicey..

My situation is the exact same as yours with the exception of my experimental / prototype R&D aircraft thrown into the mix.. My CPA has a good grasp on allowable deductions for that venture so it puts him ahead of most other CPA's.

My dilemma is healthcare and navigating the Obamacare fiasco... Fla has different threshholds and up until 1 week ago Wyoming had 2 health care insurance providers.. Now WinHealth has pulled out of the market because the ACA supposably promised to pay them in direct deposits of 5 mil and on Oct offered to pay them only 670,000...:mad::mad: I switched from them last year to my old provider ( Blue Cross of Wyoming)...

Long story short... I need Wyoming experience with great service I get from my current guy and finding one out here is slim to none.... And slim left town..:(:(

Ps.. Anyone want to share CPA fees for various services so I can get a grasp on reality as I only have my current CPA's fee structure to base rates on...
 
Stewartb said:
I ... financial audit. ...
Click to expand...
Not all CPAs do audits. My understanding that for many it is a preference; they don't want the liability that results.

I have a CPA friend who was a partner in the accounting firm that audited Tammy and Jimmy Baker. When they went under the firm got sued, lost, went bankrupt, and all the partners became individually liable for the $100m+ judgment. My friend, who had left the firm a few years before the judgment, got a bill for $20K which he had to pay. Rationale was that he was a partner, financially profiting from the auditing relationship, during the time the faulty audits were taking place.
 
Not that it's worth much but I found my CPA by calling the very few number of personal friends I knew had successful businesses that had operated for more than two decades and asked for a reference.

One said he'd just fired his. Okay, trash that one. The other was the CPA I ended up using and he's been great.
 
This is an interesting thread for me. Starting from bottom up, it helps if your are transparent with your CPA; it's easier to fix things before they occur or before year end.

Most of my clients email me information or put in a portal. I have clients all over North America and in Europe and Asia. Had clients in Australia as well.

45% of my practice are financial audits. However, I am picky with who I select as a client.

From what I have read, statistically, more liability issues come from tax prep; but the big case settlements are from blown audits.

Your requirements are no big deal, provided that you have an open line of communication so both the CPA and you are aware of expectations. Last, I have withheld doing work for those who owe me past fees until they are paid in full. I had a situation last week where a client owed money and had a track record of bouncing checks. I refused to start his 1040 until I received a cashiers check for the past due and the amount of his quoted return.
 
Last edited:
My CPA does all that and more, alas she is in Northern Virginia. One year I scanned everything and didn't even go to her office. That's more pain than I usually like. I just drop the folder of K-1's etc... off on her doorstep most years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top