What to Look for in an Accountant

There are a lot of accountants out there. Many of them have different credentials and backgrounds in education and experience. Navigating the sea of choices can make it difficult to come to a final decision of who you want to build a relationship with to assist with your accounting needs. Luckily, as a CPA, I have gotten to know many accountants and the advantages and disadvantages of working with some over others. Let’s take a dive in to see what you might be looking for or trying to stay clear of. The first step is determining what you need. 

 

What Type of Accounting Service are you Looking for? 

Accounting is a broad term. Each area is complex enough to allow for various focuses. You can have a “jack of all trades” who is good at each, but you may be looking for an expert in one particular area. So, let’s briefly discuss the various fields within the umbrella term of accountant. 

 Tax: A tax accountant focuses on federal and state tax law. They typically file individual,    business, nonprofit, estate, and trust returns. Most will be either CPAs or Enrolled Agents. Often times accounting is involved when filing business returns to ensure the books are presented accurately before using them for filing purposes. 

 Bookkeeping: A bookkeeper focuses on making entries in your general ledger to ensure your books are accurate based on activity as it happens. A good bookkeeper can mean less work for your tax accountant come time for tax filing. 

 Compilation/Review: Accountants who deal with compilations or reviews will review your books and verify some level of comfort in their accuracy. They can issue financial statements that conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States. Only CPAs can issue review reports. 

 Audit: Accountants who perform audits are going through your books in a very thorough manner. They are making adjustments to correct errors they find, and issue a report outlining how complete the books are. These can include recommendations to management. This can be helpful for financing needs with a bank or investors. Only CPAs can issue audit reports. 

 Forensic: Forensic accountants review books to determine where fraud may have occurred. It’s like CSI for your company activity. 

If you know what service you are looking for, you can tailor your search for firms that provide the particular service listed above that you need. Usually, firms are better at some of these focuses over others. 

 

What Level of Personal Service are you Looking for? 

Most smaller firms will be good at one or two of the above items, but not more. Larger firms will be able to accommodate all of your needs because they can have specialists for each department. This may make you think a larger firm is best for you (which it may be). The down side to their ability to assist in all accounting areas, however, is what we in the field refer to as a “bullpen.” Larger firms structure the company with partners, managers, and staff as a hierarchy.

You will most likely meet with the partner, but the work will be pushed down to a staff accountant who is overseen by a manager. When the work is completed, it makes its way to the partner to present to you. So, with staff turnover and a chain of workflow, a personal touch and familiarity with your account can be lost, which may or may not be important to you. If you don’t need more than two accounting services listed above, you may be better off with a smaller firm depending on how you weigh personal touch in your decision making. If your accounting needs are vast, you may prefer a firm with the extra manpower.   

 

Will Your Accountant be Retiring Before You? 

If you decide that building a relationship with one accountant who knows your needs is important to you, then the next thing to consider is how long you expect to need the accountant and how long they expect to be in practice. If you get to know an accountant and can trust them, it would be really unfortunate to have them retire when you will still need their support and guidance. This is not to say you should avoid older accountants.

Older accountants have years of experience that you can lean on to ensure they are doing a great job. If they are an older accountant, however, what is their plan for the business when they do retire? Do they have a younger partner that will be taking over who you will already know and who will be familiar with your accounting needs? Or will they sell the company to someone who you don’t know but will at least be able to help you? Or will they disappear into the night? Knowing the likelihood of each possibility and what you would be comfortable with is an important consideration. 

 

Price vs. Value 

 How much you can afford is a big consideration. If paying a little more is not an option, then you need to stick within your price range. My experience, though, is that the accountants who charge a little more than others often provide more value. It’s cliche, but I truly believe in the old adage “Price is what you pay. Value is what you receive.” In accounting, a good accountant can save you time, stress, and ultimately money. In bookkeeping, a great bookkeeper’s ability to keep your books accurate means a lower charge from your tax accountant when it comes time to do your taxes.

From a tax accountant’s perspective, a great CPA will do a lot more than simple data entry from the source documents you provide like some of the cheaper national firms. They will review them for accuracy (tax documents are inaccurate far more often than you would hope) to help ensure they received the correct information, ask questions to help ensure you are receiving the benefit of all tax deductions that could apply to you, and assist with tax planning to make sure you are positioned to lower your tax obligation in years to come. Often times these accountants cost more because they spend more time, but more value is ultimately received. 

 

If you’re curious how we at Campbell Financial Services stack up, give us a call. As a small firm, we don’t provide all accounting services. Instead, we prefer to specialize in tax accounting, reviews, and compilations.We would be happy to refer you to great firms for bookkeeping and audits if that is what you are looking for. As a family firm, we have two generations that are here for the long haul. Many of our clients have been with us for over twenty five years, and we are now working with their children.

We believe this stems from our efforts in building relationships with our clients to understand their needs. This enables us to provide value by knowing what questions to ask to help ensure a complete and accurate return is filed and their books are presented appropriately. All preparers are CPAs and there is no bullpen. The person who you meet with is who will be completing your return. As a licensed financial advisor firm, we can also assist with your investments. It is our pleasure to offer integrated tax and financial services from our family to yours. If you are interested in learning more, we would be happy to speak with you.