How to Choose an Accountant for Your Business

In running your business, your outside business advisors are the core of your intellectual capital. Choosing the right people for you and your business are important, and picking the right accountant is vital. There are a large number of accounting firms and individual practitioners in the market, and choosing one can be difficult. Here are some hints to help in choosing the right person for your business.

1 Check their qualifications! Select a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). A CPA has an undergraduate college degree that includes a vast amount of accounting courses, passed a grueling 17 hour test, completed 2 years of selected experience under the supervision of another CPA, and attends 40 hours of training per year (known as Continuing Professional Education - CPE). Each state has different rules for CPA's regarding education, experience, and CPE hours. Check your local state board of accountancy website for more information.

2 Interview the person. Meet them for lunch or an interview in their office. Ask if they have experience in your industry, and with your size of company, accounting software, and tax structure. You will likely meet with a high level individual such as a partner or manager and the work will likely be done by a staff level person, so ask to meet the staff level person who will be doing the bulk of the work.

3 - Ask for references and call them. Ask for positive as well as negative references. If an accounting professional hesitates to give you references, you should hesitate to give them your business. Honest people and honest firms tend to be transparent about their business practice and should be more than willing to provide references.

4 - Discover their reputation in the community. Research your local Better Business Bureau, ask friends who are in the business or accounting community, and find out how long they've been in the community. Is it their first year of operations and their "office" is a RV with the motor running? Not a good sign.

5 - Phone a friend. Find out who your friends, neighbors, and family members work with. But unless you trust someone's opinion completely, don't use this as an exclusive basis for selecting an accountant. Someone telling you "My Uncle Louies' got a guy that gets him money back on his taxes every year" shouldn't be enough to place your financial well being into their hands, you still have to do you due diligence.

Keep in mind that your accountant is one of the most important business advisors you will retain. Make sure you have done your due diligence, and the person you select is trustworthy, competent, and someone with whom you can build a lasting, profitable business relation.