When dealing with your business finances, a CPA common issue is permissions. For example, what permission should you be handing to your accountant?
As a vital part of your financial future, treating your accountant with respect is very important. But when should that respect and that trust run out? For many, it’s when they ask for bank details. Lots of people seem unsure about whether or not they should be giving out their bank details to their CPA.
It is, in truth, a very personal choice. There is no right or wrong answer – it does, though, come down to some very serious questions.
Moving with Caution
For one, you have to be VERY sure you trust and know your accountant. How serious is that friendship you have? Who initiated the friendship?
Always be wary of accountants who want to be best buds. The ones who want to follow your every word and who will laugh at every joke. If someone seems to be trying to earn your friendship, the alarm bells should go off when they start asking for details to your bank accounts.
As scrupulous as the reasons why may sound, proceed with the most extreme of cautions at this point. CPA groups will usually not have the authority to do anything with those details but it’s very easy to get talked into letting them.
Therefore, you should never take anything for granted when dealing with a CPA. If they ask for your bank details, then make sure you fully trust they story they sell of themselves. A rule of thumb would be to never give your bank details to someone you wouldn’t class as a friend and someone who you can trust. If you feel even slightly uneasy about this, say no.
Using Barriers
Instead, a very helpful solution can exist. Many accountants today will make use of great software that allows for them to view your details without having the ability to make any changes or adjustments. This is so useful to making sure that you can have a level of access that you can feel happy with.
Many people can mistakenly allow their barriers to be brought down by good chat from their accountant. If the barriers are there due to trust issues, never take them down. So long as you can fulfill the request on your end, there is no need for your accountant to have bank details.
Business Processing
The main reason to leave one in charge of the business bank account is to leave them in charge of managing payroll, wages and taxes. We would only ever recommend doing that with a CPA who works full-time in your business and is bound to your business as such.
Never allow a freelance or contracted CPA to look at your books. For one they should have no reason to without you being there, and two they have no need to be involved in making changes without your express permission9. Should I Hire A CPA for My Taxes?
One of the most challenging tasks, as the tax year-end arrives, is doing it yourself or with professional help. If you are not sure if you need a CPA to make a big difference to your contribution, then you should consider if you should hire an accountant purely on price alone.
For example, look at your business. How much does it make? How long has it been in business? How complex is your industry?
Various questions regarding your business usually means deciding if you need help with a CPA or not. This also means determining what kind of situation your business is going to be in moving forward in future.
A CPA should be hired for your taxes when you;
- Don’t have the time to do the taxes on your own PROPERLY. If you only have time to rush them, hire someone.
- Lack the understanding to make use of every needed piece of tax information.
- You cannot or do not want to put together all of the evidence and information involving your business performance.
- Are unable to make sense of what you need to put in place for the IRS to satisfy their needs and queries regarding your business performance.
However, you should avoid hiring a CPA when;
- You only have a small amount of taxes to deal with.
- Your business has a lack of expenses and does not need much assistance.
- You have a good grasp on tax issues yourself.
- Cash flow issues have become a concern.
The Cost of Critique
Let’s make one thing clear from the offset, though; hiring a CPA is not cheap. However, what value is money if it means giving you tens of hours, maybe more, of free time?
Is it worth the cost of your accountant if they remove all of that stress, fear and misunderstanding? We would say so. Many people get a pretty staggering amount out of hiring a CPA to do your taxes. It usually saves you the time and the stress of doing it yourself.
If you can afford to do it, then it’s worth at least using an advisor.
Other Benefits
However, an accountant does more than just give you the thumbs up when things are OK. They can provide you with a litany of useful services, like;
- Helping you see cash flow gaps in your business that is likely to be hampering and reducing your performance levels.
- Making you see the various challenges that exists within your industry. If they have industry experience, then they can usually offer you help in making progressive changes to your performance.
- Help you network with industry experts, helping you nail new staff, suppliers and outsources to help you in the future.
As you can see, working with a CPA is more than just getting your time saved. It allows your business to be more adequate when strategizing and will also make a pretty telling, and compelling, case for your business to see continued growth rather than stagnation or, worse, utter failure!
