Hiring The Right CPA
You’re out there running a successful small business. You’re serving your customers and in return they’re rewarding you with that one thing every business needs to thrive: money.
In fact, you may have started making so much money, and your business is growing so fast that it’s time to hire someone to keep track of your money.
It might be time to hire a Certified Public Accountant.
But where do you find a qualified CPA for your small business—and how do you know you’ve found a good one?
We can point you in the right direction!
Accountants handle all the complicated and critical math behind your business, including bookkeeping, preparing financial documents like tax returns and profit-and-loss statements, and doing financial planning. Accountants are involved in planning, tracking and managing the finances of their clients.
In other words, all accountants are accountants, but not all accountants are CPAs.
And while an accountant can't make business decisions for you—after all, this is your business—an accountant can offer good advice and help you make the right decisions, as well as handle all of these tasks:
Balance financial records and check for inaccuracies
Audit individual accounts on a random or scheduled basis
Check for major financial issues
Ensure projects stay on budget
Publish audited financial statements
Work with executives and CEOs to establish budgets
Oversee Accountants and other financial professionals
Make suggestions regarding budgets and other financial decisions
Assist with external company audits
Those are just a few of the regular tasks CPAs can perform and the services they provide.
Another amazing service is to function as your company's CFO.
The chief financial officer of an organization is responsible for making sure that the finances of the company are properly handled.
Finance directors are responsible for forecasting the organization's financial position based on financial and operational data and reports provided by the finance and accounting teams and advising the CEO and board on strategy. When you engage a virtual CFO, you are getting a highly skilled and qualified CPA that has additional experience in accounting that has focused on providing high-level planning and financial advice for their clients. Virtual VFOs enable the CEO and other key players to find financial opportunities and ways to improve the bottom line.
What level of support do you need for your company?
Most growing companies could benefit greatly with the Virtual CFO model, others may just want to get themselves organized for their taxes.
Ask yourself these key questions:
Will they just handle accounting and payroll?
Do you want seasonal tax support?
Would you prefer to have access to advice and direction on demand based on your needs?
Or will you need to hire a CPA to be your full-time, in-house financial guru?
Once you’ve got that settled, it’s time to search.
There are a number of ways to find a CPA for your small business. If you say, “Hey, Siri, where can I get a CPA?” or type “small-business CPA” into Google, searching online is a great place to start looking for a CPA.
In both cases, you’ll likely be presented with a list of CPAs in your local area.
There are many ways to get this done. Which one is the best? It depends on your own preference and the quality of the service and product.
I like to use Google Search and it is the most popular method or service used. Today over 90% of all search traffic comes from Google. If you search for many terms like local CPA, or CPA near me, the results you will see first after or sometimes even before an ad is called the map pack. A map pack result starts on the main search page, showing the top 3 listed providers in the area closest to your location. Visit their Google My Business listings that power these map pack results, then also visit their website.
It’s important to make sure the person you find is actually a Certified Public Accountant. When searching, you’ll want to make sure the person you find serves clients in your area. Some CPA firms are smaller local firms, and others offer national or even global services.
When you find a CPA that serves your community, then look for one that offers the level of services you need. For Virtual CFO services, we recommend the firm Straight Talk CPAs because they have a dedicated CFO team whose focus and experience is in providing all of those next level services of a CFO. The virtual nature of the position offers your company greatly reduced costs, yet all the benefits of an in house CFO.