As a company grows, so does its accounting and informational needs. When you are deciding on a new accountant or accounting firm to work with, what steps do you take to help make sure you find one who will meet your needs?
For a couple articles, we will discuss what any business should know to establish criteria for interviewing, evaluating, and selecting such an important resource.
While your company may have an in-house bookkeeping or accounting resource, it may still need access to outside accounting services as a supplement to provide more sophisticated accounting and reporting services or to address more complex tax reporting needs.
The 3 Steps in Selecting an Accounting Firm Are:
- Identify the services you want the accounting firm to provide.
- Determine what type of firm is to be hired.
- Interview with the right questions to select an accounting firm.
Today's article will focus on the first step:
Identify the Services You Want the Accounting Firm to Provide
You should make sure that the firm has documented experience in providing the services you select. Although you can do many of the following accounting activities in-house, some of the services that can be outsourced to an accounting firm include:
- Preparation of your individual tax returns (federal, state, and city)
- Preparing or reviewing your financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows) to meet the needs of the business
- Consulting regarding setting up your chart of accounts to meet the measurement needs of your business and industry
- Preparing and filing monthly, quarterly and annual payroll and sales tax reports, including W-2s and 1099s.
- Setting up and maintaining lists of assets, including depreciation and amortization schedules.
- Preparing payroll
- Reconciling bank statements
- Offering suggestions regarding cash preservation, management, and protection
- Drafting and reviewing inventory counting and inventory management procedures
- Tax planning
- Tax representation
- Assistance in selecting and setting up appropriate accounting software for your business.
- QuickBooks Training
- Developing spreadsheet applications for data gathering, computation, and reporting purposes
- Advice concerning cash counting, reconciliation, and protection strategies
- Consulting regarding insurance and risk management
- Financial planning
- Budgeting or profit planning
- Cost accounting
- Data input
- Providing temporary in-house bookkeeping services
- Other financial or accounting services
What services is your accounting firm or CPA providing for you?
Are there some other services you could be utilizing from an accounting firm?
Our next article will discuss how to determine what type of accounting firm you should hire.
This article was an excerpt from A How to Guide: Selecting an Accounting Firm. Access the full guide here:
