What Can a CPA Offer for Your Business?

For business owners, every dollar counts. Thus, your business might not be around anymore at the end of the year if you do not understand where your business stands every month. Though utilizing DIY accounting tools can help track expenses, the advantages of hiring professional CPAs Atlanta extend more than just solving numbers.  

CPAs can potentially be the financial partner of your company for life. They have a deep understanding of how you can finance your business’s needs. In addition to that, they can also help you understand how you can finance your personal needs. 

However, before you hire a CPA, you’ve got to ensure you know the 4 basic areas of knowledge in a general accounting profession.  

Auditing 

This service is most commonly used by banks as a term of a loan. There are a lot of levels of auditing. It ranges from an actual audit to just preparing financial statements. When it comes to an actual audit, the CPA or the firm offers a guarantee that the financial information of a business is precise. 

Tax Advice 

Typically, a CPA that offers help with tax-related problems can offer 2 different services. These are tax planning and tax compliance. Compliance means obeying tax laws. On the other hand, tax planning means lowering your overall tax burden. 

Record-Keeping and Accounting 

These are probably the most common accounting services that a CPA can offer. Though it makes sense for a lot of business owners to handle their daily records, a CPA can help set up accounting and bookkeeping systems and show you how to utilize them. An excellent system enables you to check productivity and change prices. In addition to that, it also enables you to track costs, monitor a budget, see trends, and lower accounting fees needed to create tax returns and financial statements.  

Business Advisory Services 

It makes sense to ask a CPA to put every single piece together and help you create a personal financial plan and a business plan since they are knowledgeable about your financial statements, your tax situation, and your business environment. Accountants can provide advice on everything. This includes expansion and insurance. When it comes to insurance, they can help you decide if it’s more affordable to lease a second website or if your business really requires business interruption insurance. When it comes to expansion, they can help you understand how extra capacity will affect operating expenses. Just by virtue of their perspective, a CPA can provide a new level of insight. 

Though accountants typically work for big businesses, CPAs work for a range of small and large businesses. You should not always undervalue the significance of a CPA. An accountant can only be called a CPA if he or she has passed a nationally standardize 2-day examination. Almost every state needs CPAs to have at least a college degree. In addition to that, a couple of states need post-graduate work. There are a lot of ways to look for a reliable CPA. The best one is to get a referral from your lawyer.