Certified public accountants (CPAs) provide a wide range of financial services to modest businesses. These services include grooming of financial statements and taxation returns, providing advice on various aspects of business (operations, management, etc.), and assisting in the development and installation of effective bookkeeping systems.

Unlike large corporate enterprises, small business organisation owners may not demand continuous bookkeeping services. Still, small business owners need to ensure that their enterprise operates in accordance with the complexities of modern finance, and that they have an informed understanding of the business organisation's financial health in order to ensure that they can brand sound concern decisions. Many entrepreneurs and business owners turn to CPAs for help in these areas. For a small business, fiscal mismanagement can spell failure; choosing and using the services of a CPA are critical to business organisation success.

QUALIFICATIONS

The CPA has a comprehensive educational background. Each candidate must nourish a iv-yr program in accounting at an accredited establishment. A CPA must also laissez passer a standard exam for competency in the field. The CPA test covers four principal areas: Police and Professional Responsibleness; Auditing Procedures; Accounting and Reporting (taxation and accounting); and Financial Accounting and Reporting. This exam is administered in every state by a state board of accounting.

Individual country boards likewise set upward state regulations for professional licensing standards. This often means that CPAs are required to have professional experience. Each state has requirements that are peculiar to the state, and regulatory efforts are continuous. Recently, for instance, the Katrina hurricane and the devastation it caused has produced changes in CPA practices in Louisiana; in Michigan, new rules were instituted requiring that CPAs submit past piece of work product for peer review in order to have their licenses renewed. A small business concern wishing to keep upward-to-date with current practise can do then past contacting its land board.

In that location are several organizations for CPAs which besides provide information and educate the public on the office of the CPA. The major national organization is the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Its goals are to provide members with resources and information and to promote public awareness nigh the CPA profession. The AICPA sets a lawmaking of professional standards which serve every bit guidelines for CPAs in deport and professional responsibility.

SERVICES

CPAs provide financial services to the general public—which can encompass both private citizens and concern enterprises—rather than to one single company. They tin deed individually or every bit members of a public bookkeeping firm. A CPA may provide service in one or more areas in which they have been trained, including the following:

  • Financial Planning—A CPA may analyze assets, income, and spending in order to requite a person a clear picture of his or her financial status. This tin can be done on an individual basis (retirement planning or investment planning) or on the business level (preparation of alimony plans and business investments).
  • Tax Preparation—A CPA can be a valuable resource to entrepreneurs seeking assist in unraveling various tax codes and their impact on business organization. This function includes areas such as tax regulation compliance, consultation, and planning and representation.
  • Management Advisory Services—Small business owners may need advice on anything from how to file for a business loan to the training of a upkeep. A CPA tin can aid businesses in preparing fiscal statements, budgets, strategic planning, and other financial advice.
  • Accounting and Auditing—This involves verification of a company's bookkeeping processes, documentation, and data to be certain they conform to accounting principles. In this function, the CPA makes sure that fiscal statements are in society.

CPAs oft specialize in specific areas of the bookkeeping practice, such as auditing and accounting, revenue enhancement law, or management advisory. They may also specialize in certain industry areas, such as retail, health intendance, or eatery businesses.

ENTREPRENEURS AND THE CPA

Entrepreneurs seeking a CPA should look for the post-obit:

  • Reasonable Prices—Most CPAs charge competitive rates, but it makes sense to check pricing to be sure that the CPA an entrepreneur is because is not charging rates exorbitantly higher than his or her competitors. Information technology is always advisable to request a letter of the alphabet from the firm or individual CPA that explicitly states the CPA's fee or billing charge per unit. This letter may also specify the billing and payment methods.
  • Expert Reputation—Does the CPA come well recommended? Integrity is something people discuss when talking about people who work with financial data. Listening to other business owners can provide valuable data in making your own choices. In add-on, merchandise associations, local business resource centers, and business organizations (such as a local chamber of commerce) are likewise potentially valuable sources of information when selecting a CPA. As you lot narrow the field of candidates downwards, ask for the names of other businesses they serve and follow up with those references.
  • Quality and Timeliness of Service—A CPA who does not deliver quality services in a prompt and reliable fashion is of little use to a small business. "Although it seems that all CPAs are similar, they don't all provide the same level of service," noted Thomas Murray in LI Business News. "And while price is a factor in any business organization decision, your choice should be primarily based upon the added value y'all receive from your relationship with your CPA."
  • Flexibility and Adaptability—Can the CPA'due south business concern or firm fit your needs? Some CPAs provide but auditing or revenue enhancement services, while others offer a host of financial planning, retirement, pension, and other services. A business should choose a CPA which can grow equally its needs modify.
  • Communicate—Business owners should be prepared to outline all the services that they believe they volition need from their CPA. In some instances, a CPA may realize that the business owner is request for a telescopic of services or a level of specialization that he/she cannot provide. If these obstacles can be identified early on, both the entrepreneur and the accountant tin can save themselves a bang-up deal of time and pursue other business organisation opportunities.

One time a CPA has been selected, entrepreneurs should prepare to do some footwork to make the relationship a valuable one. The concern owner should be prepared to continue accurate records, including invoices, payments, and amounts spent on business-related expenses. A picayune accounting goes a long style to improving the service a CPA can provide.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lane, Amy. "New Laws Tighten Rules, Penalties for Accountants." Crain'south Detroit Business. xvi January 2006.

LaRose, Greg. "Louisiana CPA Board Adapts to Postal service-Katrina Conditions." New Orleans CityBusiness. 16 January 2006.

Murray, Thomas J. "Choosing Your Auditor." LI Business concern News. 12 May 2000.

"Net Non Always the All-time for Choosing Advisors." LI Business News. 23 October 1998.

Shapiro, Leslie. "Time to come Services of Accountants—an AICPA Perspective." National Public Accountant. Jan/February 1997.