Questions for accountant?

May 21, 2016 6:13 AM

I am looking for a business accountant and am finding industry agencies that work on a percentage basis but am worried I will be paying too much. There are several business accountants in my area but I want to make sure I am getting the best deal. What are some essential questions I need to ask while making this decision?
posted by parmanparman to Work & Money (1 answer total)

If I understand your first sentence correctly, these agencies set their fees based on a percentage of your business income (?). In my experience as a CPA, I have never heard of this type of pricing before (for whatever that's worth as a data point) and I would be highly cautious of the conflict of interest that type of pricing would create.

That being said, accountants price in very different ways: fixed price vs. hourly price, package price vs. pricing for individual services, etc. I would recommend the following discussion points:

1. Ask the accountant to outline all of the specific deliverables that your particular business would require in an annual cycle.
2. If you're unfamiliar with any of them items, ask them to explain why your business needs (or might want) that specific deliverable.
3. Make sure you're clear on how each service or deliverable is priced.
4. Ask the accountant what they expect you to provide or what involvement is expected from you.
5. Ask them what kind of support they provide for ad hoc issues or questions that might arise during the year, or what support is included in the event of an audit or review by a tax agency.

Hope that provides some useful food for thought.
posted by bkpiano at 8:19 AM on May 21, 2016