Best tips to find the best accountants for your business

The services of a good accountant can be invaluable to any business; small or big. As a good bookkeeper does a great job of keeping the records, navigating through the maze of tax laws, and get financial advice, to manage and grow your businesses, you need to hire a good accountant. While many new businessmen tend to associate accountants with taxes, keeping you well-informed of tax changes and doing your taxes are not the only services of a good accountant. If you are thinking of leasing or purchasing a new commercial place for upgrading your business, only an accountant will be able to tell you how such a move would affect your taxes and/or your business growth.

But choosing an accountant is like choosing a new business partner. Any skilled accountant will become a trusted colleague of your company whom you can trust and rely on. He would offer you advice and guidance as your business grows. So, if you have decided to hire an accountant for your company, the following tips would help you to appoint a skilled one.

Know what you need:

Before hiring an accountant, try to understand your needs. You need to decide if you want an internal or external accountant. If your business is comparatively new, you can opt for outside accountants on a consulting basis. This would cost you less than a full-time or part-time employee. Businesses often consider hiring in-house accountants when their transactions have become large and complicated enough that farming them out would be somewhat cost-prohibitive.

Proper certification:

It is always desirable to work with a certified accountant. That way, you will have a mental peace that your business is in able hands, especially when it comes to tax filling matters. So, whoever you are hiring should have the proper certification to work in the field. In addition to the certificates, the accountant should attend different training sessions and workshops to be always updated. If you know that your accountant is up-to-date with all the latest accounting standards that apply to the local state or area, you will feel more confident about the services he is going to provide.

Referrals:

If you are new in the field and looking for an accountant, it is safe to ask other business people about their accountants. Try to find out who other businessmen use and how satisfied they are with the services their accountants provide. If you are not able to get any worthy referrals using this method, use the internet to find the most trusted accounting firms.

Interviewing prospective candidates:

As you find a few prospective candidates for your business, plan an interview process to select the right candidate.Before meeting the candidates, you can even conduct a background check to weed out potential problematic candidates. After the background check, once you meet the applicants, please ask the right questions to get the maximum information about the person. During the interview session, you can focus on the basic things like pricing, services they offer, what certifications they possess, and the software they are going to use. Many businessmen tend to ask more probing questions to find out what makes them tick and whether they can be trusted.