Things an Accountant Can Help You With

All accountants aren’t created equal, but a good one can typically help you with more than you might think when it comes to your business. In fact, your choice of one might just net you practically an entire business consultant.

Accountants can even come to your rescue with a few income tax services. Here’s a quick look at some of the things your accountant can help you with if you choose to ask her.

The IRS

It’s easy to make mistakes with taxes. You might use a 1099 form thinking it’s right even if you use a payment settlement service such as PayPal. If you outsource your accounting and get a good one, they can tell you why you don’t need that particular form and correct your taxes. Vice versa, they can also let you know why you don’t need to send your contractors a 1099 form if you pay them using a payment settlement service. An accountant worth their salt can help you with all of your IRS situations.

Allocation of Funds

When you are ready to allocate funds for investing, you might want to outsource to help you handle it. A professional will be able to help you make decisions. This will prevent you from setting aside too much or too little for your various investments and projects. An accountant will help you stay on a path to financial success.

Tax Planning

It’s important to hire a tax pro that isn’t just around during the IRS’ busy season. They should be helping with your strategy all year round. Your accountant will work with you to maximize your investments while also creating a plan for dealing with any potential tax debt.

Additionally, the professional can help you ensure that you don’t underpay your estimated taxes so that you won’t get slammed with a mega tax bill when the year ends. They can also help you save from overpaying. That may allow you to put the extra money into savings or even invest it back into the business.

It isn’t recommended that you do all of this on your own, and frankly, TurboTax might just not be enough for your company.

Bookkeeping

There are accountants out there who also offer bookkeeping as one of their services. Most of the time, you’ll pay them what’s known as a retainer, and then they’ll handle the run the accounting software you choose. Doing things this way can save you time so that you can use that time to earn even more money.

For example, say your accountant costs around $600 each month, but she also saves you around 2 hours that you would otherwise have spent bookkeeping. Let’s then say you charge about $400 an hour to your clients or $800 for those 2 hours you would have spent bookkeeping. Utilizing your accountant for this puts you $200 ahead, and you won’t need to get the headache that comes with reconciling those bank statements.

A good accountant can be one of your most powerful allies when it comes to the finances of your business. They can help you with correcting your tax info, help you in terms of allocating funds, assist with planning for the IRS throughout the entire year, and assist with your bookkeeping so you can earn more. Be sure you utilize each of their services so that you can concentrate on growing your business.

Remember to check out the credentials of anyone that you hire. This can be a make-or-break decision for your company. Be sure that you are employing someone who has a lot of experience, preferably in your particular field.