Family Business Accountants

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In a nutshell exceptional business accountants are well trained, experienced accountants who work well with others.

For example, an accountant who is not a CPA yet who is willing to call in specialists whenever and wherever needed is more valuable to you and your business than a hot shot expert who suffers from the NIH Syndrome (Not Invented Here) who is unwilling to admit to their limitations and actively seek advice from others on your behalf.

Each an every person involved in the accounting profession has their place. Some got very little tax planning specific education in college, so what they know comes from real world experiences (theirs and their contemporaries) along with their continuing education studies.

They spend their careers certifying balance sheets, P&L statements, and dealing with various tax compliance issues. As a business owner you know this is a critical value your business accountants bring to the table, especially if you intend to seek outside financing or you are dealing with an audit.

Some business accountants focused on tax planning courses in college and continue to expand their tax planning education through their continuing education - because planning is what interests them.

Tax planning gets them excited and they devote themselves to continually tweaking their knowledge in this ever changing field.

Once these business accountants get into their practice they are able to expand the practical applications of these strategies and tactics on the ground - helping real business owners make real planing decisions that result in real profits for their clients.

Should you look for a small business accountant whose strength is compliance? Someone who knows how to get you out of trouble, papers over your mistakes, and can keep you from being the subject of annual IRS audits. Or someone you call before you make major decisions or acquisitions?

A small business accountant whose insights will keep you focused down the road so you’re decisions are leveraged in your favor every time.

Simple. The business accountant you should have is someone you like and trust, who recognizes their limitations, understands the value of other perspectives, and who has a network - formal or informal, of business accountant they regularly collaborate with.For example bookkeepers, forensic accountants, fraud accountants and investigators, enrolled (IRS) agents, etc.

Exceptional business accountants with a network of accounting contemporaries, when they see a situation outside their areas of expertise, that needs attention - can pick up the phone and get the right people on the case.

In addition their relationships with their peers will often result in free advice for you, since their relationships are likely to be build on the regularly exchange of information at no charge between them and their accounting colleagues.

And just as importantly, exceptional business accountants have working relationships with parallel professionals, individuals and organizations whose services are often required along with theirs - in order for your to receive the maximum benefits from your accountant’s knowledge and expertise.

For example Certified Financial Planners, Chartered Life Underwriters, Benefit Consultants, Estate Planning Attorneys, Pension Actuaries, etc. provide products and services that often dovetail with your business accountant’s advice. When your business accountant knows, likes, and trusts professionals in these and other areas you are the beneficiary on many levels.

Perhaps most importantly they have a history of working together for their client’s benefit making you part of a successful and profitable (for everyone) process.

Business accountants who are part of a mastermind group that includes these and other parallel professionals expand their own understanding of what’s possible, pick up knowledge and insights of value to you, and become an even more valuable asset for your business.

The number one characteristic of your exceptional small business accountant is that they are someone you can talk to. Someone willing to listen, is interested in you as a person as well as a business owner, and actively reaches out to other professionals - business accountants of all sorts as well as parallel professionals on their clients’ behalf.

Business accounts please note. People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care and are interested in them!

If the post above resonates with you, be sure to click on the comments link below and add your thoughts and insights to the discussion.

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Why do business owners seek the advice and council of new business accountants? Don’t you have one already? Is your current business account unsatisfactory in some way? Are you disappointed with their results? Why?

It seems unlikely in the extreme that a business would have been successful for five, ten, or twenty years without qualified business accountants on the payroll. So what’s up?

Typically, from my experience, business owners like you who are looking for a new business accountant relationship are looking for someone to help navigate the complexities of current and future tax laws and the hard to understand tax regulations faced by all businesses and businesses like yours in particular. Aren’t you looking for someone to provide tax planning advice so you can make the most of your day-to-day and long term efforts?

Naturally you want someone more technically savvy than the business account you already have or you would not be ready to consider making a change, or is there another reason? My observation is that while business owners expect their accountants to understand the tax laws and how they apply to them, they are also looking for someone they feel comfortable with.

During their initial interviews with business accountants - where they will most likely come to the conclusion whether this one or that one is the best accountant for them, they will most likely make their decision based on their “gut feeling” about the person they will be telling their deepest darkest secrets to for years to come.

Naturally small business accountants, all professionals for that matter, want you to ask them questions during those initial interviews. They are ready for that with volumes of pat answers. What you should be looking for are the kinds of questions they ask you. Each time they ask a question it tells you a little more about their point of view in tax matters and many other things.

Of course you are looking for the best planning for your business you can get. However if you don’t like their perspectives on matters not related to tax laws you may hesitate to take them seriously on the issues for which you are engaging them. You are not looking for a new buddy, finding excellent small business accountants should not be some sort of popularity contest and this is not a “rent-a-friend” proposition.

Nevertheless you need to respect them on several levels in order to work with them successfully over time. As a successful business owner you have a well developed and ultra sensitive BS detector, so based on what you hear during that first interview, yes interview - you are interviewing them for this important role in your business, you will be able to tell who you’re dealing with if you are listening.

There is a test that I always recommend called the NIH Syndrome Analysis (Not Invented Here Syndrome) that will help you see them for who they really are. Small business accountants, for one reason or another, often fall into the trap of believing that the last good idea to come along was theirs. And if they know more about you and your business than anyone else it becomes easier and easier for you to go along with their brilliant ideas without question.

The bankruptcy courts and tax court records are littered with examples of situations where business accountants and other professionals let their clients go down the wrong paths quite innocently and quite unintentionally - because they were blind to the ideas of others.

Tax planning, planning period, is a never ending process and the landscape and opportunities are in continual flux. Unless your small business accountant is willing to listen to you, keep up to date via continuing education certifications, and call in specialists on your behalf when they are in doubt, you are not going to be pleased with the results.

Here is a simple tip. Listen for them to say, in response to a question you ask, “What would you suggest?” or “What do you think?” or “What have you heard?” or “What do you think might work here?” or something along those lines. Listen to their reply to your reply. If they ask your opinion and offer relevant feedback, something your BS detector deems worthy of the sort of person you want as a professional advisor - you are on the right track toward the selection of the right small business accountant for you.

If they do not ask “What do you think?” or something similar, they are depriving themselves of the current, and possibly best, thinking on the subject because you know your business better than anyone and you have been thinking about this for some time and no doubt have discussing it with your mastermind group of successful contemporaries.

Also, if they don’t ask “What do you think?”, it’s not possible for them (and you) to test their assumptions. You will never know when they do not fully understand the problem, issues, history, etc.

And most importantly of all, they are not helping you think the matter through and they are showing a disrespect for your opinion that will not sustain a productive relationship over time.

Technorati Tags: Business Accountants, Small Business Accountants

The Accounting program prepares students for entry level positions in the accounting field as well as enhancing the skills of individuals currently employed in accounting who desire advancement. Students with an Accounting degree can secure positions as accountants in private businesses and industry, governmental agencies, and public accounting firms.

Accounting expresses in concise, financial language the status of business; it provides the information by which financial decisions are determined. Accuracy with numerical data, problem-solving skills, critical-thinking skills, attention to detail, and organizational skills are some of the characteristics of an accountant. Others include the ability to meet deadlines, keep on the cutting-edge of technology, and work as a team member. Accounting is an exciting and dynamic field which communicates to all areas of the business. Accountants are involved in the decision-making process throughout the business. Lean more at www.westerntc.edu

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Video from our FREE Online Business Course
http://www.myownbusiness.org
Session 8 Accounting and Cash Flow

Question:
“If someone doesn’t know anything about accounting, how would you suggest they go about learning it?”

Stan Henslee
Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.)

Topics covered in this video:
Learning business accounting, community college, adult education, software

Transcript:
I would go to one of the community colleges, a regional occupational program or an Adult Ed class. I would just take the first semester of accounting which will give a good foundation and the mechanics of the double entry bookkeeping system. It will give you an understanding of the relationship of the accounts which I think would prepare you then for any of the commercial software programs such as QuickBooks or Peachtree and you’d have a pretty good understanding of what those programs are trying to accomplish. It may be in your area that some of the high schools offer an Adult Ed program that you could look into.

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I want an accounting job but i dont want to do taxes and all that boring crap i want to work with computers, data, etc. So i should be a business accountant right?

You want to be managerial or have a private sector accounting job, not a public accounting (CPA) job. A personal accountant is one who does accounting work for someone's personal financial needs.

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Support your answer.

I think your question is upside down.

No, they should not be "more" ethical. They should have a high level of ethics along with everyone else in business. No one should be excused from doing the right thing.

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I need a list of interview questions to ask prospective accountants. My business is new and will not generate a lot of revenue so I will need to manage resources carefully.

This link below has guidelines and questions for choosing a small business accountant. These questions include: Do you have your CPA? What kind of creative business advice will you offer me? Do you consider yourself to be tech-savvy? Who are your other clients? How do you calculate your fees? Why should I use you?

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