Fifteen Questions to Ask Your Potential New Accountant

If you're running a small business, you gotta have a solid accountant. Having someone you can trust and call on for advice and counsel will help save you time, money, and energy otherwise spent stressing out. If you’re in the market for a new accountant and interviewing your options, here are some questions you can ask your potential tax counsel to learn about what to expect and how they work.

 

Experience

  1. How long have you been doing tax work?

  2. Do you have experience filing taxes for LLCs, partnerships, and corporations?

  3. Do you have tax experience in my industry?

  4. What kind of license do you have?

Work Style + Scope

  1. How will I get you the information you need to file my taxes?

  2. What is the process like? Will we meet in person?

  3. Can you help me come up with a strategy for projecting, saving and paying my taxes throughout the year?

  4. In terms of tasks (signing forms, writing checks for tax payment, etc.) what will my responsibilities be and what will yours be?

  5. Do you also do my bookkeeping or should I hire a bookkeeper?

  6. Would you consider yourself conservative or aggressive with deductions?

  7. How do you handle audits? What is that process like?

  8. Can you speak on my behalf and represent me in front of the IRS?

Fees

  1. Do you charge a flat-rate fee based on the number to tax returns I have, do you charge hourly, or is there another billing method you use?

  2. Can you give me a range of your fees?

  3. If you charge a flat rate, do you charge for phone calls or emails if I have tax questions?

 
 
Paco de Leon