We’re 10 days from the 2018 tax filing deadline, do you know what your results will be? Did you file a tax extension because your financials were messier than you realized? You’re not alone. If you run a business and arrived to tax season unprepared, it’s most likely because you neglected to keep up on your financial record keeping. If you haven’t already done so, you’ll soon be faced with spending countless hours organizing your information. The worst part of that is if you’re not versed in accounting, you might not get the right answer! We’ve spent more time this tax season cleaning up client’s books than ever and in doing so have saved them thousands of dollars in taxes they would have paid if they just rolled with their results. How? Simply put, they’re not accountants, and no offense, they don’t really know what they are doing. Our biggest finding, double counting revenue. Do you really want to pay twice on the same earned income? We didn’t think so.
Hiring an accountant early on can help with this ease of tax preparation, and that’s really just a small benefit. Consider the guidance and expertise you can gain from having someone on your team that is invested in your company’s success. Think about it for a moment, why would any accountant not want to guide their client? If you go out of business, that’s lost revenue for the accountant. But if your company grows wildly, there is no end to the work that the accountant might need to do to keep the company in compliance or on track to preserve itself. The best accountant in Atlanta, GA offers all of this and will gladly help you organize your income, expenses, assets, and liabilities appropriately the first time. With that you can make informed decisions about your business and run it as it deserves to be run. Even if you’ve already filed for 2018, it’s never too late to hire an incredible accountant for 2019 so that when next tax season rolls around, you’re not in a difficult situation. Let’s dive deeper into how an accounting firm can help your business.
Accounting
You may have managed your own books for 2018 and even before that. But when preparing your tax returns, maybe you’ve noticed areas where you could improve or were unsure of yourself. Is it really worth “saving money” to chance that you’re getting it right alone? We wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a great stepping stone to allow a knowledgeable accountant to step in and help you keep your books clean and organized. As any accountant will tell you, everything for us has a correct place, and a seemingly small mistake may lead to a large difference in the bottom line which could eventually lead to an audit of you and your business. Think it’s too expensive to have someone help you with your bookkeeping? Audits can cost thousands (tens of thousands depending on the severity) and that’s just for representation. If you owe it’s going to be worse. Having an accountant on the front-end will help you avoid that problem and even if it arises you have a much higher chance of prevailing. Having this critical teammate in place can also help you build your confidence in your business since you know the information will be correct.
Form Filings
No one likes to get unexpected notices from the IRS, state, or anyone else looking for that matter. Having confidence that the correct forms for your business have been filed accurately and by the due dates throughout the year can alleviate a lot of pressure. Do you know all the due dates? There are so many. Read here for more on that. In addition, knowing when and for how much to make estimated tax payments during the year can significantly reduce penalties and the pressure to come up with a large sum of cash at the end of the year.
Tax Preparation
When tax season rolls around your newly hired CPA will already know the workings of your business and will either have most of the information required to prepare your returns or will be able to tell you exactly what they need. This limits the back and forth of questions and concerns which then increases the efficiency of your tax prep and if you’re “guy” is good, you’ll probably already know what you’re going to owe. It’s when all the year’s hard work comes together and we can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard “it’s been a huge burden off my shoulders” from our business clients. Income taxes aren’t the only taxes to consider either, there are also sales tax, payroll taxes, property taxes, franchise taxes, on and on and on…It’s never ending sometimes and if you don’t know all the rules and regulations you could be exposed.
Take time while the wounds are still fresh to think about the benefits of hiring the best CPA in Atlanta. The best accountants offer so much more than just putting your taxes together. They will help you grow and in the end their partnership with you and your business will be invaluable. There’s no need to wait until next tax season to find a reliable accountant, instead contact Eliseo CPA, LLC today so that we can start helping you now!