How To Find the Right Tax Advisor For Your Small Business

Small businesses benefit greatly from finding a great tax advisor to help them all year long.

Finding the right tax advisor, though, can be a challenge! 

After all, you’re going to trust your tax advisor to handle sensitive financial documents, as well as employee and possibly customer data. They will also be responsible for ensuring that you’re fulfilling all of your tax obligations while keeping your tax burden as light as possible. 

What A Tax Advisor Does For A Small Business

The responsibilities of a tax advisor vary from business to business, depending on individual business needs. 

Many small businesses assign the following duties to their tax advisor:

• Prepare and file annual business taxes
• Provide tax advice and strategy with preparation of annual individual and business tax returns
• Review prior business returns for focal points of IRS audits
• Represent the business in case an audit is ordered
• Manage record keeping
• Understand and navigate trusts, real estate, and other complex tax scenarios
• Improve record-keeping processes

Perhaps the most important thing a tax advisor can do for your small business is to provide you with the time you need to focus on growing your business!

Instead of spending your energy trying to facilitate your own tax filings, record keeping, and tax credits, you can do the work of running and building your company.

Related: What's the Difference Between Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion?

How To Choose A Tax Advisor

There are three kinds of tax advisors to choose from. Your first task is to decide which kind you want to work with. 

1. Enrolled Agents: These are tax professionals who have completed a comprehensive IRS test covering individual and business tax returns. After passing the test, they have the ability to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service.
2. Attorneys: Any attorney who has passed the bar exam and is licensed in your state is qualified by the IRS to prepare and file taxes for a small business. There are specialized tax attorneys who do the work of tax preparation for small businesses.
3. Certified Public Accountants: A CPA is an accountant who has passed the CPA exam and is prepared to tackle a wide range of services. One of those services is tax preparation and filing for small businesses.

Benefits of Choosing a CPA

If you want more than just tax filing help, a CPA is the way to go.

CPAs can handle your business’s taxes and much more. They can not only manage all your bookkeeping needs, but they can also help you analyze your financial statements to find out how you can increase profits, reduce your tax burden, and improve your operations. 

Related: How Can a CPA Help Your Small Business?

Traits to Look for in a CPA

When hiring a CPA firm, here are some traits to look for: 

• Credentials
• Experience
• Confidence
• Willingness to collaborate 
• Strong ethics
• Responsibility
• Good communication skills
• Timeliness 
• Attention to detail

It’s important to choose a CPA whose ethics match your company’s high standards of excellence!

Chaliff + Associates Provides Clients With Outstanding CPA Services

Chaliff + Associates believes in putting in the hard work to help our clients grow their businesses. 

We have a team of CPAs ready to take the stress out of tax prep, payroll, accounting, and bookkeeping. We invite you to use our knowledge base as a resource for helping you improve your business’s operations. 

If you need help with tax preparation in the Memphis and surrounding areas, please reach out to request a complimentary consultation with one of our expert accountants.