Top Five Things To Look For When Hiring A Certified Public Accountant for Tax Resolution

Handling your own finances can leave you stressed and exhausted, which may result in oversights that could cost you a lot. Accounting requires a keen eye and experience due to its complexities and seeking professional help is always recommended. Taxes are one area of accounting where expert advice has no substitute. Especially in the area of Tax preparation, Tax problem resolution and Audits you need expert help.

For small-business owners, ifs crucial to have someone who can provide proper advice. The services of a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) ensure that you get the best advice. CPAs offer detailed financial analysis and information on tax and financial matters. More importantly, a CPA is licensed by a state and remain up-to-date with state and federal tax laws, which enable them to represent you before the IRS and other taxation authorities in an audit.

However, picking the right CPA for your business is not the easiest of tasks, but to help simplify your search and make sure your accounting is in the right hands, here's a list of the top five things to consider while hiring a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for your particular needs.

1. Competence.

Technical competence is the first thing to look for when hiring someone to help you with your income tax, payroll tax or sales tax problems. CPAs have to pass a difficult exam to get their license. In California, to keep their license active, a CPA has to earn a minimum of eighty hours of continuing education every twenty-four months. This means they are at the top of their profession and are continuously learning how to serve their clients better. Since CPAs often choose to specialize in one or two areas of accounting, you will need to find one that is a good fit for your needs. If you are having tax problems look for someone whose focus is on solving tax collection problems.

2. Experience.

Experience is the next thing to look for when hiring an accounting professional. You will want to hire the services of someone who has had many years of experience handling similar situations to yours, as there is really no substitute for the lessons learned from being in practice for many years.

3. Communication.

Communication is an important trait to look for when hiring a tax professional. You should strive to hire a responsive CPA who will keep you updated with information about your finances and taxes. A lack of communication between you and your accounting/tax professional means you are not getting the best service.

In the case of tax resolution, your CPA must not let you fall through the cracks. They have to be in constant touch to get the information that they need from you. They need to keep you informed at every stage of the process.

4. Trustworthy.

Trustworthy and honest is the next quality you want your CPA and tax resolution specialist to have. There have been a few cases where people have paid enormous fees to someone but did not have their problem resolved. There have been other instances where people have hired someone who took their money and actually made their past due tax situation worse. There are also fraudulent tax preparers who just made up the numbers on tax returns. Beware of the tax preparers who put "self-prepared" on the signature of your returns or promise you a big refund ahead of time. They are unlicensed practitioners. Also beware of tax preparers who say they will respond to your audit letter for free because they prepared your returns. Usually you get no help at all from them, certainly not good help. Another thing to be wary of are bookkeepers/tax preparers who do not file the returns on time or make constant errors and have excuse after excuse. There is just too much at stake personally and financially to trust someone who doesn't deserve it.

It is difficult to determine the honesty of a CPA before working with them, but hiring a CPA who is licensed is the safest option as you know that they will be accountable to their licensing board. If a CPA does not like to work in the area you need help in ask them who they would recommend.

5. Reasonably priced and delivers on promises.

In the area of tax resolution, many companies on the radio and TV make promises that are not realistic such as resolving all your tax problems for pennies on the dollar. They then take huge fees but don't do most of the work that is required. Look for a CPA who gives timely invoices with what was done clearly explained. A CPA should tell you about the charges at the start along with what work will be carried out. In the field of tax resolution, providing an exact amount that will be charged may not be possible, but it is their responsibility to give a reasonable approximate cost. It is best to work with someone you can see whenever you want and who you can trust because they know you and you know them.

If you’re looking for a Certified Public Accountant who specializes in appeals and tax collection matters in Tulare, Visalia, Porterville, Madera, Merced, Clovis, Selma, and Fresno, CA, reach out to Tuttle & Tuttle, CPA.

We specialize in tax resolution and do our best to resolve all kinds of problems from past due returns, horrible tax debt, to complex audits. Although we have an office in the Fresno/Clovis area, we work with delinquent taxpayers throughout California. To learn more about the services we offer, please click here. To get in touch with us, please contact us here.