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Interview Questions for Choosing/Hiring An Accountant
Be Specific in Asking for Recommendations
If you ask around for recommendations for an accountant, don’t just say you’re looking for an accountant, be more specific.
The word “accountant” can mean many different things. If you’re looking for someone to file your taxes, say you’re looking for a tax account for a small service-based business (or whatever context describes your situation). There are even tax accountants who work with specific businesses (ex: real estate investors, etc), so sharing who you’re looking for specifically, can really help people give you better recommendations.
I know a lot of accountants who don’t file taxes at all.
Many of them don’t even file their own taxes in their business. So it’s important to say you’re looking for a tax accountant.
Take time to think about what you really want from an accountant first. If you want them to advise you on how to understand deductions better, offer tax strategies to save money, educate you, etc. know that ahead of time and make that upfront. Don’t just expect that you will get that from every accountant.
Know What Services You’re Wanting
Be reasonable about what you want and how much you’re willing to pay for it. Don’t expect to get tax strategy, advise about saving money, etc when you’re paying your accountant $350/year. They need to be properly compensated for the level of support you’re wanting.
I know a lot of people who’ve complained about their accountants and that they don’t help them to know how to save money.
Make sure you take some time to think about what you really want an accountant for, the role you want them to play, and an idea of what you’d be willing to pay for that level of service.
I always recommend interviewing accountants before beginning to work with them to make sure they’re a good fit for you & your business AND that they can grow with you.
Interview Questions to Ask an Accountant
- What types of business structures do you work with? Sole Prop / Corporations /S-Corps (American) etc.
- What additional support do they offer outside of filing taxes?
- Can you walk me through my tax return to understand it before filing or afterward?
- If not, how much extra would that cost?
- What is expected of me, in order to be a good client for you?
- What can I do to make tax season more successful for both of us?
- If I ask you a question via email, what’s the expected turnaround time?
- When do you need my documents to file them timely?
- What questions haven’t I asked, that I should have?
- Approximately how much does a return cost & what is their billing structure?
- Do you have 2 recommendations of clients I can speak with?
Context to Share with Them
Tell them about your business so they can also make sure you fall within their niche/specialty and that they can serve you well.
They should be vetting you just as much as you are vetting them.
- What industry you are in
- Explain about your specific services & business (let them know about any intricacies)
- Where your clients or customers are based out of
Want more helpful tips for running the behind-the-scenes and financial side of your business? Join me on Instagram @intentionallywealthyco!
Difference Between What an Accountant and Bookkeeper Should be Doing
It can be hard to really understand the difference between what your bookkeeper and what your tax accountant should be doing for you.
Other Great Blogs You May Like:
- Questions to Ask When Hiring a Bookkeeper
- The Process of Working with a Bookkeeper
- Bookkeeping Responsibilities for Canadian Entrepreneurs
- 5 Steps to Create a Solid Financial Structure for Your Business
- Documents Your Accountant Needs to File Your Taxes as a Sole Prop in Canada
Why I See Poor Relationships Between Entrepreneurs and Accountants
I often hear people tell me about how they never hear from their accountant, how they’re not really sure if they’re doing a good job, etc.
There are many reasons that this can be happening and it’s typically multi-faceted, so here’s some context to take into account to either improve a current relationship with your accountant by understanding factors at play and how you can be more proactive in the accountant-client relationship, or it might shine light that you’ve already been really proactive and it might just be time for a new accountant.
- Clients paying them a really low amount
- Client didn’t tell accountant what specific services they wanted when they first started working together (in all fairness – because most people don’t know what they need and no one laid out their options)
- Clients don’t reach out and book meetings with them throughout the year to actually dive into this context
- Clients don’t have up-to-date bookkeeping so the accountants can advise specifically
- Super messy books given to them & late (even worse dropping off receipts for them to sort through), they are supposed to do your taxes, NOT your books (these are separate)
- You don’t know how to be proactive and what to ask them, and they aren’t proactive on their end so it feels like they’re ghosting you
- You don’t know when to have your stuff to them (or what specifically they need), until right before they need it
- They might be someone you just picked or knew, but didn’t know how to interview to make sure they were truly a good fit for you
- There was/is no structure in your relationship so you don’t know what services you’re paying for & not
- They feel unapproachable & you’re afraid to ask questions or ask questions again for clarity
Some of these I can help with as a bookkeeper (take care of your books & help to communicate with your accountant, send them your year-end bookkeeping package so you’re not trying to figure out what needs to be sent to them, etc).
You can also reach out and re-establish the scope of work, how they’ll support you, your responsibilities & timelines, etc.
Click here to read more about our DFY bookkeeping services and here to book in for a free discovery call to talk about outsourcing your bookkeeping.
Wanting help with managing your cash flow as an entrepreneur? You can read more here about how I help my financial coaching clients with this.
Want to really dive into improving how you manage your personal finances too? Check out the Intentionally Wealthy podcast!
