When Should a Small Business Hire a CPA?
Starting and managing a small business involves juggling multiple responsibilities, from sales and marketing to operations and finance. While many small business owners choose to handle their own bookkeeping and financial matters, there comes a point when it becomes essential to seek professional assistance. Hiring a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) can bring significant benefits to small businesses, ensuring financial stability, compliance with tax laws, and strategic growth. In this article, we will explore the key indicators that signal when a small business should consider hiring a CPA.
Complex Financial Transactions
As a small business grows, so do its financial complexities. If you find yourself dealing with intricate financial transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, or large-scale investments, it’s wise to engage a CPA. A CPA’s expertise in analyzing financial data, managing cash flows, and providing valuable insights can prove invaluable during such crucial business decisions.
Tax Planning and Compliance
Navigating the ever-changing tax laws can be a daunting task for any small business owner. Hiring a CPA ensures that your business remains compliant with tax regulations, minimizing the risk of penalties and audits. Additionally, a CPA can help optimize your tax strategy, identifying deductions and credits that can save your business money in the long run.
Financial Forecasting and Planning
A CPA can assist small business owners in developing accurate financial forecasts and strategic plans. By examining historical data, analyzing market trends, and assessing risks, a CPA can help you make informed decisions about budgeting, expansion, and investments. Their expertise can provide the necessary guidance to drive growth and achieve long-term financial goals.
Cash Flow Management
Cash flow is the lifeblood of any small business. If you find yourself struggling to maintain a healthy cash flow, it might be time to bring in a CPA. They can help you evaluate your current financial situation, identify inefficiencies, and suggest ways to improve cash flow management. By implementing sound financial practices, a CPA can help your business maintain stability and seize growth opportunities.
Audits and Financial Reporting
As your business expands, you may encounter situations that require audited financial statements. Whether it’s for securing funding, attracting investors, or complying with legal requirements, a CPA’s expertise in auditing and financial reporting is crucial. They can ensure accurate and transparent reporting, instilling confidence in stakeholders and demonstrating your business’s credibility.
Time Constraints and Expertise
Running a small business requires focus and attention across various areas. If you find yourself stretched too thin, spending excessive time on financial matters, it may be a sign to delegate these tasks to a CPA. Outsourcing your accounting and finance functions to a professional allows you to concentrate on core business operations and utilize your time more effectively.
Conclusion
Knowing when to hire a CPA for your small business is essential for its long-term success. As your business evolves, you’ll encounter complex financial challenges and ever-changing tax laws that require specialized expertise. By engaging a CPA, you can gain a trusted advisor who will help navigate financial complexities, ensure compliance, and provide valuable insights for strategic decision-making. Ultimately, hiring a CPA allows you to focus on growing your business while having peace of mind knowing that your financial matters are in capable hands.
Video Transcript
When Should a Small Business Hire a CPA?
My recommendation is for a small business to hire a CPA in the very beginning. As soon as you start having tax questions or opportunities to make tax decisions, that is before filing your first tax return. So I would say at least by November of the first year in which you are in business and generating significant profits, so over $10,000, for example.
Why Does Having a CPA at Such an Early Stage is So Important for You?
First, they can help prepare your taxes, which will probably save the CPA fee itself in tax savings because CPAs stay in touch with each year, all the changes in the tax code. And in recent years, the United States has had many because as COVID occurred, Congress started making many changes in the tax code to incentivize certain business behaviors. So, I highly recommend using a CPA to prepare your tax return. They will typically save their own fee in the tax savings that you have by doing your tax return properly. Second, a CPA can help you save significant money just by occasionally talking with them and about what are ways that in your type of business, you can reduce your taxes. Third, if you make an error in your taxes, and you relied on a CPA when making those decisions or filing a tax return, a legal defense to tax fraud is reliance on a CPA. So, if you did it yourself, you have no CPA to blame. You can be liable for tax fraud, but if you accidentally engaged in tax fraud because you relied on a CPA and the CPA did something wrong, that is an important defense to tax fraud.
I one time saw a case where a business owner relied on the advice of a CPA and attorney when buying art and making that art available, and then characterizing that art as inventory, which is tax deductible for a business. Whereas, if you buy art just for your home, it is not tax deductible. Now, this art was in his home, but it was for sale and he had followed the CPA’s advice and the attorney’s advice regarding making sure that that art is for sale, advertised for sale and treated as inventory. Well, the IRS did an audit, and at that point, the business owner could either – and by the way, let’s say that there was an error, let’s say for whatever reason, the art should not have been characterized as inventory and instead should have been characterized as just décor for a home. That business owner had an important legal defense: “I relied on the advice of a CPA and attorney for characterizing the art as inventory.” And that would be the difference between serving years in prison for tax fraud and not serving any time in prison because you didn’t do anything wrong. Now, you might still have to pay the tax that you owe. There is probably going to be some interest and probably some sort of penalty, but the negligence penalty is much lower than the fraud penalty. And negligence in a penalty is very different from serving time in prison for tax fraud. So, those are reasons why I strongly recommend bringing in a CPA in the first year that your business has significant profits. That is the time to get the CPA involved to set up your company, right and to prepare for your very first tax return for the company.
Conclusion
Thanks for joining us today. If you would like to find out more, check out our YouTube channel. We have a lot of similar topics there. And if you have questions that weren’t answered today, I would love for you to submit them. You can submit them by email or by adding a question in the comment section below. Lastly, if you would like to stay in touch, subscribe to my newsletter at aaronhall.com/free. I will also send you a free PDF, 7 Common Legal Mistakes Made by Small Businesses. Have a great day.
