Tips on hiring a St Louis CPA

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) will do more than just yearly tax returns. Their services include long-range planning, managing personal investments, estate and tax planning, financial analysis and performance as well as providing general financial advice. Hiring a competent St Louis CPA to help you make sound decisions and manage your finances is a great way to grow your business especially if you have just started out or need help with complicated tax returns and bookkeeping. There are several tips on hiring the best CPA for your situation.

Define Your Reasons for Hiring a CPA

It's imperative that you know exactly what you need before hiring a CPA. Be clear about the reasons for needing an accountant. You need to establish whether to look for someone who can handle multiple issues or an expert in a particular area. With clear goals and reasons, searching for the right CPA will be much easier from the start.

Do Your Research

Ask family, friends and other professionals if they work with a CPA and if they have anyone they can recommend. Establish whether the recommended CPAs will be able to help you with your particular needs after getting to know the types of experiences their previous clients have had. You also want to narrow down your search to find competent professionals in your area.

Discuss Special Needs

If you anticipate any special accounting issues in your business, it's worth finding an accountant with specialized training and experience. For example, a business valuation may call for an expert such as a Certified Valuation Analyst. Confirm that your specific interest is not just a side job for the firm and that they employ experts who can provide expert advice and guidance. Check this link for more info.

Cost

Ask about charges and fees for the services you are seeking. Different firms will have varying pricing mechanisms, but there's no harm in doing some research and comparing quotes from several companies. Ask for itemized costs but don't make decisions solely based on price.

Training and Professional Competence

Ask about the size of the firm you are planning to hire and what their research and continuing education capabilities are. You want to work with a CPA with a proper support structure and means to keep up with the dynamic changes in the accounting world.

Communication

Make sure you are comfortable communicating financial details to the CPA. The last thing you need is to land in trouble for withholding information that the CPA may need to effectively help you. Also, make sure the CPA communicates to you in a way that you can understand. A good personal connection can add value to your professional relationship. You want somebody that's going to listen to you and work towards understanding your business.

Experience in your particular industry

Accounting can be considered to be a very general field. Make sure the CPA you're planning to hire has knowledge about your particular industry. A CPA with experience in your industry will be adept at what goes into your finances.