Is Your CPA Doing These 3 Things to Keep Your Business

1. Is Your CPA Doing These 3 Things to Keep Your Business? Your role as a business owner makes you intimately aware of the need to retain existing customers. Not only are existing customers your company's lifeblood, it is less expensive to retain them as compared to going out and bringing new customers into the fold. So how is your CPA doing? Is the accounting firm you trust with your bookkeeping and tax preparation doing what it takes to guarantee they have your business for years to come? The CPA world is changing before our very eyes. Much of the change is related to technology that just happens to be transforming what accountants and bookkeepers do on a day-to-day basis. And unfortunately, some CPAs and accounting firms are not adapting very well. They are running the risk of losing some of their clients as a result. The point of this post is not to convince you to ditch your current CPA and start searching for a replacement. Rather, it is to help you foster a better relationship with your CPA. To that end, there are three things listed below that your accounting firm should be doing to retain your business. They come from Gurian CPA, one of a number of Dallas accounting firms serving clients with tax services, standard accounting services, payroll, and more. 1. Is your CPA providing service rather than function? A very wise CPA once said that he was not in the accounting or tax planning business. Accounting and tax planning were functions he performed as part of a service-oriented business. To put that in simple terms, accounting is a service built on certain functions businesses could handle on their own. Let's face the fact that companies can handle their accounting in-house. They can record income and expenditures. They can determine depreciation on their assets. They can file tax forms with the IRS. So what does the accountant bring to the table? Service. Gurian CPA Firm

2. The accountant handles all of those functions for the sole purpose of alleviating the client's responsibilities. Moreover, he/she does it in such a way that the business owner is confident there is nothing to worry about. The accountant provides service with a smile backed by solid knowledge and experience. 2. Is your CPA educating you? The reality of modern technology is that fewer companies are leaving all of their accounting and tax reporting to their CPAs. Today, it is more of a collaborative effort. But in order for that effort to be as productive as possible, clients need to be educated in some of the foundational principles of accounting. So, is your CPA educating you in those foundational principles? Expecting a business owner to collaborate without a basic understanding of accounting fundamentals creates an environment that encourages mistakes. That just leaves the CPA with more work at the end of the day. 3. Is your CPA introducing you to automation? One of the most exciting aspects of modern accounting technology is the ability to introduce automation to the system. Automation makes accounting more efficient on the one hand and more accurate on the other. To say that automation should be part of every modern accounting strategy is an understatement. Has your CPA introduced automation into the equation? If not, you'd be wise to ask about it. Automation could be the most important thing to happen to professional accounting since the introduction of the personal computer. Hopefully your accounting firm is doing what it takes to keep your business for years to come. If the three things described here are part of your relationship with your accountant, you are on the right track. Gurian CPA Firm