Questions to Ask When Hiring A CPA |
Over the last few weeks I have been asked more and more frequently about hiring a CPA.
After working with many tax professionals over the last year ranging from a guy who resulted in me owing the IRS $3,000 for money he claimed fraudulently and had paid to his personal bank account…to the fantastic Brandyn Cox of BMC Accounting who I use now!
In the middle I have used a few decent CPA’s and tax professionals, and learned what I like (and dislike) t to see when hiring a CPA.
When Should You Hire A Tax Professional?
There are two ways to answer this question, in lifecycle, and time of year.
Lifecycle
You should begin looking for a tax professional as soon as you have more to claim than your normal W2 salary.
Most young service members are completely safe going with the free services on base, but the moment you add real estate income, dividend income, stock profits, short-term capital gains, and/or business revenue into the mix you need to find a professional.
Also, if you just hate the process of filing taxes, or put it off until the last possible moment, go ahead and hire somebody to do it for you.
Time of Year
This is important and often overlooked by people.
January through April/May is the busiest time of year for tax professionals.
This is absolutely the wrong time to begin hiring somebody to prepare your taxes.
My personal tax professional was so slammed at the beginning of this year that he stopped taking on new clients.
Not only that, but no tax preparer who is actually worth a shit is going to have the spare time to let you interview them during tax season.
For these reasons you need to begin hunting for a tax professional during the summer or fall of the year before you need them. This will ensure you can find the best tax professional for your situation with plenty of time to get familiar with each other prior to tax season.
This will also ensure they have factored your return into their workload, and you won’t get turned away.