When you run your own business, you’re in deep in every decision that’s made simply because it’s your neck on the line. What’s more, it’s your money on the line, which means contemplating the hiring of a CPA firm. This can be a bit difficult for some business owners because they’ve essentially depended on themselves to get this major project going. These owners act as CEOs, CFOs, COOs, etc. The idea of bringing on anyone else to handle what they can do themselves seems a bit absurd.

But should it? A reputable, dependable CPA firm does many things, most of which boil down to making sure that your business’s finances are in order all year long. They are also keen on being a financial advisor, looking at all the ways your company can keep and on the right track in both the short, and long, term.

Still, even the best accounting firm can’t do its job without you getting your act together & understanding what it is your business’s goals & aspirations are over time. Moreover, you need to know what you want out of an accountant. You’ll need to assess your company’s needs. Will you need an accounting firm to do things that include AP, AR, payroll, and taxes? Unless you know what you need of a firm, you can’t find the right one to come onboard.

You want to be sure that your business is run in such a way where there aren’t a lot of “oddities” involved. For example, you don’t want only one person to have access to a record filing cabinet because “that’s how things go.” You want financial records to have order with programs that are universal so that there is no “well, see this is how [enter name] does stuff.” A good CPA firm will want to be able to acclimate working in your business so as to ascertain all they need for their reports. They want a complete picture, and, as such, you need to be sure you don’t have outlying roadblocks to their success.

One final thing you need to know about your own business before you choose to hire a CPA firm is how accessible the business is to an outsider. Now, even though we’ve talked about access to records, this goes further into the notion of how easy it is to understand the type of business you run. A good accounting firm will do its best to learn your business inside and out because the better they know your business, the better they can inform you of any missteps to avoid. For example, if your company relies on sales of certain goods, you need to know your accountant understands supply and demand. Otherwise, you may be in for a real shocker when they can’t give you input on where your capital should be invested.

Accounting is an important part of any small business, so hiring the right CPA firm should be high on your list of priorities.

Contact the professionals at Sproles Woodard today for your business’s accounting needs, as well as a plethora of other amazing financial services aimed at maximizing your success.