As a small business owner, you may find it difficult to gauge when to outsource responsibilities or handle them on your own. This is especially true in the case of a certified public accountant (CPA), especially if you’ve just started your business or if your company has grown beyond an expected size.
While you can certainly take care of the day-to-day accounting yourself – especially if you have a top accounting software – or hire a bookkeeper, there are instances when the expertise of a CPA can help you make sound business decisions, avoid costly mistakes, and save you time.
What is a CPA?
CPAs are tax experts who can file your business’s taxes, answer important financial questions and potentially save your business money. While CPAs have accounting degrees, their certification differs from traditional accountants.
CPAs have passed the Uniform CPA Exam – a rigorous exam testing one’s understanding of tax law and standard accounting practices – and obtained a state license. (The state license includes ethical requirements, too.) They must take professional education courses to maintain their license, and may lose it if they are convicted of fraud, negligence, or ethics violations. Furthermore, CPAs have unlimited representation rights to negotiate with the IRS on your behalf.
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