When we ask business owners for the names of their most trusted advisors, they usually mention accountants. They assume that the CPA will file the company’s tax documents accurately on time and develop a business tax plan with strategies to keep taxes as low as possible.
This consultation will help you keep and reinvest thousands of dollars in your business instead of sending thousands to the government. A business tax plan is as important as a marketing plan or an inheritance and estate plan. It’s proactive and typically automatically regenerated every year for regular savings.
Unfortunately, usually only one of these happens.
If you meet with an accountant once or several times a year before tax filing season, you can count on them to prepare you for your IRS filings. They probably won’t, or even consider offering, specific tax planning strategies that will help minimize future taxes. It comes as a surprise to most business owners.
Your CPA is not trying to take advantage of you. The truth is, we don’t have the training, time, staff, or even office infrastructure to create strategic tax plans for our clients. Accountants are trained to look back. They record history. Few people take the time to read ahead, especially since the sheer volume of documents that need to be completed for the IRS grows each year.
A brief meeting with your CPA at any time between January 1st and April 15th will help you clear up misunderstandings, set financial goals, and educate yourself to take advantage of all possible tax benefits. You can position yourself and your business.
Here, learn how to know if your accountant is right for your needs, and if so, how to partner with them to get the best legal tax results possible.