Planning to hire a certified tax preparer? You are not alone this tax season.
Timely filing of taxes has great importance for businesses of all sizes but a lot of business owners due to limited time or bookkeeping knowledge fail to do the same. As a result, they either run out of time or fail to file taxes correctly. Since missing out on tax filing or doing it incorrectly has serious consequences, it is wise to hire certified accounting and tax professionals.
Tax preparers not only help businesses avoid added interest and penalties but also ensure future refunds, build reputation, and guarantee that the core business functions are not disrupted. But how exactly to hire the best income tax preparer?
In this blog, Finsmart Accounting – trusted by CPAs for outsourcing in India and New York – will share useful tips and ideas to hire certified tax preparers for your US-based business in 2023.
What are Some Useful Tips for Hiring Certified Tax Preparers?
Here are some tips and ideas to get a competent tax preparer who can relieve your tax stress and save your organization from a bad reputation:
#1 Know your needs
Let’s be honest. It takes more than tax work to run a business in the United States. Meaning, your goal should be to hire an expert who can not only help you organize and file all crucial tax documents and returns but also support bookkeeping operations in time of need.
With this in mind, figure out what you want your tax preparer or accounting partner to do. Ask yourself questions like:
- Do I need someone who can help me sort tax returns for 2023 only?
- Should I hire an expert who can review if tax reports are in compliance with US government tax rules and regulations?
- Do I need an individual who can answer tax and finance-related questions on behalf of my company?
- Am I struggling with gathering financial data from income statements and expense documents?
Once you find the answers to similar questions, you will be able to figure out critical tax and accounting tasks that need to be tackled and what crucial outcomes are expected from the hired tax professional.
#2 Know your budget
The bottom line of a business is affected whenever a new employee gets hired. So, hiring an in-house tax preparer can cost more than just the vouched-for monthly salary or hourly pay. Organizations also have to consider the additional expenses that will tag along including training, social security, medicare, unemployment insurance, and employee benefits.
Therefore, it is best to look at your pocket first. Not only maximum but also set the minimum that you’re willing to pay to your hired tax professional. Outsourcing or offshoring the tax preparation work is a great idea if you want to start 2023 with considerable savings.
This will help you save money not only on staff hiring and salaries but also software, hardware, and office supplies. Also, this will empower you to focus more on everyday business operations and client acquisition, both of which are pivotal for your corporation’s growth.
6 accounting and tax software used by tax practitioners in the USA
#3 Create a list of suitable candidates
Done figuring out your requirements and selecting the right option between in-house and offshore tax preparer? Great. Because it’s time to begin the hunt! Prepare a list of candidates (or firms if you are choosing to offshore) that you think have the potential to handle the filing work and make your corporation comply with specific industry standards, laws, regulations, and ethical conduct standards.
Look for these qualities while picking the right tax-filing candidate for your corporation:
- Strong numerical reasoning abilities
- Attention to detail and accuracy
- Strategic thinking and problem-solving skills
- Good knowledge of accounting software used by your business
- Effective communication skills
Watch what the leading bookkeeping firm of South Florida has to say about Finsmart:
#4 Verify credentials
Although it is true that a lot of CPAs have tax know-how, not all of them are certified tax professionals. They could be Enrolled Agents (EAs) or Accredited Tax Advisors (ATAs). That’s the reason why we suggest verifying credentials before hiring a tax advisor for your corporation. By doing so, you can determine whether the candidates have work experience, educational qualifications, professional membership, and trade licenses.
Ask your potential candidates whether they have qualified with more than fifty percent score in order to become a certified tax preparer. You can also visit state boards of accountancy websites to determine the type of credentials or qualifications and status of a tax professional’s license.
#5 Interview potential tax preparers
Here comes the most difficult part of the tax preparer hiring process. Once you have shortlisted potential candidates and verified their credentials, start interviewing them. Ask them how many years they have been in the tax line of business; how they prepare returns; how they respond to questions about returns when asked by IRS or state officials.
Why? Because no matter how much theoretical knowledge a certified tax preparer possesses, real learning transpires only when they work with books of real businesses.
Ask for references from the tax filing candidates to find out more about their work ethic, values, and how exactly they help their clients to meet accounting and tax filing goals. Finsmart’s team of US Tax Sheet and bookkeepers in India also suggests watching out for these soft signals of an expert tax preparer:
- Are they giving you full attention during meetings?
- Are they courteous?
- Do they listen to your queries carefully?
- Do they provide answers to questions and references when asked?
- Do they actually meet or speak to your listed requirements?
#6 Inquire about information security processes
Because hiring a certified tax preparer means letting him handle your sensitive business information such as addresses, credit card numbers, bank accounts, and financial and tax data on regular basis, it is important to inquire about data security processes. During the meeting, ask the following questions to your potential tax preparation candidates:
- How do you protect clients’ personal and financial information?
- How many people are going to have access to my business information?
- Do you encrypt the data?
- Have you established an on-site security process for data protection and confidentiality?
- Do you update critical access and passwords regularly?
- Do you run regular security and data assessments?
Accounting and tax professionals at Finsmart use advanced confidentiality and security measures to nullify the chances of data leaks and theft.
Here’s how we ensure data confidentiality and security for offshore clients!
#7 Ask about IRS PTIN
Our post will be considered incomplete without discussing this tip for hiring a certified tax preparer in 2023! According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States, people who prepare or assist their clients in preparing federal tax returns must have IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and their signatures on the returns. And not the old one but the latest!
If the preparer says that he or she doesn’t have an IRS PTIN number but can still prepare an original tax return for a small contingent fee, it’s okay to have second thoughts. You can also use the IRS website tool to confirm whether or not your hired tax advisor has a PTIN.
Get taxation help from Fismart
Above are important tips and ideas to consider while hiring a certified tax preparer in 2023. Hiring a professional that can handle critical financial/personal information and do tax preparation for your corporation is not an easy task.
In fact, getting started with the process will take a lot of time. But if you keep the aforementioned tips and ideas in mind, we are certain that you will come across a tax filing pro or outsourced accounting firm that can handle your accounting and tax filing in a timely manner.
Got any queries to ask? Send them to info@finsmartaccounting.com and have them answered by our bookkeeping experts.
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Founder & Director
Shalaka Joshi, a Chartered Accountant passionate about outsourcing and problem-solving, brings over 20 years of extensive experience in accounting, payroll, and MIS reporting to her professional endeavors
