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Get Ready for Tax Season for Your CLNC® Business with the Right CPA

Tax season will be here before you know it. Choosing a CPA is a necessity as you begin your legal nurse consulting business and as your CLNC® business grows. This experience need not be a daunting one.

Match the CPA’s Service to Your Needs

Your main focus should be to match the needs of your CLNC® business with the services provided by the CPA. CPAs can:

  1. Set up your books – A CPA can help you determine your chart of accounts, set up record-keeping guidelines and generally get you started. A CPA can also review your records and tax returns to be sure you’ve made no blatant mistakes.
  2. Prepare all tax returns – These can include both Federal and state tax returns for personal, corporate,  payroll, sales tax and other business-related filings. While a CPA may review returns you have prepared, the CPA will not sign off on them unless he completed the return. A CPA can also help in the event of an audit by the IRS or any other taxing authority. You may also want to consider a payroll service to handle your payroll needs, including tax filings and records compliance.
  3. Provide managerial advice – A CPA who is well informed about your legal nurse consulting business can often provide tax and cost saving suggestions as well as help you make informed decisions about your business based on your financial statements and tax returns. Tax laws and reporting requirements frequently change, and helping you stay abreast of these changes is an important role of the CPA.
  4. Provide complete bookkeeping services – Some CPA firms have bookkeepers on staff who perform the record-keeping the CPA requires for your financial statements and tax returns. While this service is not free, you gain billable hours to devote to your CLNC® business at a higher billing rate than what you would pay for the bookkeeping services.
  5. Help with computer applications – A CPA may be able to guide you in choosing the appropriate accounting software package for your business. Easy-to-use, complete accounting software packages, such as Quicken, Quickbooks and Peachtree are available as are tax preparation software (TurboTax, Tax Cut).

Find the Right Professional

To begin your search for the right CPA, consider networking with other business owners, family members and friends. Other sources for referrals are local legal and professional associations. Each state has an association of CPAs that can give you names. The Internet can also be a source for names of CPAs in your state. One helpful website is aicpa.org which offers a list of State Boards of Accountancy that can be accessed online to research names and verify licensing.

When you have narrowed the field, interview each candidate. Verify the CPA’s license with the respective State Board of accountancy. Take previous tax returns and financial statements with you to give each candidate a chance to understand your business. Ask what their specialties are and if they have worked with consultants or other business owners previously. Request references and contact the references, asking how helpful and accessible the CPA has been for them. If at all possible, have the CPA come to your office. This can help the CPA appreciate where you are in your business and where you want to go in the future. Your focus should be on finding an individual who is compatible with you and knowledgeable about your CLNC® business. Assess whether the candidates have answered your questions thoroughly and used terms you understand.

Here are some additional factors to consider when choosing a CPA:

  • Size
    The size of the CPA firm is important. Large firms can be costly and less likely to give you personal attention. However, they will likely provide a wider range of services than a smaller firm. A sole practitioner can provide personal attention but may offer fewer services, have less time to devote to staying current and might become overwhelmed by a growing business. You may want to start with a sole practitioner and, when your needs outgrow his services, move on to a larger firm.
  • Credentials
    Check the accountant’s credentials. An individual with the CPA designation has met state licensing requirements and passed a difficult two-day national exam. CPAs who belong to the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) are governed by a strict code of ethics and must complete extensive continuing education requirements. Inquire about association memberships and how active the CPA is in those organizations.
  • Integrity
    Integrity and honesty are also a major consideration. Some CPAs stretch the meaning of the law. Be sure you are comfortable with the interpretation your CPA gives you. If you have any doubt about the advice the CPA gives you, get a second opinion.

Be sure to get the fee schedule in writing so you can budget to make the best use of the CPA’s time.

Don’t hesitate to replace your CPA if you find that your needs as a legal nurse consultant are not being met. When you consider the dollars you are losing by using an inefficient CPA, it will help you justify the time you will spend on a search for your new “financial partner.”

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share your CLNC® business tips for finding the right CPA.

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*The opinions and statements made by Vickie Milazzo, the founder of Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. are based on her experiences and expertise, should not be applied beyond the specific context provided, and do not guaranty or project actual results. Vickie Milazzo is no longer involved in the operations or management of the business, but is involved as an independent education consultant.

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