Haven’t Met With Your CPA Since Tax Season? Here’s What You Could Be Missing
When was the last time you had a real conversation with your CPA?
If the answer is tax season, you may be missing one of the most valuable things an accountant can provide: advice before you make important business decisions.
A lot happens between one tax return and the next.
You hire someone. Lose a customer. Have a great quarter. Have a terrible quarter. Take on debt. Buy equipment. Change your pricing. Consider expanding. Wonder why cash is tight even though sales are up.
These are exactly the times when your CPA should be part of the conversation.
Your CPA Can't Advise You on What They Don't Know
Your accountant sees your financial information, but they don't automatically know what's happening inside your business.
They may not know you're considering another location.
They don't know you're struggling with a staffing decision.
They don't know you're thinking about making a major purchase.
And they don't know that you're concerned about cash flow unless you tell them.
That's why a strong CPA relationship requires more than exchanging documents once a year.
Your CPA should understand where the business is today, what's changing, and what you're considering next.
Call Before You Make the Decision
One of the biggest differences between tax preparation and advisory is when the conversation happens.
If you call your CPA after you sign the lease, hire the employee, buy the equipment, or take on the loan, the conversation is about what already happened.
Call before, and the conversation can be very different:
Can we afford this?
What will it do to our cash flow?
What are the tax implications?
What happens if revenue doesn't grow as expected?
Is there another option we should consider?
That's where your accountant can become a valuable part of the decision-making process.
Year-End Is a Good Time to Reconnect
If you haven't spoken with your CPA since tax season, year-end gives you a natural reason to get back together.
Not just to talk about taxes.
Talk about the business.
What's working?
What's changed?
Where are expenses increasing?
How is cash flow?
Are margins where they should be?
What decisions are coming next year?
There may be tax planning that needs attention before December 31. But there may also be business issues that deserve attention before they become bigger problems.
Your Accountant Should Know Where You're Going
A tax return tells your accountant a great deal about where your business has been.
A relationship tells them where you're trying to go.
Maybe next year you're planning to hire.
Maybe you want to improve profitability before growing revenue.
Maybe you're considering expansion.
Maybe your goal is simply to keep more of what the business is already generating.
Those conversations give your CPA the opportunity to look at your financial information in the context of what you're actually trying to accomplish.
That's a very different relationship from meeting once a year to file a return.
Make Your CPA Part of Your Business Conversations
You don't need to talk to your CPA every week.
But your accountant shouldn't be someone you only think about when a tax deadline is approaching.
A strong CPA relationship gives you someone to call when the financial decisions get bigger.
At Ciaccia CPA, we work with business owners throughout the year, combining accounting and tax expertise with advisory support to help our clients evaluate decisions, prepare for what's ahead, and address financial issues before year-end.
If we haven't talked in a while, let's change that.
