Hi All
I have looked everywhere for a source to provide a list of questions to ask your accountant....but I cannot find one that will meet the requirement....so I have pulled together a list of questions I would take into consideration when meeting with an accountant for the first time which I did about 6 months back.
Questions to ask your accountant
(1) What is your qualifications and experience?
(2) How big is your accounting firm and how many staff do you have working for you?
(3) What is the firms experience in dealing with Real Estate and Share Taxation Issues?
(4) What is the firms experience in dealing with various operating structures? ie Individuals, Parnterships, Companies and Trusts etc
(5) Can you provide advice in relation to the best operating structure?
(6) Can you provide me with year end taxation planning so that I know whether I need to spend more prior to the end of the financial year
(7) Do you invest yourself in these areas of property, shares and managed funds?
(8) What is your typical client? High networth, Mum's & Dads, Property Investors?
(9) What timeframe would you be working to to prepare my end of financial year taxation statements and what do I need to provide you with to meet these requirements?
(10) In what format do you want my chart of accounts? ie Myob, Quicken, Money, Excel etc
(11) Can you provide me with an example of your preferred chart of accountants structure (so you can recategorise and synchronise if you need to)
(12) How would we typically communicate with each other? via meetings, email, phone etc
(13) What are you charge for your services? Ideally an hourly rate for a Partner and Junior resource working on your tax return or a fixed charge for a tax return.
What you need to bring to the meeting?
(1) Your Balance sheet stating all your assets, liabilities and equity position
(2) Your Cashflow statement stating all your income and expenses
(3) An outline of how all your loans are structured (ie VLOC or Investment Loans or Residential Loans)
(4) Provide an idea to your accountant about how complex or simple your taxation affairs are going to be (ie how many share transactions, properties you own etc)
After you have gone through this, be direct with your accountant, ask them if they think you are the type of client they would be interested in establishing a relationship with and working through your taxation and business issues together.
Leave the meeting with a clear understanding of what the next steps might be if you were to establish a working relationship with this accountant. Have a think about how the meeting went and how you felt you "connected" with your accountant. Did they listen to you and seek to understand what you are trying to acheive? Only after this time, make a decision and then prepare all your documents ready for tax time.
Hope this is of some help
Kind regards
Corsa
I have looked everywhere for a source to provide a list of questions to ask your accountant....but I cannot find one that will meet the requirement....so I have pulled together a list of questions I would take into consideration when meeting with an accountant for the first time which I did about 6 months back.
Questions to ask your accountant
(1) What is your qualifications and experience?
(2) How big is your accounting firm and how many staff do you have working for you?
(3) What is the firms experience in dealing with Real Estate and Share Taxation Issues?
(4) What is the firms experience in dealing with various operating structures? ie Individuals, Parnterships, Companies and Trusts etc
(5) Can you provide advice in relation to the best operating structure?
(6) Can you provide me with year end taxation planning so that I know whether I need to spend more prior to the end of the financial year
(7) Do you invest yourself in these areas of property, shares and managed funds?
(8) What is your typical client? High networth, Mum's & Dads, Property Investors?
(9) What timeframe would you be working to to prepare my end of financial year taxation statements and what do I need to provide you with to meet these requirements?
(10) In what format do you want my chart of accounts? ie Myob, Quicken, Money, Excel etc
(11) Can you provide me with an example of your preferred chart of accountants structure (so you can recategorise and synchronise if you need to)
(12) How would we typically communicate with each other? via meetings, email, phone etc
(13) What are you charge for your services? Ideally an hourly rate for a Partner and Junior resource working on your tax return or a fixed charge for a tax return.
What you need to bring to the meeting?
(1) Your Balance sheet stating all your assets, liabilities and equity position
(2) Your Cashflow statement stating all your income and expenses
(3) An outline of how all your loans are structured (ie VLOC or Investment Loans or Residential Loans)
(4) Provide an idea to your accountant about how complex or simple your taxation affairs are going to be (ie how many share transactions, properties you own etc)
After you have gone through this, be direct with your accountant, ask them if they think you are the type of client they would be interested in establishing a relationship with and working through your taxation and business issues together.
Leave the meeting with a clear understanding of what the next steps might be if you were to establish a working relationship with this accountant. Have a think about how the meeting went and how you felt you "connected" with your accountant. Did they listen to you and seek to understand what you are trying to acheive? Only after this time, make a decision and then prepare all your documents ready for tax time.
Hope this is of some help
Kind regards
Corsa
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