Thread: is an accountant what i need?

After about 8 years of dealing with this myself I'm ready to hire someone to manage akai..what I really need is for someone to keep track of the sales and bookkeeping which should be remarkably easy since most everything is thru ebay or the website and paid thru paypal.

But more than that I need someone with a business edge that can tell me if certain products are profitable or if I'm paying too much..basically I'd love it if they can tell me on average what the profit is after all expenses and possibly guide me a bit on that..

would i seek out an accountant for this? I already have a tax person she does my taxes but I dont think she would be willing to do this part..

Try a bookkeeping service first.

Yeah...ditto. A good bookkeeping service.

you might also try SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" and see if they can hook you up with a mentor in your area.
[just in case anyone isn't familiar with score: retired business professionals who mentor]

You need a bookkeeper who took cost accounting. If you need help setting things up, let me know (Future CPA here...)

yeah a good bookkeeping service will help you tons! :) I work for one right now and she's kick ass. Good luck Amity on the CPA thing, thats alot of testing you have to do :)

Mina

I'm a CPA and I do this kind of stuff for clients. Yes, you want a bookkeeper, but make sure that person has a college degree- there are a lot of really bad bookkeepers out there who have no training and are clueless, and if they prepare your books incorrectly it could cost you big time in taxes.
What software are you using? If you are using QuickBooks then you can search on the QuickBooks website for a Certified QuickBooks Professional in your area.
Oh, if they only charge $10/hour then run in the opposite direction. Anyone worth hiring should (in my opinion) be charging a minimum of $20/hour. (I charge $50-75/hour depending on what I'm doing). You get what you pay for in accounting.
Hope this helps!

Cari

Originally Posted by bellycool

Oh, if they only charge $10/hour then run in the opposite direction. Anyone worth hiring should (in my opinion) be charging a minimum of $20/hour. (I charge $50-75/hour depending on what I'm doing).
Cari

Oh god yes, that's a good point, make sure they are charging standard in your area. In the bay area my bookkeeper charges 27 for her subcontractors and 50 for her. (our CPA next door charges 85-98 hr)

M

I agree. I am also a CPA and you should always seek the services of a professional. In the Seattle area, a good bookkeeping service will charge roughly $45 per hour. Any time I do any bookkeeping it is at $55/hour and my CPA hourly rate is $135 hour. You are paying for knowledge and in the long run it will save you money by utilizing someone who knows what they are doing.

Good point ladies on the education thing. I don't know about you all, but I've seen some scary things...

thanks for posting you guys. i've talked to a few local bookkeepers in HI but none were CPA's..I can afford to hire a pro so do you think it's more worthwhile to let the CPA handle things? Will they also do bookkeeping tasks (Quickbooks is fine in fact i have a copy) ? I'd prefer they kept the books updated too ..even if it only takes an hour a week i'm still very happy to pay someone to do it for me ..it's worth it. same with CPA. can a CPA do taxes as well..i already have someone who does my taxes but she just does taxes not bookkeeping. hope all that makes sense.

of the people i talked to so far a few of them had masters degrees.

sorry for lack of capital letters i'm holding baby:)

A CPA will not be doing your bookkeeping, they will just oversee your account and have someone in the office do the bookkeeping. A CPA will check over their financials at the end of the year (Usually most try to meet with you at year end or after) and can do your taxes as well. But if you don't want to switch to a CPA firm for taxes then you don't have to. However, they are a great resource. I think if you can find an educated bookeeper, then you would be ok-a Masters is pretty impressive. I don't even have that yet!

But if you go with a CPA, it would be easier for them to do everything (books & taxes) as they would otherwise have to spend some time looking over your business and getting to know you before they do your taxes.

My .02