Why a CPA is your best bet for tax prep

We sincerely hope that you are not doing your own taxes! Your weekend time is too precious for that.

While Quincy CFO does not prepare taxes for you, what we do is get the books ready for your tax preparer. We have been known a time or two to pass along names of those we’ve worked with — people we know will look out for our colleagues and clients. We aren’t married to any one organization, and no one tax-preparing firm is right for everyone. But we are certain of one thing: do not skimp on this investment — you are most likely to have success with your tax preparer if he or she is a CPA.

Don’t believe us? We’ve asked a CFO-turned-tax preparer to tell you why you should hire a CPA over an accountant, bookkeeper or neighbor.

The following is contributed by Howard Wollner of Futrovsky & Wollner

Whether you are a small business owner or just trying to decide how to prepare your own individual taxes (like Turbo Tax or H&R Block) the decision of whether to hire someone to help prepare the applicable tax returns can be a difficult one. Once you make the decision to have a professional assist you with your tax needs, the next decision is whether that person should be a CPA or not.

Let me address these issues separately.

Should you be handling your own tax filing needs?
This comes down to two factors: time and money. Whether you are a business owner or not, your time is valuable — both in the form of actual dollars spent or saved and quality time you could be spending doing something else. 

As a business owner, do you want to spend time worrying about quarterly estimates, filing extensions or preparing tax returns? Or is your time better spent working on a marketing plan, calling a big customer or training new staff members? Consider payroll as an example. Very few business owners process their own payroll anymore. They determined (rightfully so) that the cost to outsource the process not only allows them to focus on increasing their business, but also reduces the chance of mistakes. The same idea holds true for tax compliance. In addition to the qualitative factors of outsourcing your income tax needs, there are actual quantitative factors. The Internal Revenue Code has become more complicated over the years, not less. There are new deductions, new credits and various other issues that will be difficult to process if you don’t work with them full-time. By hiring a professional to handle your tax compliance needs, you insure that you are taking advantage of all the tax deductions and credits that are available and not making a mistake that could lead to an audit, additional taxes, interest and penalties.

Should you use a CPA?
Once you have made the decision to engage a professional to handle your tax compliance needs, the next question is: does that professional need to be a Certified Public Accountant?

I think the answer is yes. To get the “CPA” designation, a CPA must have a minimum of five years of secondary education, pass a rigorous test and have experience working under another CPA. Even after receiving certification, CPAs must stay up-to-date on current rules and techniques with annual Continuing Education requirements. These aspects alone should give you the "warm and fuzzy" confident feeling that your best interests will be addressed and the various compliance and planning engagements will be handled correctly. Additionally, we answer to a state board and any violations of trust are handled with disciplinary action and made public. Therefore, our reputations are on the line each and every time we take on an engagement.

All of this said, if you value your time and money, you should seriously consider using a professional to handle your tax compliance and planning needs, and that professional should be a CPA.

Howard Wollner is a CPA with a focus on closely held businesses, high net worth individuals and sophisticated estate and trust planning. He also held the position of Chief Financial Officer of a Private Capital Management Company in Rockville, MD for six years. In 2013, Howard started his own tax and accounting practice in Rockville. He has worked extensively with entrepreneurs and high net worth individuals and family units. He can be reached at 301-565-9100 or hwollner@hwollnercpa.com.