How to Select a CPA: Things to Consider When Choosing a Professional Accounting Firm

Whether you're interested in business or personal accounting assistance, it is vital to select a tax professional who you can trust to expertly guide you through the often intimidating world of finance. While accounting is, in its most basic definition, the careful monitoring of expenses and assets, every situation requires different considerations in order to ensure that each penny is accurately tracked and wisely used. Factors such as tax codes, fluctuating costs, legal requirements, and more can all have a distinct effect on your financial health. The right professional accountant will have what it takes to bring you successful outcomes.

Choosing an accounting firm can be complicated, however. Some customers may be more comfortable with a small local firm rather than a large national chain, while others are worried about finding a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firm that will be able to accommodate their unique circumstances. Whether you're just starting out in the business world or are looking for ways to improve your current personal money-management habits, it is important to know what type of service you expect from your CPA and how to decide whether or not a particular firm is a good match for you. Before you start searching the Internet or the phone book for a list of CPA firms, consider the following:

The type of assistance you require--Stop to consider exactly what you need before you choose an accountant. Some CPAs prefer to stick to more generalized accounting services, such as the preparation of annual financial statements, while others are available for year-around advice and can provide assistance with specified services, including ongoing financial planning and more. If you're a business owner, you may even be able to find an accountant in your area who specializes in your particular industry, such as non-profit or retail accounting. In order to ensure that you're receiving the best possible help, you will want to make sure that you choose an accounting firm that focuses on the services that will be most beneficial to you. Keep in mind that some financial necessities, such as filing back taxes, may be better suited to a tax attorney.
Personal comfort--It is not a bad idea to interview a few CPAs in order to be sure that are you are comfortable with the professional that you eventually select. After all, you are choosing a person who will be handling your financial matters, and if you have doubts about this person's professionalism, their ability to communicate with you, or your general ability to work together, you could be putting your livelihood at stake. Be sure to ask questions so you can get a feel for how this accountant firm approaches your needs. You want to be comfortable with the accounting firm's particular business culture, confident in their ability to give you negative news, and assured of their ability to accurately examine your financial situation and set you up for success.
Credentials--It is important to double-check your accountant's accreditation. Where did they receive their education? Are they currently licensed and certified in your state? Also, how many years of experience do they possess? If you would feel more comfortable entrusting your financial needs to someone with a few years of experience rather than someone fresh out of school, trust your gut.
References--Do you know someone who uses an accounting professional? Personal experience is an invaluable resource when it comes to choosing an accounting firm. Don't be afraid to ask others who they've used for their accounting needs and if they'd recommend their services to others. If you desire, you can even ask the firms that you've interviewed to provide you with a list of their most important clients so you can get a sense of the quality of their work.

Accountants can help you get off on the right foot, make smarter and more informed financial decisions, and stay prepared for the future. Whether you are looking for a multifaceted accountant to help you with a wide range of services or need assistance with one particular project, it is only wise to do your research and select a professional who is perfectly suited to you.

By asking the right questions and educating yourself about your options, you'll be more likely to locate a CPA who is equipped to fulfill your needs. Maria Allen is an active proponent of wise financial planning and is an Internet marketer for Prospect Genius, offering search engine optimization solutions.

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Fundamental Concepts of Accounting

All accounting information, whether for decision support or for accountability purposes, relies on the same foundation, the collection and processing of financial data. This process starts with five fundamental concepts; the accounting entity, going concern, accounting period, transactions and the accounting equation.

Accounting data is collected for an accounting entity - the economic unit for which financial reports will be prepared. The entity is accounted for separately from its owner or other accounting entities within the same organization. An accounting entity need not be the same as a legal entity. For example, a department within a company or a university may well be an accounting entity, but only the company, or the university is the legal entity - able to enter contracts and take legal action in its own right.

Accounting entities are generally assumed to have indefinite life - that is, they will exist for the foreseeable future, unless there is clear evidence to the contrary. A few entities have specific lives - Olympic Games organizing companies and entertainment concert tour companies are examples. Some other entities may run into serious financial difficulties that threaten their continuing existence. However, most entities are assumed to be going concerns and, as we will see, their financial statements reflect this key assumption.

Because of the going concern nature of accounting entities and the need to report to both management and external parties at regular intervals, a further concept is adopted - that of the accounting period. This divides the indefinite life of the entity into finite reporting periods - appropriate to the use to be made of the financial reports. The most common periods are monthly for management (internal) purposes and annually (or six monthly) for generally purpose (external) reporting.

Each accounting entity undertakes some form of economic activity. These activities give rise to accounting transactions - economic events that effect the financial position of the business and that can be reliably measured. Common examples of accounting transactions are sale for cash or on credit, purchase for cash or credit, bank loans, amounts owing to suppliers, funds provided by owners. Generally, events are not recognized as accounting transactions until they are substantially completed. For example, orders placed by customers are incomplete until goods or services are provided. Such orders are not recognized as transactions, although they represent important decisions. When an accounting entity begins operations, its transactions are recorded on source documents - such as invoices, receipts, checks, and bank statements. From there, the transactions are entered in the financial records of the entity - according the certain procedures that ensures that the records are accurate.

Transactions are recorded according to their impact on the accounting equation, which represents the financial position of the entity. At the very beginning of a business, the entity receives funds (capita) from its owner and may borrow further funds (loans) from outsiders. The entity now has an asset (cash) but owes this amount in total to its funders: as owners' equity and liabilities. In the fundamental accounting equation, this is expressed as: Assets = Liabilities + Owners' equity.

Arfan Ul Haq is an Asian author. He writes economics articles about various topics of economics and accounting such as accounting equation.

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Accounting As Accountability in the Public Sector

The three characteristics that distinguish public sector organizations from private entities and emphasize the need for accountability are objectives, ownership and funding. A private firm can measure its success by the profit it makes, as this is its major objective. This may be qualified by the reporting of achievement of secondary objectives, such as retaining a certain percentage of a quality market, employing people, reducing pollution or earning export dollars.

The public sector has different primary objectives to the private sector. These are a mix of the social, political and macroeconomic objectives. Matters such as jobs, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation, social property and public opinion can have an overriding claim on the attention of the government of the day. At an operational level, organizations are concerned with the quality, frequency, quantity and value for money of the service being provided.

Of these operational objectives, only value for money can be measured in dollar terms, but it cannot be measured at all it the other dimensions of the service are not known. For example, was the service what was required, was it good enough, did it satisfy all the objectives? Simply reporting the cost of a service conveys no information about the service itself.

Accountability in the public sector is therefore a more complicated business than merely reporting on the bottom line profit. Each objective needs a means of describing it and a method of showing if it has been met. Such performance measures will differ from service to service: for example, what will measure the effectiveness of sewage disposal is obviously not appropriate for reporting the performance of the diplomatic crops. These measures are reported to public sector stakeholders by means of annual plans and statements of service performance. The need for measures of non-financial performance does not apply so much to the profit seeking parts of the public sector.

In the private sector, most firms are owned by the individuals who have chosen to adapt this role and who will demand access to information about their investments. In the public sector ownership is involuntary - everyone owns the public sector, whether they want to or not, and cannot individually sell their ownership. This global, non-selected ownership creates a greater need for accountability.

In the private sector, expenditure is incurred for the purpose of generating income. For example, marketing expenditure and warehousing costs are incurred in order to produce revenue. By contrast, the source of income for the public sector are largely unrelated to expenditure. Most of the taxes and rates levied are unspecific - not intended to pay for particular services. Other income sources, such as rents, sales, fees and part charges, may relate to the service being provided.

Because of the nature of the services provided, receipt of public sector services can be invisible, reluctant or paid for by someone else - or even another generation. For example, tax can be used to prevent air pollution (which the taxpayer may be unaware of), used on defence or spent on hospitals (yet the tax payer may always be healthy).

Arfan Ul Haq is an Asian author. He writes articles about various topics of accounting and economics such as debt service ratio and elasticity of demand.

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Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011

Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011 helps you work more easily and efficiently with robust core accounting and added features like job costing, time and billing, in-depth inventory capabilities, and analysis tools. Its multi-user option* helps improve productivity while providing screen-level security and a clear audit trail. Save time with simplified dashboards, management centers, integration with Microsoft Excel*, and comparative budgeting. The Internal Accounting Review* helps you track errors and deter fraud. Available with more than 100 customizable business reports and financial statements. Achieve better business results through accurate accounting and business controls with Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011.

Additional Product Features

• Business Status Center Dashboard
• Manage depreciation for up to 200 fixed assets*
• Streamlined service billing
• Job status indicators
• Enhanced assemblies reporting
• Support for Terminal Services*
• Create and track shipping with UPS integration*

Who's It For?
Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011 is designed for owners and managers of service- or product-oriented small businesses who need robust accounting functionality plus in-depth analysis. It offers user-friendly tools, multiple Help options, and advanced capabilities, including 100+ customizable business reports, time and billing, job costing, advanced inventory, and audit trails. Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011 makes it easy to upgrade your accounting system to meet the needs of your expanding business. It has a multi-user option* for improved productivity.

Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011 enables fast start-up, check writing, invoicing, purchasing, bank reconciliation, project tracking, in-depth inventory, payroll*, time and billing, audit trails, screen-level security, and more. It’s ideal for people who want to achieve better business results through accurate accounting and business controls. All first-time Sage Peachtree customers receive 30 days of free support*, 30 days of free online training*, and a no-risk, 60-day, money-back guarantee, which guarantees satisfaction or refund of purchase price less any rebates paid. In the event you need a more robust solution to handle such needs as company consolidation, compensation management and advanced budgeting, please consider Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting 2011.

Why Choose a Sage Peachtree Solution?
If you view accounting as a tool that can help you make better decisions rather than just a necessary chore, Sage Peachtree is the perfect choice. Sage Peachtree is designed for people like you who are dedicated to getting the numbers right, so you can truly understand how your business is performing. Sage Peachtree is an easy-to-use solution based on real, double-entry accounting principles with module- or screen-level security, audit trails, and automatic accounting checks. You get the accuracy and control you need to improve results.

(*See www.peachtree.com/disclosures for details.)

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New and Improved Features for 2011

Setup Advisor helps new and veteran users discover better ways to use Sage Peachtree with step-by-step advice on how to create and maintain records.

Streamlined Service Billing helps service-based businesses save time and prevent delayed or lost revenue by quickly generating multiple invoices for unbilled time and expenses.

Job Status Indicators help users keep their jobs on track with an at-a-glance view that lets them quickly sort or filter jobs based on customizable status types such as "on schedule," "delayed," or "at risk."

Inventory and Services Management Center lets users quickly track and evaluate inventory items and services to make more informed purchasing and sales decisions.

Enhanced Assemblies Reporting helps you understand your assembly items at a glance so you can better manage assembly costs and meet customer delivery goals.

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New Feature Screenshots

Get step-by-step advice on how to create and maintain records. Click to enlarge.	Quickly generate multiple invoices for unbilled time and expenses. Click to enlarge.	Set up a virtually unlimited number of custom job statuses. Click to enlarge.
The color-coded “stoplight signals” make it easy to visually see which jobs you need to focus on. Click to enlarge.	Easily sort and filter by Job Status on the Job List. Click to enlarge.	A customizable dashboard provides at-a-glance inventory and services information. Click to enlarge.

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Sage Peachtree 2011 Product Family Feature Comparison Chart

	Sage Peachtree First Accounting	Sage Peachtree Pro Accounting	Sage Peachtree Complete Accounting	Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting
Standard Accounting
Easy start-up and 30 days of free training1	X	X	X	X
Print checks, pay bills and track purchases	X	X	X	X
Invoice for sales, receive payments and print collection letters	X	X	X	X
Basic accounting with ledgers, registers and financial statements	X	X	X	X
Professional, customizable reports	35+	80+	100+	125+
Improve communications by e-mailing reports and financial statements2	X	X	X	X
Purchase and track items for sale	X	X	X	X
Track and bill for services and labor	X	X	X	X
Electronically reconcile bank statements3	X	X	X	X
Protect critical data with user security	Module	Module	Screen	Screen
Conversion from QuickBooks 2008-2010, Basic through Enterprise4		X	X	X
Business Management Tools
Do-it-yourself and fully managed payroll solutions5		X	X	X
Build inventory assemblies and track customer back orders		X	X	X
Average, LIFO and FIFO inventory costing methods		X	X	X
Built-in checks for common accounting errors6		X	X	X
Create marketing flyers and newsletters with Microsoft Word integration7		X	X	X
Use quotes and sales orders to manage sales		X	X	X
Manage relationships with customer contact information and history		X	X	X
Get paid faster by e-mailing invoices2		X	X	X
Flexible reporting with Microsoft Excel integration8		X	X	X
Control cash flow, payments, and collections with analysis tools		X	X	X
Limit fraud exposure with PCI-DSS compliance for credit cards9			X	X
Electronic bill payment through Sage Peachtree Bill Pay10			X	X
Create and track shipping with UPS integration11			X	X
Advanced Accounting
Sync customer information with Microsoft Outlook contacts2			X	X
Maintain accountability with audit trail reporting			X	X
Manage depreciation for up to 200 fixed assets12			X	X
Control job revenue and expenses at the phase and cost code level			X	X
Premium Features
Create multiple budgets based on departments and cost centers				X
Consolidate multiple companies for financial reporting				X
Design and share insightful reports with Crystal Reports 2008				X
Print financial statements by organizational department				X
Help increase job profitability with change order processing				X
Track serialized inventory				X
Open and edit Sage Peachtree 2011 client company files, except Sage Peachtree Quantum				Premium--Accountants' Edition
Create customized inventory, job and customer dashboard views				Premium--Accountants' Edition
Restore client backups				Premium--Accountants' Edition
Print construction industry-specific operational reports				Premium for Construction
Automatically apply labor burden at the company or job level				Premium for Construction
Progress billing based on percent of contract, completion or proposal				Premium for Construction
Automated retainage management13 for customer and vendor bills				Premium for Construction
Subcontractor and vendor insurance tracking for compliance				Premium for Construction
Print assembly planning and pick list reports				Premium for Distribution
Analyze inventory sales and purchasing trends				Premium for Distribution
Order and sell using vendor part numbers				Premium for Distribution
Offer quantity price breaks to customers				Premium for Distribution
Create custom units and measures for bulk sales and purchases				Premium for Distribution, Manufacturing
Purchase and sell items in bulk or in multi-pack units				Premium for Distribution, Manufacturing
Advanced bill of materials management				Premium for Manufacturing
Apply automatic price discounts based on custom price levels				Premium for Manufacturing
Manage the assembly build process with work tickets				Premium for Manufacturing
Print manufacturing industry-specific operational reports				Premium for Manufacturing
Print a donor and grantor receipt report				Premium for Nonprofits
Create fundraising letters with a Microsoft Word template				Premium for Nonprofits
Print collections letters for member and pledge fees outstanding				Premium for Nonprofits
Accept new donors with a welcome letter template				Premium for Nonprofits
Produce accurate nonprofit-specific reports				Premium for Nonprofits
Set up quickly with nonprofit-specific chart of accounts				Premium for Nonprofits

Disclaimers (for table):

1. New customers receive 30 days of free on-line training upon signing up with Sage University. Must sign up within 6 months of product registration.
2. Requires Microsoft Outlook 2002, 2003 or 2007; Outlook Express 5 or 6; other MAPI compliant email programs.
3. Internet access required. Your bank may charge a fee to download statements.
4. Versions 2008 - 2010. Excludes conversion of QuickBooks individual payroll transactions. For additional information on conversion limitations, please visit www.peachtree.com/qb.
5. Compliant tax forms and tax tables require a subscription to Sage Peachtree Simple Payroll. For details see www.peachtreepayroll.com or call 877-231-3761.
6. The Internal Accounting Review is not intended to uncover all questionable transactions. Sage Software is not liable or responsible for any fines or penalties that may result from errors in your company accounting records.
7. Requires Microsoft Word 2002, 2003, or 2007.
8. Requires Microsoft Excel 2002, 2003, or 2007.
9. Includes Sage Exchange, which is certified to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS). Requires Internet access.
10. Subject to approval and to Sage terms of service. Additional fees, internet access and checking account required.
11. UPS functionality is subject to UPS terms and conditions. Internet access required.
12. Regulatory compliance requires paid subscription. Additional fees apply for more than 200 assets.
13. Retainage is available only in companies using accrual based accounting.

Price: $299.99

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Finance & Accounting for Non-Financial Managers & Supervisors

VHS Format 3 videos that cover the principles of accounting and finance, basic financial tools as well as planning and monitoring our budget.

Price:

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