Are You Providing These Services for Your Clients?

Source: Practical Accountant

Small businesses are dependent on their CPAs to help them deal with a wide range of problems. Business owners may be unable to perceive themselves with objectivity. In this article CPA firms tell PA about some of the services their clients value highly, such as:

• Helping clients anticipate the effects of, and prepare for, a decline in sales (including help with cost reduction).
• Finding employees and negotiating agreements with them.
• Help in succession between generations.
• Assistance in outsourcing services.
• Budgeting.
• Strategic and tactical planning.
• Designing employee benefit plans.
• Choosing the right type of business entity.
• Help in selecting lawyers, bankers, insurance agents, financial advisors, etc.
• Advice on lease v. buy decisions.
• Help with financing.
• Discussing client financial statements with bankers.
• Preparing a book (and a CD) with all estate and planning documents, key advisors, and corporate documents, and updating it annually.
• Alerting all clients and advising them on how to deal with increasing attempts by states to establish sales tax nexus for out of state companies.
• Advice on gifting of shares of the business to heirs. Business valuations may be needed during the recession to establish lower values for gift-tax purposes.
• Conducting cost segregation studies to increase cash flow.

The economic climate accentuates the need for CPAs to understand their clients’ businesses.

For the complete article, click here and select the article “Imparting Small-Business Service Enhancements” in the January 2009 issue.

From Practical Accountant, January 2009, SourceMedia Inc., One State Street Plaza, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10004, 800-221-1809.