4 Reasons Why Your Start-Up Needs a CPA

5/25/2017 - By Chandra Clines, CPA

Accounting is the language of business. You have probably heard this phrase before. But what if you aren’t fluent? Should you be spending hours and days learning a new language when you are launching a new business? Not at all! Let a CPA help you.

Specialization

Time is probably the most important resource as an entrepreneur. Having an accounting team by your side allows you to focus on what is most important: your business. CPAs can educate you on what you need to understand and what functions are best handled by them.

Planning

So many decisions, from big to small, need to be made when starting a new business. A CPA can help ensure you do not overlook any important accounting decisions or laws. You can make decisions about business structuring, tax planning, accounting system set-up, and even retirement planning with your CPA. A full service CPA firm can scale with a start-up’s needs providing assurance (audit, review or compilation) services as the new business grows for loan or funding purposes.

Monetary Savings

Working with a CPA from the start can cause tax savings in many ways. By structuring the business in a tax beneficial way, you will get the most tax savings available. If the accounting system and structure is set up properly in the beginning, you will be saved from costly accounting clean-up work later. Finally, when you have a relationship with a CPA, you can reach out to them ahead of major decisions, such as large asset purchases or the sale of a business, and structure them in the most tax beneficial way.

Access to Capital

Many times investors or financial institutions prefer to work with businesses that already have a CPA. Additionally, if assurance work is required for the loan, it is often prepared at a lower cost and in a timelier manner by a CPA firm with whom you have an existing relationship.

Engaging a CPA firm early on is one of the most beneficial business decisions a start-up can make. CPAs can help entrepreneurs meet their current and long-term business goals while maximizing tax savings. Email me or a member of our Tax Consulting Team if you have any questions regarding your start-up.

About the Author | Chandra Clines, CPA

Chandra is a senior in the Tax & Accounting Services Department of Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund. Prior to joining Saltmarsh in July 2016, she had worked for an aviation consulting firm with specialized taxation experience serving the aircraft industry.

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