is now 
To avoid sounding self-serving, I will begin by sharing my thoughts about when you don’t need a CPA. If you have a simple tax return, one filed using Form 1040EZ (absent claiming credits for lower-income taxpayers), or your Form 1040 reports a standard deduction, then preparing and submitting the return yourself is fine. However, if yours is a more complicated tax situation, if it takes a lot of time for you to prepare the return, or if you have questions about the tax code, (e.g. your eligibility for deductions, and more), you should consider engaging a professional who is a practicing CPA.
Take a minute to listen to “Why Use a CPA” from McRuer Money Minutes for more thoughts.
A CPA is a certified professional, literally a Certified Public Accountant. He or she must deliver professional services meeting specific standards and tough regulations. By law, to prepare others’ tax returns, he or she must also maintain continuing education on all laws governing taxation to keep that certification.
There is more to it than tax preparation. A CPA is trained to think beyond completing your tax returns by computing your tax payment strategies in a way that matches your current financial goals, your history and your future plans.
High standards also help you receive more accurate, comprehensive and trustworthy service. A CPA is there for you year after year and understands your long-term needs. Most CPAs are in business as a business, and you won’t see them set up a short-term office for just tax preparation services which disappears in a few months. These standards assure you that you’re getting a quality service.
Having someone like a professional CPA on your side year-round is a major advantage for you. It allows you to focus on ‘big picture’ tax-saving strategies and overall business and financial decisions. As an individual, your CPA can help you identify tax savings you might miss if you wait until year end. If you’re a business owner, engaging a professional offers even more advantages because they know all the perks and pitfalls that can occur throughout the year regarding what you owe in taxes.
For those of you who use packaged (and sometimes free!) tax preparation software, consider this: Do you really know the hundreds of tax law changes that can occur in just a few years? Software packages have access to large information data bases, but if you don’t know the questions to ask, you may not be getting the answers you need to accurately compute your tax obligation. Additionally, while many terms in the tax laws use common-language words, they have special meanings in the tax code. Who’s responsible if (or when) you make a mistake? CPAs meet a lot of their new clients when they are called after-the-fact to fix “I did it myself” tax filings.
Another key feature more advanced firms like McRuer CPAs offer is a secure method to store your confidential tax information and records. Paperless electronic filing systems provide faster, more secure information transfers with virtually unlimited storage space. You’ll be able to find and file records with ease and enjoy the confidence of knowing that your records are safe in a highly secure storage environment. Your CPA can review your records with you easily and note issues that need more information quickly, and you’re doing your part for the environment.
We all know time is money. Though you will have to take some time to gather and organize your tax records, CPAs save you time from the beginning by taking care of the trouble it takes to complete complicated filings. Yes, CPAs charge by the hour for their services, but you’ll find it well worth it, not just for the time you save, but also because a professional accountant provides more accurate results saving you time and trouble from mistakes. Perhaps most important, you will have confidence knowing that you will pay only the taxes you owe.
Your CPA can offer a wide range of tax preparation and personal financial planning help. Increasingly, people turn to CPAs for retirement planning, planning education funding for their children, estate planning, and help with the financial impact of life-changing events like marriage, serious illness, death, and divorce.
Think about using a CPA, because, in the end, it’s about more than your annual taxes.
Here’s a link to more information from the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants.
www.mocpa.org
