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How do you get an accountant? I've asked friends, and they don't have them, don't know good local ones, or when I did find someone who had one and was happy wit

by natch 12y ago

How do you get an accountant? I've asked friends, and they don't have them, don't know good local ones, or when I did find someone who had one and was happy with theirs, I called the accountant and he doesn't return calls.

runako 12y ago
Other business owners in your market & locality are a great source of referrals. And there's nothing wrong with searching the Internet, if you're willing to check references of the firms you consider.
jtbigwoo 12y ago
When I was looking, I printed out a list of 5 independent accountants nearest me and set up a half-hour to talk to them. Some have "packages" where they charge a set amount for certain services like helping with quarterly tax filings. In my area, the prices were pretty similar whether they offered pre-set pricing or not. I ended up mostly listening for whether their risk tolerance was the same as mine. Several of them were quite eager to explain the ways that they would stretch the rules to save me money.
craigching 12y ago
People networking, that's how we found ours. My wife was a hair stylist at an upscale salon and used to do the hair of successful professionals. We found our accountant through those people. Not that you need to marry a hair stylist to accomplish this though ;)
moron4hire 12y ago
First, be persistent. Accountants and their secretaries are people. They don't necessarily have the best handle on all of their communication streams. Second, there are these things call "telephone books" that list the "telephone numbers" of businesses in a section called the "yellow pages". Sorry, snark aside, it's pretty easy to find info about the accountants in your area (and I would prioritize finding one that is close, so you can easily visit their offices to drop off last-minute paperwork). Pick a few in your are and go visit their offices. Talk to them. See if your bullshit detector goes off.
- gknoy 12y ago
  How do you find a __good__ accountant or lawyer, though? I don't have a clue how to evaluate that.
  - moron4hire 12y ago
    Sometimes you just have to accept that you can't make the perfect-best-greatest choice on everything. Just go with one. Flip a coin. See how it goes and talk to people. If their experiences sound better then yours, jump ship.

by natch 12y ago

runako 12y ago

Other business owners in your market & locality are a great source of referrals. And there's nothing wrong with searching the Internet, if you're willing to check references of the firms you consider.

jtbigwoo 12y ago

When I was looking, I printed out a list of 5 independent accountants nearest me and set up a half-hour to talk to them. Some have "packages" where they charge a set amount for certain services like helping with quarterly tax filings. In my area, the prices were pretty similar whether they offered pre-set pricing or not. I ended up mostly listening for whether their risk tolerance was the same as mine. Several of them were quite eager to explain the ways that they would stretch the rules to save me money.

craigching 12y ago

People networking, that's how we found ours. My wife was a hair stylist at an upscale salon and used to do the hair of successful professionals. We found our accountant through those people. Not that you need to marry a hair stylist to accomplish this though ;)

moron4hire 12y ago

First, be persistent. Accountants and their secretaries are people. They don't necessarily have the best handle on all of their communication streams. Second, there are these things call "telephone books" that list the "telephone numbers" of businesses in a section called the "yellow pages". Sorry, snark aside, it's pretty easy to find info about the accountants in your area (and I would prioritize finding one that is close, so you can easily visit their offices to drop off last-minute paperwork). Pick a few in your are and go visit their offices. Talk to them. See if your bullshit detector goes off.

gknoy 12y ago
How do you find a __good__ accountant or lawyer, though? I don't have a clue how to evaluate that.
- moron4hire 12y ago
  Sometimes you just have to accept that you can't make the perfect-best-greatest choice on everything. Just go with one. Flip a coin. See how it goes and talk to people. If their experiences sound better then yours, jump ship.