Need to Create a Business Tax Plan? How to Work With Your CPA
An honest conversation can determine whether your CPA is able to meet your tax planning needs, and if so, getting prepared yourself is imperative to make it possible for them to do a good job.
Ask any business owner to name their most trusted adviser, and they usually mention their accountant. They assume their CPAs will accurately file their companies’ tax paperwork on time, as well as develop a business tax plan with strategies to keep their taxes as low as possible.
This consultation can help you keep and reinvest thousands of dollars in your business rather than sending it out the door to the government. A business tax plan is as important as your marketing plan or your succession and estate plans. It’s proactive and usually regenerates itself annually, providing recurring savings.
Unfortunately, only one of these things usually happens.
If you meet with your accountant just once or a few times a year before tax-filing season, you can reasonably expect them to prepare your IRS filings. They probably won’t provide, or even think about providing, you with specific tax planning strategies that can help you minimize taxes in the years ahead. This is a surprise for most business owners I’ve talked to over the years.
Your CPA isn’t trying to take advantage of you. The truth is that most simply don’t have the training, the time, the staff or even the office infrastructure to create strategic tax plans for their clients. Accountants are trained to look backward. They’re recording history. Very few of them take the time to look forward, especially as the sheer volume of documentation they need to complete for the IRS grows yearly.
A quick meeting with your CPA – anytime except Jan. 1 to April 15 – will help you clear up misunderstandings, set financial goals and position yourself and your business to take advantage of every possible tax code benefit.
Here's how to learn if your accountant is the right fit for your needs and, if they are, how you can partner with them to have the best possible legal tax outcome.
To continue reading this article
please register for free
This is different from signing in to your print subscription
Why am I seeing this? Find out more here
Have an Honest Conversation With Your Accountant.
Ask your CPA whether they have the knowledge and resources to create a tax plan that will provide recurring savings. If they can’t do it in-house, do they have a network of professionals they can tap? If the answer is no to both questions, find another accountant or be content to pay them to merely fill out and file documents for you.
Know What You Want to Accomplish With a Tax Plan.
Do you want to preserve working capital, build wealth outside your business, obtain equipment to help expand capacity or create new capabilities, or something else? It’s not enough for business owners to tell their accountants they just want to pay less taxes. Be specific. If you and your spouse have different goals, strike a balance between them so you can present a clear objective.
Consider the example of a wife who owns a small business with annual gross revenue of $15 million and net income of $2 million. She keeps pouring money back into the company. Her spouse, meanwhile, worries that the $200,000 they’ve saved outside the business isn’t enough to support them if economic conditions unexpectedly slow. In that instance, a tax planning accountant can develop an asset-protection strategy that will help the couple build and keep wealth outside the company using a variety of tools, including life insurance.
Start the Tax Planning Process Well Before Year’s End.
Initiate discussions about a tax plan for the current year by September or October. Don’t wait until December. By then, accountants won’t have the time to put a plan in place and effectively implement it. It will have to be deferred until next year.
Make Sure Your Business’ Accounting Records Are Up to Date.
I talk to many small-business owners who can rattle off how much revenue they’ve collected year-to-date, but they don’t know their current net profit. That’s because they haven’t taken the time or spent the money to organize their finances. Hire staff, invest in technology, whatever it takes. Without current data, your accountant can’t create an accurate and appropriate tax plan.
Have a Strong and Capable Back Office.
A supportive and smart administrative staff can collect the necessary information. This is the single most important factor in helping your accountant to develop a tax plan because it markedly improves the success rate. Your team must be savvy about cash flow and cash reserves.
Follow Through.
Respond to emails, make the phone calls to recommended vendors — do all the necessary tasks to execute the plan. A strong back office can help here as well. I put clients in touch with vendors to execute strategies, but many times they don’t follow up.
I had one client who owed $500,000 in taxes last year. He wasn’t happy about that, so I gave him a plan for this year and explained the strategy. Months later, he still hasn’t contacted the vendor I recommended to help execute the plan. Time is running out.
Be Prepared to Pay.
It could cost your business thousands of dollars to pay your accountant for a tax plan, but a good one will deliver savings that are four to five times that amount. This should not be looked upon as an expense, even though its cost is deductible as a business expense. Rather, you should regard it as an investment that, if executed properly, will yield a valuable return.
Don’t assume. It’s worth your time to ask if your accountant will suggest forward-looking tax strategies. And it’s worth the investment to follow through.
--
This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.
Bruce Willey has been working with small to midsize businesses across the country for more than a decade, helping them navigate business and tax law in a variety of situations. His services include assisting with business start-ups, operations, growth, asset protection, exit planning and estate planning.
-
Georgia Has a New Income Tax Rate for 2024
Tax Cuts Georgians now have a tax package containing income tax cuts, childcare relief, and potential property tax caps.
By Kelley R. Taylor Published
-
Why Spotify Stock Is Soaring After Q1 Earnings
Spotify beat expectations for the first quarter and its stock is notably higher following the report. Here's why.
By Joey Solitro Published
-
Four Tips to Make Your Sales Presentation a Winner
Being prepared and not being boring can go a long way toward persuading a potential customer to buy into what you’re offering.
By H. Dennis Beaver, Esq. Published
-
Pros and Cons of Waiting Until 70 to Claim Social Security
Waiting until 70 to file for Social Security benefits comes with a higher check, but there could be financial consequences to consider for you and your family.
By Patrick M. Simasko, J.D. Published
-
Now Could Be Time for Private Investors to Make Their Mark
The venture capital crunch may be easing, but it isn't over yet. That means there could be direct investment opportunities for private deal investors.
By Thomas Ruggie, ChFC®, CFP® Published
-
How to Stop Boredom From Ruining Your Happy Retirement
Retirees who explore new interests and have an active social life are more likely to find joy — and even greatness — in the newfound freedom of retirement.
By Richard P. Himmer, PhD Published
-
The Life-or-Death Answers We Owe Our Loved Ones
How our life ends isn’t always up to us, but that question too often must be answered by loved ones and health care workers who don’t know what we would want.
By Joel Theisen, RN Published
-
Hot Tips for Home Buyers and Sellers Right Now
Real estate looks to be especially hopping this spring, thanks to pent-up demand and buyers adjusting to higher mortgage rates. Here’s how you can prepare.
By Pam Krueger Published
-
Is 100 the New 70?
Eating well, exercising, getting plenty of sleep and managing chronic stress can help make you a SuperAger. Funding that long life requires longevity literacy.
By Phil Wright, Certified Fund Specialist Published
-
Nine Lessons to Be Learned From the Hilton Family Trust Contest
Disclaimers, good communication, post-marital agreements and more could help avoid conflict in a family after the owners of a wealthy estate pass away.
By John M. Goralka Published