Posted by Keith Hall, NASE National Tax Advisor - You have probably heard the general advice that it is always a good idea to have a professional help you with your tax and accounting issues. The same goes for marketing and legal and information technology and whatever else you can name. But I guess I am becoming less and less sure that this is the right philosophy. As a Certified Public Accountant myself, I hate to say that you don’t need to go out right this minute and engage one of my peers to help in your business, but I just don’t think you do.
The fact is that with today’s technology there are virtually thousands of resources available to you…well virtually. That is right on-line and only as far away as your closest internet connection. The National Association for the Self Employed has a complete slate of professional consultants, including CPAs, tax professionals, marketing professionals, attorneys, etc, available 24/7 to answer questions from small business owners at www.NASE.org. All for about $10 a month! (I am still not sure exactly how they are able to do that, but they do!) The IRS has a very good website at www.IRS.gov as does the Small Business Administration at www.SBA.gov.
So what’s my point? Sure, I will say that it is always a good idea to have a CPA or tax professional to call upon in managing your business but don’t let that be the first place you go. Bookmark those websites, brush up on your typing skills and ask your questions on-line first before you write a big check to someone just because they have some cool letters after their name. Who knows, you might even be able to teach your CPA some new tricks.