This past year was the first year that I was fortunate enough to work from my home. Working from my home has been a wonderful change for both personal and professional reasons. The only thing that caused a slight issue was the tax filing changes that I had to endure. The office in my home was now considered a tax deduction. I had to get some help learning how to deduct the things that are allowed on my federal taxes. If you are new to working from home and have a home office, this blog can help you learn what you need to know before tax time rolls around.
If you are a small business owner, you have all kinds of taxes you need to worry about. You may have tried to do those taxes on your own or used a tax program to do your taxes. Just keeping your books straight so that you can do your taxes can be confusing and the various programs you try may not be what you need. One option to deal with this is to go with a certified public accountant. You may have had people tell you that you need to use a CPA, but you may not know exactly what they can do for you.
Certified Public Accountant
A CPA is different from a regular accountant. They both start out the same way, by graduating from an accountant program with a degree. The difference starts with the fact that a CPA has done further studying. They have gone on to get a further certification by taking and passing the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination. On top of that, the CPA also has to meet other licensing requirements through their state.
CPA Duties
There are several things that a CPA can do for you. They don't just keep your books or make sure that your taxes are done correctly; they can also help your business to grow.
One way that the CPA can help you grow is to help you optimize your profits. One way in which they can do this is to help you decide what things you should invest in for your business. For example, your CPA can help you decide whether or not buying new office equipment is a good idea. The CPA can run a cost/benefit analysis. That means that they will see if the cost of the new equipment will actually be worth it. The CPA may recommend that you lease some equipment versus buying it.
A certified public accountant can also help to financially streamline your business. It's very easy for your finances to get out of your control and for you to end up paying more than you have to on certain things. For example, you may not always realize that there are deductions you could take or discounts that you are entitled to. Your CPA can look at all your finances, see where the money is coming in and going out, and then give you a plan to cut down on unnecessary expenditures and how to make your business more financially viable.
If you have a small business and you want to make it successful, then you need to have a CPA. Using computer programs to balance your books and do your taxes can only get you so far. A CPA can help you get the rest of the way, so contact a CPA firm, such as Carmines Robbins & Company PLC, today.
Share22 December 2015
