[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How to Find an Accountant / CPA?
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       Ask HN: How to Find an Accountant / CPA?
        
       I've called around to a few local accountants who all seemed to be
       lacking in their knowledge of startup / SaaS taxation, or seemed
       otherwise uninterested in my business. Any advice for finding an
       accountant / CPA who is both knowledgeable of technology / startups
       / SaaS, yet can also handle the details about my specific geography
       (I am not in Silicon Valley, so while I could find a national / SV
       accountancy who satisfies the "knowledge of tech" requirement, they
       would likely not know much about taxes in my area).  FWIW, I am
       operating as a single member LLC for now as I am not going for a
       huge VC-backed idea at the moment. I understand that this is
       treated as a disregarded entity for federal purposes, but need
       advice for state and local taxes / sales taxes.  Then there is the
       question of "is a CPA or a lawyer the more appropriate person to
       ask about X?". For example, do I need to register for a county
       vendor's license if I sell software as a service? Would a CPA know
       that or is that more of a lawyer question? The county laws written
       in 90s-tech-inspired-legalese on the topic are unclear to my layman
       brain.  Bonus points for good questions to ask as tests when
       determining who to work with. Extra bonus points for how much you
       pay for your accountant.
        
       Author : edot
       Score  : 8 points
       Date   : 2023-06-11 21:12 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
       | grepLeigh wrote:
       | What specific problems are you hoping a CPA will solve for you?
       | 
       | For professional services, I'll usually try Yelp if I can't find
       | a referral. Go to startup/small business owner meetups in your
       | area to kvetch with founders, and trade contact info with
       | everyone you meet. Great way to vet CPAs, contractors, misc
       | labor/services.
        
       | grepfru_it wrote:
       | A lawyer will advise you on legal and matters that involve
       | liability. Accountants/CPAs make sure your finances are in order
       | and that you do not have any local state or federal tax
       | liabilities.
       | 
       | There is a small intersection but I would highly recommend a tax
       | lawyer if you enter that territory (government sends demand
       | letters about your tax liability).
       | 
       | I went with my personal accountant for my 500k-1m/year startup
       | with contractors. They provided me a rep and they were
       | responsible for ensuring my p&l and irs filings were accurate. I
       | spent maybe 30 minutes a month with them, depending on how much
       | travel I had. I would graduate to a real accounting firm if I
       | needed someone to manage my employee expenses / needed healthcare
       | providers.
        
       | deesnider wrote:
       | If you're "just" a single-member LLC you may have trouble finding
       | a long-term accountant in general, let alone finding one with
       | specific "tech" knowledge outside of the SV area. Accountants
       | want to make money, your tax situation is probably very simple
       | and so you're not worth their time. I have an S Corp, so slightly
       | more complicated than you, but I've been through two accountants
       | so far who ended up simply ghosting me after some amount of time
       | when they realize it's not worth it to have to field an e-mail or
       | two from me over the course of a year. All local accountants have
       | sophisticated tax software now, so they're happy to take you on
       | and charge you a few thousand a year for what amounts to an
       | introductory call + an entry into their system. As soon as you
       | require any amount of upkeep, they walk.
        
       | oldtownroad wrote:
       | bench.co offer everything you need, I've been very impressed.
       | Flat fee, listed on website.
        
       | Aulig wrote:
       | I use Paddle, so they handle all the VAT stuff for my SaaS (can
       | get complicated otherwise because software sales usually mean you
       | need to pay VAT in the customers country).
       | 
       | Then I picked a local accountant and he successfully cleaned up
       | my mess of trying to do it myself. I pay 113EUR/month (I'm in
       | Germany), but that includes my personal taxes too. But neither my
       | business nor personal tax situation is very complicated.
        
       | kyleyeats wrote:
       | It all really depends on which state you live in. If you live in
       | California, for example, you should move and start a business in
       | a different state.
        
       | realjohng wrote:
       | 1. CPAs are more credentialed than general accountants.
       | 
       | 2. You could ask them if they other client similar to your
       | business profile? Outside of the tech metros this is probably
       | unlikely.
        
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       (page generated 2023-06-11 23:01 UTC)