Questions about accountants, etc...

Kemer

First off, I`m new here. Hello everyone. I`m in the middle of starting my business. It`s an online business that ideally, will mostly run itself once it`s set up. Aside from some marketing/pr work. I did all the up front work. Research, product development, data collection, budgeting, etc. Or at least I thought I did. The backstory for those interested:This was supposed to be a startup that would cost me both a minimal amount of time and money. I was planning on financing everything myself. Well, I`m obviously new to this, because I`ve experienced a number of unforseen variables that have resulted in additional costs (somewhat prepared for) and A LOT of additional time in getting things up and running. With that said, I`m totally up for the challenge. But I`m keeping a steady 40 hour work week job at the same time I`m developing the business. And it`s taking much, much longer than expected. Nowon to my question. I am pretty sure I`m at the point I need an accountant. I`m officially legally registered as a S Corporation. And all the laws, rules, regulations, codes, etc... are very burdensome and difficult to understand. I initially thought I could manage keeping the books on my own until it came to tax time, at which point I`d secure a "once a year accountant." I`m pretty sure I completely missed the mark on that. I don`t know if anyone can suggest a good business accountant or not... but what I`m really interested in hearing any information that might be helpful in finding, keeping, securing, etc... one. I honestly have no concept of how they work. I`ve always done my personal taxes on my own and never really had a need for one. Can someone inform me of as much as possible... from costs, to expectations, etc, etc, etc...?Thank you all for help in advance. I look forward to hearing from you.

PiperTax

You`re right. S-Corps are the structure that easily has the most accounting and legal costs accompanying it. Luckily, many (most?) small accounting practices do bookkeeping.As to recommending a specific one, I`ve heard good things about Gina Gwozdz. She`s a CPA in Texas, but from what I gather she has clients all over the country.

PiperTax

Absolutely agree, CrossCountry. My practice (tax only, not bookkeeping) is certainly not limited geographically. I`d say that`s pretty common from the demographic you`d get at SUN or other similar forums.
Head over to Taxalmanac.org though, and you`ll see something quite different. Many practitioners with local-only businesses, no websites, etc. That`s the only reason I even mentioned it, *shrug.*

PiperTax

Linda, you`re probably right as to our businesses complementing each other well. For the time being, however, I`m not really taking on more clients. I`m already more or less maxed out for tax season.
I`m currently working primarily on promoting my tax guide for new entrepreneurs and creating other (relatively) passive revenue streams for the other 9 months of the year.
Regards,
Mike PiperPiperTax2007-9-28 12:29:26

PiperTax

Thanks Linda.  I think I may not have explained very clearly. My book isn`t about how to create passive income streams. It`s about taxes for sole proprietors. (And, for me, the goal is for it to become a passive revenue generator.)And yes, I`ll be sure to keep people posted on how it goes.