Do I need an accountant when starting a business? [NYC]

It never hurts to get professional help when you're starting something new. It would be best to do it right the first time with the help of an accountant because tax laws and business structures can become complex. According to Xero, here are some reasons why you should hire an accountant when starting a small business:

1. You’ll need advice when you write a business plan.
2. You’ll need advice about your company’s legal structure
3. You’ll need an accountant to help with the finances
4. Hire an accountant when you're ready to delegate

Congrats on starting your own business, it's no small feat. Although Quickbooks definitely can make your life easier, having a CPA to help out along the way wouldn't hurt so that you can learn about the accounting side of a business.

I am perfectly qualified to not use an accountant. I am a business professor, and my work crosses over into accounting quite a bit. I would certainly find a CPA that is reputable and hire them for advice before starting. I know a physicist who didn't do that and found they ended up with $78,000 in fines.

There are a number of specific things an accountant might provide that Quickbooks will not. First and foremost, they are an outsider's set of eyes. If they are good, they will find a polite way to say "you want to do what?!?!?!" If they are good, they won't fall out of their chair, their jaw won't drop to the floor, and they won't giggle until they get home.

A good accountant has seen around a hundred successful and unsuccessful businesses. They have seen everything you may have thought of. Intelligence is learning from your own mistakes, wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others. Accountants are the repositories of wisdom.

An accountant can point out weaknesses in your plan and help you shore it up. They can provide information about the local market that you may not be aware of. They can assist you with understanding the long run consequences of the legal form that you choose. They can assist you in understanding the trade-offs of different funding models. They can also do tasks that you are not talented at and which will take a lot of time if you do it, and little time if they do it.

There is a reason that accountants are required to have 160 semester hours to sit for the CPA. They also have to have a few thousand field hours before they can sit for it as well.

There is one thing you may want to keep in mind though. An accountant will often do what you ask them to do, so think about what you want before you visit the accountant. Also, remember to ask the question "is there a question I should have asked but didn't?"

My wife has started four businesses now. Her order has usually been 1. Find clients, 2. license business, 3. do your own books, 4. grow to the point doing your own books is a pain, 5 hire an accountant.

I say, find the customers first. When you have enough money coming in, and going out, that you're finding it frustrating. Hire an accountant.