EP42 - Is Your Accountant Costing You? Spot Red Flags and Make a Change!

Show Notes

Your accountant should be your business partner, advocate, and financial guide—not a source of stress, confusion, or missed opportunities. But how do you know if your current accountant is truly serving your business or holding you back? Whether you're feeling underserved, overcharged, or just uncertain if it's time for a change, this episode gives you the clarity and confidence to make the right decision.

Anastasia and Myiesha break down the red flags and green flags to look for in an accounting relationship, how to interview potential new accountants, and what questions to ask before making a switch. You'll learn about communication styles, pricing expectations, timing strategies, and how to ensure a smooth transition. Plus, they tackle the guilt and hesitation many entrepreneurs feel about "breaking up" with their accountant—and why it's actually a normal, healthy part of business growth.

00:00 Introduction: The Cost of a Bad Accountant

00:46 Finding the Right Accountant for You

02:28 Challenges in Switching Accountants

06:36 The Industry Shift: From Mom-and-Pop to Corporate

07:31 Interviewing New Accountants: Key Questions to Ask

12:40 Recalibrating Expectations with Your Current Accountant

14:26 Client Relationships and Communication

16:15 Identifying Fair Pricing

18:11 Best Time to Switch Accountants

21:24 Questions to Ask Before Switching Accountants

22:50 Ensuring Smooth Transition

25:05 Adapting to Business Growth

27:06 Conclusion and Contact Information

Why subscribe? Every week, Let's Get Fiscal shares tax strategies and business finance advice that actually work for real entrepreneurs—not corporate-speak you can't use. You'll get specific, actionable tactics, real client scenarios, and answers to the money questions keeping you up at night. The goal is simple: make business finances less intimidating and more profitable.

🔗 Listen everywhere:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-get-fiscal/id1831050448

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/08AjRNfqQJBdG1vPazii4Q?si=fb0379d3bef94f11

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@letsgetfiscalpodcast

📊 Helpful resources:

Got a question for the show? Submit it here: https://www.coterietax.com/qa

Want to listen to more episodes? Start here: https://www.coterietax.com/podcast

Need personalized help with your business finances? Visit: https://www.coterietax.com

#AccountantRedFlags #SwitchingAccountants #SmallBusinessTax #CreativeBusinessOwner #TaxPreparer #CPAAdvice #BookkeepingTips #BusinessFinance #EntrepreneurTips #LetsGetFiscal #TaxPlanning #AccountingServices

Creators and Guests

Host

Anastasia Aiello

Host

Myiesha Fisher

What is Lets Get Fiscal?

Let’s Get Fiscal is the money podcast for creative entrepreneurs who want to keep more of what they earn and grow their business with confidence. Hosted by CPA and tax strategist Anastasia, each episode makes taxes, bookkeeping, and money management simple, practical, and even fun. We cover topics like tax deductions, small business finances, creative business strategies, and how to avoid costly mistakes—without boring jargon. Whether you’re a filmmaker, designer, artist, or small business owner, you’ll get actionable tips, real-world examples, and a few laughs along the way. If you want to stress less about money and focus more on doing what you love, this is the podcast for you.

[SPEAKER_03]: A bad accountant can cost you thousands.

[SPEAKER_03]: Stress you out or even put your business at risk.

[SPEAKER_03]: Today we're breaking down the red flags, the green flags, and how to know when it's time to make a change.

[SPEAKER_02]: Your creative genius deserves the same precision behind the numbers.

[SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to Let's Get Fiscal, hosted by Anastasia, Maisha, and Danielle, part of the women-led team at Cotary Tax.

[SPEAKER_02]: from SmartTex moves to cash flow strategy, weeds accode everything it takes to run a thriving creative business.

[SPEAKER_02]: So you can scale with confidence and sleep easy at night, press play and let's grow your business.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hi guys, welcome back, I'm Malaysia and I am Anastasia.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm a CPA and an enrolled agent.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm a little double duty here.

[SPEAKER_01]: So today I wanted to talk a little bit about kind of finding the accountant and tax prepare and everything that's right for you.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I mean there's a lot of really really talented accountants and taxpayers and tax planners and keepers out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I also say I mean it's kind of like a marriage with someone.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when, you know, you're going to have like this long term relationship with this person.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I think like on average, people generally stay seven years with the same person, you know?

[SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes even more, you know, sometimes...

[SPEAKER_01]: generationally you're with the same firm for really long time, you know, and and sometimes there's just kind of a mismatch.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, like in any marriage or anything, you know, when you have someone who is

[SPEAKER_01]: So deeply involved in your life who's handling one of the most sensitive areas of your life who really has a lot of the guidance that you need in order to move to the next level.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, there's certain things that you should be looking out for to just make sure that you mesh.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, just like when you're dating, you know, there could be somebody that's super cool, all of this stuff.

[SPEAKER_01]: it's just not really totally working out, you know.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it's not anything on either party's side, you know, it's just how do you find that person that's really going to help push you to the next level?

[SPEAKER_03]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_03]: So what do you think holds most creatives back from like switching in

[SPEAKER_01]: Hmm, I mean, I think there's kind of two things, okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: So one would be, I mean, accountants are kind of just like dying.

[SPEAKER_03]: you go with the retirement route because we do get quite a few that is like every time you have to doing our things for 20 years or whatever but you're like they're just dying.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know like a ridiculous amount of CPA is like 80% or something like super crazy reach for retirement age into 2019.

[SPEAKER_01]: They are well past retirement.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we are moving into the next phase of their life cycle, you know, so then that means that there's not really a lot of availability, you know, so it's like, okay, I do want to move, but who do I go to, because yeah, like,

[SPEAKER_01]: all of the accounts are they are they if you find somebody are they even taking new clients because everybody's overloaded because they're so few that are out there and available for you and then another one that I see a lot is there's like a lot of guilt associated with all of the kind of like a breakup you know you're just like you don't even break it with my phone

[SPEAKER_03]: It's hard.

[SPEAKER_03]: It's hard to break up, even if it is like a business thing.

[SPEAKER_03]: It is not personal whatsoever.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it could be difficult.

[SPEAKER_03]: I could see that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, especially when I'm talking to someone who's considering switching, you know, I always say, we are all overloaded.

[SPEAKER_01]: We all have, you know, new client inquiries all the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, if there's ever a situation where somebody says, hey, I would like you to do less work.

[SPEAKER_01]: Cool.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's great.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it works totally fine.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then also at the end of the day, I want to make sure that, you know, my focus is mainly on your success and your business being successful.

[SPEAKER_01]: So part of that is sometimes making these harder decisions, but so that you can go to the next area.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, so, you know, I want to do whatever's best for you, so, you know, like sometimes it's just not cost-effective anymore.

[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, there's nothing that, you know, there's nothing that I can do on my end because I have employees, I have benefits, I have a company culture that I really want to protect and make sure that it's really good because if you're going to stay with me for the next, you know, 10, 15 years, I want to make sure that my team also stays.

[SPEAKER_01]: with use so that you're not constantly having new people.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, having to relearn right exactly.

[SPEAKER_01]: So sometimes that's just sometimes all of those costs depending on where the business is, it's just, it doesn't make sense anymore, you know.

[SPEAKER_01]: So a lot of times that's totally fine, you know, and I want what's best for your business and where you're at and all of those things.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I think a lot of a lot of tax repairs and accountants feel exactly the same way.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, um, there's like really no hard feelings.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I say, like, oh, I miss you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, I really hope the best.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let me know if you do something cool and you're like, I'm always rude and we do really like into them.

[SPEAKER_03]: Like, you know so much.

[SPEAKER_03]: And then we work with a lot of creators too.

[SPEAKER_03]: So they do some really cool things.

[SPEAKER_03]: So it's really fun to be like, oh, my god.

[SPEAKER_03]: No, that I like.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: I help them do that Texas.

[SPEAKER_03]: like I'm connected in some way, you know.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, but I'm like, you know, do whatever's best for you, you know, it's just really making sure that that's the case and a lot of accountants feel exactly the same way.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think to the industry is also moving more corporate.

[SPEAKER_01]: So you think like

[SPEAKER_03]: re-tiring, yes, not necessarily dying, just re-tiring, going into the next stage.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it is a sector where private equity is coming in and they're buying up a lot of these like traditionally mom and pot packs, preparation places, combining them, making it like a national kind of more commodity style, gotcha industry.

[SPEAKER_01]: So sometimes that doesn't necessarily fit

[SPEAKER_01]: I just feel so, you know, there's just going to be a lot of different changes as you see the industry continue to move towards those two like polar directions.

[SPEAKER_01]: Gotcha.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, that makes sense.

[SPEAKER_03]: So let's say that the breakup happens, how would you suggest a creative like interview new accountants when they're reaching out, like what are some of the things that maybe they should ask when they're like trying to see, is this going to be a better fit than

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, some of it, it's, you know, getting a little bit of a feel for kind of how they communicate with you, you know, because one of the key things that you want to keep in mind is, again, you as the business owner are responsible.

[SPEAKER_01]: for all of the decisions that are made for the business and you're responsible for educating yourself as to why these decisions are being made.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're speaking to someone, are you able to ask them questions?

[SPEAKER_01]: And you feel really comfortable with that?

[SPEAKER_01]: Are they easy to understand or does it just kind of not make sense?

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, sometimes you have like the,

[SPEAKER_01]: neurodivergent versus the neurotifical, you know, if you have like those two kind of talking to each other sometimes the messages gets a little bit warped.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, you want to have someone who you've to feel comfortable with and like you've said, they end up knowing basically everything about you, you know, sometimes

[SPEAKER_01]: more than what your girlfriend or your boyfriend or your partner will know.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, just making sure that you're comfortable enough to be able to ask the questions that they're, you know, communicating with you in a way that you understand at that you feel like you can be open with them because even something that might not, you know.

[SPEAKER_01]: might not seem important tax-wise, could actually make a bit of a difference.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, so it's like that communication piece, you know, also getting a feel for how your

[SPEAKER_01]: Giving them information, you know, do they have like a client portal or are you putting everything in Dropbox, you know, and how does that work for you did they send an organizer or is it more of like an individualized format.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, and kind of asking about their process, like, what do, what are the expectations that you have of me?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because it's just like any relationship.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, you are, the expectation is that I'm going to, you know, do your bookkeeping, do the tax planning and file your tax return, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: but there's also expectations for you because I can't prepare your tax return if I don't have the forms.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't do your bookkeeping, if I don't have your bank statements.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you know, so there are different things that I can't do my job effectively if you're not an equal partner in this school.

[SPEAKER_01]: So also just making sure that you're very clear on what their expectations of you are.

[SPEAKER_01]: you know because there's a lot of cases where like I said you know accountants they have a lot of inquiries all the time so if you're the type of person that's going to just ghost and then call you know a few hours before and say hey I need you to do it right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah they may you know choose not to continue supporting you.

[SPEAKER_01]: yeah so just making sure that you're clear on you know what your expectations are of them you know are they only going to prepare your return are they going to do tax planning are they you know like what actually do you want from them and then also what do they want from you you know yes again if you are in more of

[SPEAKER_01]: like a corporate situation, their requirements for you are going to be a little bit different than if you're in kind of more of that individualized booktique feel, where maybe they will be doing a little bit more for you than if you're working with places like an assembly line

[SPEAKER_01]: be in clear about that and then also making sure that they have the skills to, you know, like they understand your industry and then also what you want, you know, and where you're going because there are tax accountants that, you know, everybody specializes in something.

[SPEAKER_01]: So some, they just won't touch us corporations or they only want to handle businesses that are

[SPEAKER_01]: you know, and that's where really where their specialty lies, so you want to make sure that their specialty and what services they're able to provide is what you need in order to support you and your business, you know, and just making sure that there is a lot of that knowledge there.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, and a lot of this, you know, these are things that you're kind of looking for when you

[SPEAKER_01]: are deciding do I even need to switch, because I think even before you talk to another person, you have to decide is this do I have to switch?

[SPEAKER_01]: Or is this just like a relationship that maybe needs like a recalibration of expectations?

[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, where maybe

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe a couple of years ago, it was totally fine to only meet once a year because you were on a W2, and you really didn't need any support.

[SPEAKER_01]: But now that you've started your own business, the business is growing, it has more needs.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, then you can just call them and say, hey.

[SPEAKER_01]: things have changed and I need a little bit of support.

[SPEAKER_01]: Everything is different.

[SPEAKER_01]: Can you provide that level of support to me?

[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes even that, you know, like I said, just recalibration of what everybody's expectations.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, or just make sure you're in the same page.

[SPEAKER_03]: Let's

[SPEAKER_01]: Because sometimes there is that difference, I always say it's kind of like a completely different language.

[SPEAKER_01]: So making sure that you're giving them a call and that everybody's speaking the same language and we have the same understanding of what the situation is and what the relationship looks like.

[SPEAKER_03]: Okay, so you've given quite a few different things to look at.

[SPEAKER_03]: If it's more of a recalibration, or if it's like, okay, this isn't going to be a fit.

[SPEAKER_03]: Let me see what types of things I need to look for.

[SPEAKER_03]: Is there a, like, a most important one?

[SPEAKER_03]: How do those, you think?

[SPEAKER_03]: Or is it really just like the shmoorish board of all of those, like communication, expectations, and just making sure that they understand you, and that you want to just understand each other, wouldn't you communicate?

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, right.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, right.

[SPEAKER_01]: You, the accountant, is somebody that you ideally should be working with pretty consistently, you know?

[SPEAKER_01]: So is this somebody that you like working with?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I've had some potential clients come to me and say that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, they would ask a question and the other part and the CPA would like scream at them.

[SPEAKER_01]: And like tell them how dumb they were and like why would they be like so stupid to ask that question and things like that?

[SPEAKER_01]: So, okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, obviously that's a very extreme scenario.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: They still stay with them for like years.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, is this person somebody that you, I guess, you don't have to enjoy it's talking.

[SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, like, I see sometimes it's like the dentist, you know, like you try to avoid going as much as possible, but when you go there, everybody's super nice, you have a great time, all of this stuff, they do a lot of pop at the end, whatever, you know, it's the same kind of thing with your taxes because if, you know,

[SPEAKER_01]: you are hesitant to reach out to them, then they're not going to get the information that they need in order to be able to help you effectively.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so sometimes it's not like as I not necessarily the skills of that person, it's all does their personality on top of their skills match what you as a person and your business need because we're really looking at your whole

[SPEAKER_01]: you know, how we actually sit there and reach your goals so that you're off that constant hamster wheel of working, working, working, working, you know, so you do need that partner that's going to do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, with you.

[SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_03]: So then with looking and interviewing and whatnot, do you have any suggestions for knowing if you're being under charge or underserved, but overcharged and like do you know anything like how we're charged?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: Things like that.

[SPEAKER_03]: Overcharged and underserved.

[SPEAKER_03]: I think that's the phrase.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: Like how to like kind of know if the pricing makes sense.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you know, like I said, as you know, more, more kind of like corporate entities come into play, a lot of the pricing is more and more available, you know, but I mean, you can see like a lot of the big box, you know, tax preparation places, they have a category where this is how much you pay if you want like a live person to do your return.

[SPEAKER_01]: So like that's all that's going to be like the very minimum amount because that's like a sweatshaw situation.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's like that's sweatshaw pricing, you know?

[SPEAKER_01]: So you can go and do the research and figure that out or you know, you can call different places around but you know, it is kind of that idea of you pay what you want to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: you know like you get what you pay for and normally even if you are paying some of those higher prices they're more than happy to explain like the value that you'll be getting out of paying those additional services.

[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I've seen you do that before, where you're like, okay, with where you're at.

[SPEAKER_03]: If you looked at your tax return and they're not even a client yet or anything like that, but it's just like, okay, if you do these things, this is what you say.

[SPEAKER_03]: This is what I'm going to charge you.

[SPEAKER_03]: So you could just see the, like, right, yes.

[SPEAKER_03]: I didn't invest in the case 10x, you know, you want you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: And then that's fine.

[SPEAKER_03]: And so it can be very helpful.

[SPEAKER_03]: But then that's again, if just like finding someone who will explain to you why, like, why are we at this cost?

[SPEAKER_03]: Or what does this mean?

[SPEAKER_03]: Or what are those services mean?

[SPEAKER_03]: So that makes sense.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: And then um, is there a best time of year to switch accountants?

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: I feel like I don't this way.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I, I always say time is money, so the earlier.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, better.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, but if you to approach an accountant, I would say between January and April, really accept that you're going to get an extension.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, and in a lot of cases, that's probably best, because then that gives the person enough time to really sit down, get to know you in your situation and focus, you know, kind of mid-year, because I mean, maybe you're in a situation where you don't want the last person to file your current year tax return.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you know, or if you say, okay, I'm going to go to them in August.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then they're just going to recommend to amend your, you know, your buyer, your tax return, and now you're paying double for the thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it's not necessarily don't look for accountants, you know, during that time frame, but just be aware that a lot of the really good ones are going to ask you to get an extension so that they can take the time to really focus on you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And just kind of be fair to their whole client base at that point.

[SPEAKER_03]: And also if you want to do it well, we're going to have to dig in.

[SPEAKER_03]: You have to research.

[SPEAKER_03]: So it's going to make you work that needs to have and things like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if you want to have like effective tax planning that's going to be for the current year, I would say, you know, reaching out in July and August.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because a lot of times when I want to make the latest that I want to make really big moves for your tax strategy is like September.

[SPEAKER_01]: So in order for me to say here are the big tax strategy moves that I want you to make, we need your financial stun, which means we need to catch up your bookkeeping.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even if you've had bookkeeping done, we want to review it.

[SPEAKER_01]: We want to make sure that we agree with it that everything's reconciled and there's no issues and what have you.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, so we need a little bit of time before then that, yeah, I mean, we talked about like how with New York that you have to do the past Trinity tax election by March 15 in California, you have to do that by June 15th, so there are some things that have to happen very early in the year.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's why would say even if you're still like reaching out to them in January, they can kind of take a look out where you're at what they think and give you a quick Yeah, here's what you should do right now and then let's hold off, you know, make that

[SPEAKER_01]: payment to the IRS because the extension only goes for the piece of paper.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yep, so we'll make that and then we'll finalize everything, you know, once we've kind of had enough time to sit down and really go through all of your documents and review all of this with you so that you feel really confident, kind of moving forward.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, I almost say there's, there's not really a bad time to do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's just, you know, some adjustments will take a little bit longer than others.

[SPEAKER_03]: Nope, that's fair.

[SPEAKER_03]: So what is like the first question, if they're like, okay, we listen to this.

[SPEAKER_03]: What did they go and ask their accountant before making a change or making a new one?

[SPEAKER_03]: Is there like a good one of just, what to ask?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you know, it really depends on if you want to continue the relationship or not, you know?

[SPEAKER_01]: And really, if you're in a place where you just want to cut ties, you just send them an email and say, hey, you know, I've decided I'm going to, you know, make a different decision this next year.

[SPEAKER_01]: Totally fine.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, um, and then just make sure that when you are switching you download all of your

[SPEAKER_01]: accountants will in some cases keep information for previous clients, but it's not a guarantee that they're going to keep all of your stuff.

[SPEAKER_01]: And especially if you kind of come back to them like two or three years later, that's probably after their retention period so then they're not going to keep copies of it or maybe they only keep copies of their papers or things like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it's really on you.

[SPEAKER_01]: To make sure that everything is downloaded, and then also just working with them to switch over, you know, any access, making sure that they don't have any access to any of your accounts anymore, but it's why always say like especially with

[SPEAKER_01]: Any software that you're using so quick books, zero, gusto, ADP, whatever it is, making sure that at the end of the day you as the business owner are the primary owner of the account even before anything is terminated that way, you know, you don't have to worry about if

[SPEAKER_01]: they're busy in January and they don't have time to switch over access to you and then now you can't get the new person to give you access and you know you have full control over who has access to your information and you can you know provide and remove access at any given time.

[SPEAKER_03]: That makes sense.

[SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I've seen that definitely before when we've had new clients that are worried about breaking up with their old accountants, and then Recently had one company like, oh, yeah, they were they were totally fine.

[SPEAKER_03]: Okay, they said I could give you their email so that they can get the stuff.

[SPEAKER_03]: It like it was I don't know what I was so stressed about

[SPEAKER_01]: which is when we told them, we're like, yeah, they probably can't care about it, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, good luck, you know, yeah, you can see where it goes, so yeah, yeah, and there's, you know, there's different things just built into the ethical standards of a CPA and an enrolled agent, you know, if you know, you know, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that, if you're going to do that

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, even if you haven't paid, there are still certain pieces of documents that we have to provide, you know, you know, maybe if you haven't paid for it, I don't have to give you my work papers, but I do have to give you back all of your original documents, you know.

[SPEAKER_01]: So an accountant and an old agent can't necessarily like withhold your information due to non-payment but at the same time it's good to, you know, just make sure everything's paid up.

[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody will give you all of their stuff, because, like, ethically, as an enrolled agent and a CPA, I have to give you that stuff, you know, so it's really, really not a big deal at all, you know.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so it's so scary, but really it's just like you have that same conversation that we're always still in a half of just like, what is it at do you want, where do you see yourself and does this seem like a good fit to get to that like future you that you want to get to with your business and everything.

[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, because like I said, there's always different seasons, you know, and I mean we see it a lot of time in the corporate accounting world, you know, like the person

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, like I guess like a farmer's market booth, you know, is going to be different than that type of accountant that's doing it for, you know, like a Fortune 500 company, you know, so as you and your business grow, your needs are going to be different.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yep, so it's just going to kind of necessitate, you know, like a different relationship and, you know, sometimes the current person can provide that for you or,

[SPEAKER_01]: sometimes, you know, that really isn't within their wheelhouse, so they just recommend that you go to another person that has the abilities to do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, and sometimes, except like, you know, when it comes to tax preparation, sometimes the software forces you to pay for each individual state.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you move to a different state and you're the only person that they have, it might not make sense for them to, you know, I keep you on.

[SPEAKER_01]: So a lot of times it's really like no hard feelings, there's no anything there.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it's just recognizing when you are ready for that next step and being the advocate for yourself and for your business and really saying like, hey, this relationship how it is, it's not going to work out.

[SPEAKER_01]: you know, and I'm looking for someone who can really take you to that next level.

[SPEAKER_01]: But again, you know, it is a partnership.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, yeah, we know a lot.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to have, I'm going to have some requirements of you, you know, because, yeah, in order to get to those next levels and does take a lot more than just, you know, forwarding one W2.

[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[SPEAKER_03]: There's

[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_01]: So just making sure that somebody that you feel like you can really communicate all of that information to is going to be really, really, really important.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right, love it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you have any other questions about how to find the right partner in taxes for you, feel free to put a comment below or send us an email and we are more

[SPEAKER_02]: Don't you like it?

[SPEAKER_02]: Let's get this cold.

[SPEAKER_02]: Ready to stop guessing and start saving.

[SPEAKER_02]: Click the link in the show notes.

[SPEAKER_02]: Grab your console and let's make your business work for you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Not yet.

[SPEAKER_02]: The way around.

[SPEAKER_02]: You've got this.