4 Things Every Accountant Needs at Their Desk
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If you’re a new tax practice owner, here are five things you need to do to get your business up and running.
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As we quickly approach the end of the year, tax practices are starting to prepare their clients for the busiest time of year. However, if you’re a new tax practice owner, not only will you be helping established clients prepare but you will also be dealing with getting your business up and running.
If this is the case, we’re here to help guide you and your business in the right direction. Meanwhile, you’ve already done your research and determined your target market. It’s now time to check off the specific items pertaining to running a successful tax practice.
An important step in your business planning process is to decide what type of entity you will identify as. The different types of business entities are limited liability companies (also known as LLCs), C corporations, S corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships. Each has specific legal rights and responsibilities, from tax requirements to lawsuits, the number of shareholders, and profit divisions.
Many small businesses start as sole proprietorships and only look into other types of entities as they grow. Sole proprietorships are the simplest type of entity. However, they don’t offer much legal protection from litigation or debt collection. As a sole proprietor or a member of a partnership, personal assets such as your house and savings account can potentially be seized to satisfy business debts. Organizing as an LLC is a good alternative for small businesses who want to separate their personal liability from business liabilities. Check out this video for more information.
As we’ve previously mentioned in our post The Strategic Pricing Guide For Accountants and Tax Pros, the most basic strategy for pricing your services is cost plus pricing. Cost plus pricing involves adding a markup percentage to the cost of your services. Your markup is the difference between your selling price and the cost of your goods and services. Most businesses add a 30-50% markup to all their products. At the time your business starts to pick up, paying attention to your markup is crucial, as you want it to be enough to offset your business expenses and generate a profit.
Technology plays a vital role in the growth and efficiency of any business. As a small business owner, you may already be wearing many hats. For this reason, using the latest technology is crucial.
When running a tax practice you will not only need the latest technology to advise your clients but to skillfully run your business as well. For example, Canopy’s Practice Management software streamlines your business while building strong, collaborative relationships with your clients. With Canopy you’ll be able to stay in sync with your clients with an easy-to-use portal, collect electronic signatures, and more.
In addition to using the latest technology, digital business banking is a great option for any small business. Its main purpose is to be that one-stop shop for small business owners with features to save time and money at the palm of your hand.
Opening a business banking account will not only aid you in managing your business more efficiently but will also help grow your business. Creating an account that is separate from your personal account will allow you to stay on top of how your business is doing and the revenue your business is bringing in.
One major component to growing your business and grabbing the attention of new clients is being smart when it comes to marketing your brand. You may be thinking, how do I go up against the major tax powerhouses? Knowing your industry, target markets, and the key items that set you apart from everyone else is a great starting point. Once you’ve determined these key indicators you can start promoting your brand by doing the following:
If you’re able to check off these five components above, you’re already setting your practice up for success!
Want to learn more about starting a virtual tax practice? Check out our virtual tax practice ebook series.
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Canopy takes the headaches out of client management by offering a way to keep client info organized.
I love how easy it is to setup a new client in this software. Once set up, it's one click to get IRS transcripts downloaded for my review. This saves me at least an hour each week in comparison to the software I used to use.
This makes workflow for tax resolution manageable. This business is a bunch of hurry up and wait. This system helps to refresh my memory while transitioning to different clients.
The ability to securely share documents with clients as well as complete POAs from client contact data already in Canopy. The ability to route workflow between team members with color coded statuses allows us to work efficiently.
Cool features, outstanding customer service, constantly updating to make it better. I love that I can upload files easily to a secure client portal and we don't have to email files anymore. Absolutely can't imagine not having this software.
It's safe and secure. Clients are able to upload documents and the documents are saved their portal which as a result, keeps us better organized. The task feature keeps us organized and we know exactly the status of each client.
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