The American Institute of Certified Accountants Guide addresses many of the concerns that a Rochester accounting firm can face. When you are hiring a tax professional for tax planning or to handle your CFO outsourcing, it is imperative you have an individual who understands the rules and regulations that are in place, to help you avoid violations that could cost you hefty fines.
This Begins By Having Safeguards in Place
One of the things a Rochester accounting firm should have in place, will be safeguards that will ensure that nothing unethical occurs in their normal day to day business. When hiring professionals, ask them what their safeguards are to help avoid ethical violations that they utilize on a daily basis. A simple, “We do everything by the books” answer shouldn’t be satisfactory, since your business needs to remain protected.
As a Customer, What Should I Be Looking For?
To help stay proactive, you need to be aware of the ethical threats that can have an impact. While the company may only be dealing with your tax planning, or providing you with CFO outsourcing, any legal impact that happens to them can spill over into your business.
Protection begins when the company does self reviews of the work their employees are doing. A second pair of eyes reduces the risk of unethical behavior from occurring. With this, objectivity for each client should be maintained. Accounting companies shouldn’t be easily swayed by the position that a company taxes for handling their taxes in an illegal manner. Above all, the firm should never have their own personal interests involved when preparing and handling the taxes for any company.
If through your communication with a professional you find that any red flags are raised, you should bring it to the attention of the head of the firm. This will ensure that there are no legal repercussions that stem from how your books are being handled.
Current Training and Licenses Help to Reduce the Risk
In an effort to reduce the risk and concerns you have, verifying that a company is up to date on their licensing and training is important. With proper training and a focus on internal safeguards, there is less of a risk that rules and regulations are going to be violated. That will translate into better service being provided to you, without having to stress over factors that could cause you to be audited or fined in the long run.
Keep all this in mind the next time you are looking to hire a Rochester accounting firm. While the topic might be initially a touchy one, you are going to find that in the long run, it will help to save you financial and legal headaches.
