We trust that you had a wonderful holiday season with your family and that your New Year is off to a wonderful start. Let's hope that 2009 exceeds all our expectations and is even more joyous than 2008.
It is at this time of the year that you are going to start receiving 1099's and W-2's in the mail, which marks the moment that you can begin to prepare for your tax rectification for the calendar year of 2008. Over the course of the last twelve months, many of you have expressed unhappiness with your existing accounting situation. Several of you have even asked for us to refer you to one of our CPAs. We do work with several professional CPAs and would like to refer you to one.
A few things that we would like to point out to you that are of critical importance as it relates to preparing taxes are as follows:
- Your accountant is an extension of your overall financial plan, and should be acting in accordance with your long-term financial goals. This includes running sophisticated analyses and making sure that you are preparing yourself for your long-term retirement needs.
- Accountants typically spend the majority of their annualized work hours over a three-month period of time beginning in late January and running through late April. The critical mistake that we often find is that most people visit their CPA during this three-month period of time. Now ask yourself this question: Does it really make sense to be meeting with one of the most pivotal people in your financial planning life at the time that they are most busy? Of course not.
This is why it is very important to work with an accountant who takes a much more proactive approach. You need someone who meets with you to do forward tax planning during the off season. If this is not happening, it should be a red flag that you are not getting all that you should from your accounting relationship.
Again, please contact us if we can be of service to you or if you are looking for a new CPA.
May 2009 be a great year for you!!
Sincerely,
Jeff Pickering
The Pickering Group
Office: 623-551-9360
"Just leave me a Loan"®
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