Is Your Accountant Up to Snuff?
1/21/2009
At the Top Producer Young Farmer Seminar, Lance Fulton of Kennedy & Coe listed five things you should expect of your accountant:
- They should provide tax planning not based solely on new paint.
- They should recognize that paying taxes isn’t always bad. For example, with expectations of higher taxes in the future, perhaps it is better to pay some now rather than a year or two from now.
- They should understand what capital is and how best to utilize it and stand up and say “whoa” when appropriate.
- They should help you protect capital, separating equity from operations to protect capital from changes such as partner bankruptcy, divorce, insanity, etc.
- They should understand the risk of doing business with others (he cited three grain terminal closings) and help you protect against it.
“If your accountant isn’t helping you with each of these areas, ask about them and if necessary, find one who can,” says Fulton.
