Meeting with an accountant.

[Redbull]

2006 will be my first year operating my tree service full time. So far my record keeping has been pretty hit and miss. I am meeting with an accountant on Wednesday to help me get off to a good start. I am compiling a list of questions for her and looking for suggestions. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[vharrison2]

Redbull, how did the meeting go?

 

[Redbull]

The meeting went well. I got the first half hour free and was there for 45 minutes. Cost me $15 bucks and the best money I've spent. She looked at my current record keeping practices and made some suggestions, explained to me what was deductible and what wasn't, and what I could/could not "get away with." She told me how much I needed to set aside from each job for taxes, which was very important to me. I DO NOT WANT TO BE IN DEBT TO UNCLE SAM!!! I can not express this enough to any other new guys. Make sure you can pay your taxes. I have kids, and at this point in my life, I financially qualify for EIC, which helps absorb a lot of my tax liability. This won't be the case forever since the cutoff is well under what I expect to be making in the next 5 years. It will cost me about $50 a quarter to file quarterly and this will also give my accountant and I an opportunity to evaluate the business on a quarterly basis. This is much better than finding out at the end of the year that you didn't make any money. Every three months we can look at the business finances and adjust accordingly. To anyone out there who is looking to start their own business, I would recommend putting and accountant on your payroll.
Thanks for asking "V" !!

 

[PTS]

How much do you all pay to have your end of the year taxes done. Last year as a first year business we had less than $75,000 Gross income and got back something like $9000 at the end of the year. But the tax guy sends us a bill for $1400.00. Seems outrageous. We were using Quick books Pro then also and all they had to do was input the numbers. They claim they made changes in our Quick books because some things weren't input correctly. The claim 38 man hours on our taxes. Bogus or what?

 

[Newfie]

$1400 seems pretty reasonable. If they really had 38 man hours into your prep then you got a bargain. 38 of my man hours would have cost you twice that! Maybe Massachusetts reasonable is different than Iowa reasonable.
A good accountant is a must and worth every penny.

 

[Redbull]

Man, that sucks. Seems really high to me, but my operation is much smaller than yours. I have two trucks, a chipper, and no employees so mine is pretty straight forward. It's going to cost me about $175 for my 2005 return. I'll prolly get around $6000 back like I did last year. 2006 will be my first full year, as a full time operator, so we'll see how it pans out. I would look into a new accountant too, 38 man hrs seems very high.

 

[Redbull]

Like Newfie said though, if they did put that kind of time into it and charged you $1400 and you got back $9000 it sounds like they did you well. I'd much rather owe my accountant that kind of money and get some in return than to owe Uncle Sam anything!

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

It's going to cost me about $175 for my 2005 return.

That's a pretty low fee for ANY business tax return. And if you are in business, you need more than just someone to prepare a tax return.

 

[Redbull]

That's a pretty low fee for ANY business tax return. And if you are in business, you need more than just someone to prepare a tax return.

You hav to remember too, that up until September, my business has been part time. All she needs to do for this years preparation is take my W-2's from my previous job, my deposits from the business, and my expenses from the business. I expect things to get a little more complicated in 2006 since this will be my only source of income, but not too much. I'm only anticipating about $40-45,000 Gross Income in 2006. It would be nice if I did better, but that is a realistic number. I have very few assets & no savings or investments right now, so tax preparation for me is pretty easy.

 

[Redbull]

Also, I will be filing quarterly next year, so we will be able to monitor how the business is progressing a little better than doing everything at the end of the year. My quarterly will run me anywhere between $50-100 per quarter.

 

[TreeJunkie]

Sounds very cheap redbull.. I just had my accountant reconcile my accounts and transfer some personal assets to my corp. and recieved a bill for nearly 500.00. She charges me 65 hr.

I don't understand how all of you self employed guys are recieving large tax returns. Typically in order to recieve a return you first have to pay in and or have large exemptions like children. Or you may not be accurately reporting you income.

I'm planning on writing a healthy check soon, unfortunately i don't have
those exemptions.


Redbull,

Set your goals higher w/ two trucks and chipper you should easily be able to gross well over 100k if you work at it.

 

[Redbull]

My accountant charges $60/hr. I am a sole prop. not a LLC or Corp.
Brandon, when I say two trucks, I mean a truck for estimates and my chipper truck and chipper. I'm still a one man show, I hire help as needed. I don't have multiple crews, so my production isn't as high. I hope to change this next year, at least the solo thing. I would like to have enough work to keep myself and another guy busy enough to keep good help around. I have a guy that helped me a couple of days ago that is smart, respectable,hard working, and willing to learn. I'd like to be able to work him full time and teach him what he needs to know as a groundman, we'll see what 2006 brings.

 

[vharrison2]

Redbull, glad your meeting went well.

PTS, I pay $750.00 for the business and 325.00 for the personal side. Our company is an S Corporation. Did the accountant go over how things were put in wrong so next year it won't be a problem?

 

[PTS]

Redbull, glad your meeting went well.

PTS, I pay $750.00 for the business and 325.00 for the personal side. Our company is an S Corporation. Did the accountant go over how things were put in wrong so next year it won't be a problem?

They did take my wife through a few things. My wife said it is just a different way of doing things however hers wasn't wrong. My wife has a double major in Business Administration and Business Management and one in Finance. So she is no dummy to this stuff but she still likes an accountant to go through it to help us get the biggest return possible.


And to answer the question on the return. If you want one you need to spend a lot of money on the business. Buy equipment and lots of it. I figure that I have a few more years left and then get out the checkbook. I put most of my stuff on five year depreciation and I am not sure what my new shop is going to get depreciated out to.

 

[TipTop]

1-2 percent

 

[Tree Frog]

Thanks for the tax info. I am shopping for a CPA in my local area and everybody seems to be around $75 for accounting services and $100 and up for CPA. There must be some price fixing going on around here. This is going to get expensive.

 

[Tree Frog]

For the people using Quick Books Pro, how much diffrence is it to Quicken 2004 Premier home and business? Do you find yourself upgrading every year or are you able to get a good run for your money?

I've been using Quicken since 97ish.

Thanks.

 

[Tree Frog]

For the people using Quick Books Pro, how much diffrence is it to Quicken 2004 Premier home and business? Do you find yourself upgrading every year or are you able to get a good run for your money?

I've been using Quicken since 97ish.

Thanks.

Sorry, I should have posted this in the other thread.

 

[Redbull]

Thats okay it's still relevant to this thread. I just wanted to stir the pot as far as record keeping and accounting goes to see what folks are doing in the tree business and to see what questions I should be asking my acountant.