It’s that dreaded time again, its tax season.  Before it’s too late and you overlook that April date, it’s best that you get your taxes done.  What’s that?  You don’t know how to do your taxes or you’re completely clueless when it comes to the tax game.  It’s ok if you fall in this category.  The goal of this reading today is to help you find the best accountant in your area and how to find him or her.

Getting the best tax advice isn’t really that hard if you do your research.  There are many ways to finding the perfect candidate; it’s just going to take a few hours out of your day to find him/her.  With the time you invest, the money you can save with your taxes will be well worth.  Below are the first steps you’re going to take to find the perfect tax advice.

Referrals are important

If you know of friends or family that use an accountant, make sure that you ask for their number.  The number one way accountants get new clients is via a referral.  The nice thing about a referral is that you’re able to get inside information from your friends or family.  If they have been using this person for years, you obviously know that this person is doing a good job.  If they just started using a particular person, you may want to drift off to someone else.

Interview your accountant

When you’re looking for the perfect tax advice, it never hurts to schedule an appointment with the candidates first before you choose.  Make sure that you choose at least three candidates that are local to your area.  It’s important that you make sure that they are certified.  When you do make that interview appointment, make sure you ask them some hardball questions such as “How long have you been in the field?”, “How do you prepare your taxes?”, etc.  When you’re finished with the interview, you should get a good idea of who will work best for you.

Know who’s shady

If the potential accountant starts to talk about how he/she can steer around the IRS and save you more money than you think, make sure you stay away from this type of person.  This is a huge red flag.  When it comes to the government, you don’t want to cheat the system in anyway, it’s only going to do more harm than good in the long run.

When you finally think you have the right accountant for tax advice, make sure that you notify them immediately that you want to use their services.  Sometimes you may find around tax season that he/she is usually pretty busy for a week or so.  It never hurts to do more research online to find more information on this candidate also; you never know what a quick Google search will bring up.  Remember that an accountant will always give you the best tax advice; make sure you don’t use the internet as your resources.