Business owners are pulled in many different directions each day. The business must be nurtured for it to grow and remain strong and healthy. Successful business owners also realize they cannot take this journey alone. They must surround themselves with a great team where everyone is aligned for success.
One of the greatest challenges business owners must face is to have access to critical financial information in real time to make good decisions. This information comes from having a talented team of advisors who work in concert to help the owner gain access to knowledge. Killingsworth Spencer CPAs sees its role as an advisor alongside the banker, attorney, insurance professional, financial advisor, and the bookkeeper. An understanding of cash flow, access to capital for growth, expenses, and taxes is paramount to the long-term success of any enterprise.
Today, with the help of my very capable business partner, Lynn Spencer, we have built our firm around having at least two sets of eyes on each client’s tax return to reduce human error and make sure every deduction and tax credit has been identified, although completing the tax returns for our clients is the easiest part of our process. To get the most from our relationship, we must gather lots of financial and subjective information. We prefer to meet our business owner and high net worth clients several times throughout the year to learn more about what is going on in the business, investable assets, and the future plans for the next few quarters and beyond.
Is your investment advisor speaking with your CPA at least once a year to do tax planning? At Killingsworth Spencer CPAs, it is our yearly ritual each November and early December to sit with our business owner or high net worth clients and their investment professional to discuss gains and losses because of special tax treatment options. This is a critical step to help our clients save taxes. On the investment side we determine cost basis, and timing of long term and short-term sales. In the case of a client with large mutual fund balances, it is always better to know in advance, if possible, of any unexpected dividends, capital gains, or long/short term sales that may create additional taxes due or a huge loss. We also identify issues and opportunities with Required Minimum Distributions (RMD’s). With our business clients this is the ideal time to set owner salaries and make tax projections.
Great musicians will tell you that for any concert to go well, they must be a good listener. A musician in a band who does his own thing without paying attention what is going on around him will miss subtle ques and chord changes. The same is true in all parts of our lives. Killingsworth Spencer CPAs understands that a big part of what makes us unique is that we take the time necessary to listen to our clients so they can get the most out of their advisory relationships. If you would like to learn more, send us an email or give us a call at 770-552-8286.