There is typically a difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant, especially in business environments. The one is there merely to make sure that all data is entered correctly and that all the columns add up as expected. The other is more in the line of a professional adviser, whose job it is to look at all the factors in your company data and suggest better ways of posting these items so as to maximize profit and minimize taxable events.
A accountant for business taxes can save you far more than their fees may be. A bad accountant is merely a bookkeeper with a bigger invoice for you to pay. There is, of course, an even worse type of accountant, and that is one who energetically provides the most disastrous advice which costs you money and gets you on the tax authorities’ list of bad boys who need careful watching.
Seen it this light, an accountant is not some annoyance that you have to put up with, but a valuable resource who can greatly enhance your operation’s profitability and prospects. One of the ways in which they do this is to calculate what your taxes would be under ordinary circumstances and then look at ways of changing things to your advantage.
Say, for example, that you owe $100,000 in taxes. A good accountant can find ways for you to spend at least part of that money on something other than your taxes and still come out even. Instead of sending off the entire wad, you may be able to buy a bunch of new equipment or a new vehicle for your corporate fleet to the sum of $60,000 and end up paying $40,000 in taxes.
Either way, you end up writing checks for $100,000 total. One way is a total loss, while the other way allows you to gain something out of the transaction which you might not have gotten otherwise. That is the value of having a resourceful, energetic, and competent accountant for business taxes.
As with any other part of your business empire, you end up paying for brains. You wouldn’t hire a moron for a jobsite superintendent. You expect these people to be worth their pay and make you money on top of what you pay them. The same principle applies to finding a good accountant. Even if you are satisfied with the one you have, you can always quietly get a second opinion to make sure that the guy isn’t leaving any of your money on the table out of indolence or failure to adjust to the times. Complacency kills businesses.