The most common reason to engage a CPA is for tax preparation. The BEST reason to engage a CPA is to plan your tax affairs in advance. At the very least, the major occurrences in your life need planning--marriages, divorces, buying and selling homes, investing, planning your estate, retiring--all these have tax opportunities and tax traps.

Services a CPA May Be Able To Offer You
Services for business owners:

	Setting up accounting systems
	Structuring transactions for capital markets to meet financing needs
	Accumulating, analyzing, and reporting financial and operational information for management decision-making
	Reengineering company finance functions
	Auditing, reviewing, and compiling financial statements
	Managing investments
	Providing management consulting services on such subjects as benefit plans, compensation plans, and data processing systems
	Planning tax strategies and preparing tax returns
	Minimizing tax liability
	Representing you before tax authorities