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CPAs can provide a wide range of services, from setting up and administering your accounting system to consulting and tax preparation.

If for no other reason than tax planning, it is a wise move to consult an accountant. Accountants can help you generate the reports and financial statements you'll need to manage your business, as well as help you keep up with tax laws and reduce tax liabilities.

You need to find an accountant that you can build a friendly and trusting relationship with. Here are some things to look for when hiring accountants or CPAs:

• Are they licensed to practice in your state?
• Do they have experience with your size and type of business?
• Do they have good references? (Remember to ask for referrals from your banker, associates, or peers.)
• Will they be accessible and return your calls promptly?
• Can they provide insights into other areas, such as human resources or operations?
• Are they respected in the community?
• Do you trust and feel comfortable with them?
• Do they represent themselves in a professional manner?

In addition to helping you set up your accounting system and assisting you with tax planning and preparation, you may also want to consider hiring an accountant or CPA to:

• compile financial statements
• review the statements you've generated yourself to find any problems or questionable items
• perform an annual audit of your books to ensure everything is being maintained accurately

For help locating an accountant or CPA, there are many searchable databases on the Internet, but the best bet is to get referrals from friends, business associates, your legal advisors, bankers, or other trusted sources.

The first step to making accounting fun is to get a grip on the terminology. If your heart skips a beat when someone asks about your balance sheet, you can calm yourself by learning exactly what a balance sheet is and how it can help you. We've added a glossary of accounting terms at the end of this article to get you over the hump.

Second, realize that accounting is more than numbers. It includes databases of your customers, your vendors, and your employees, if you have them. The information you keep on these people and companies will help you track your business and plan your future. With proper accounting, you might discover that people in the Florida Keys buy barrels of pork bellies in February. You can legitimately plan a sales trip for the entire month. See? This is getting interesting.

Third, the key to successful accounting is in the establishment of your accounting system and the reliable input of data. You will set up a system that is uniquely yours. Recording the transactions and information is called bookkeeping, and it must be done regularly. You won't get a good picture of your company if the paint (data) is stored in boxes in the basement. There is nothing harder than the task of going back to find and key in reams of old information. When you do, you stand a good chance of getting something wrong.

People are starting their own businesses every day. If you're thinking about joining them, you probably have a vision of what you want that business to be. What may excite you about your business is the product or service you have to offer, the success that you imagine, and the freedom of lifestyle that you are sure will come -- in time. What may bore or even frighten you is the plethora of numbers you have to wrestle with. You will be asked business questions that may elicit a blank stare as your response. Cash accounting? Accrual basis? Profit and loss statement?

Whether you want to create fine oil paintings or sell pork bellies on the street, your business will require some form of accounting. That term alone can cast a glaze over the brightest eyes, but in this article, we'll show you that accounting is a process larger than crunching your numbers. It is a tool that will help you "account for" what your business has done, is doing, and hopes to do in the future. Accounting can be a bit like painting a picture, and a little like solving a puzzle. Despite its bad press, it can actually be fun.