why you need both an accountant and a lawyer and entrepreneur

There are two professionals every business will need early on: an accountant and a lawyer. The reasons for hiring an accountant are pretty obvious--you need someone to help you set up your "chart of accounts," review your numbers periodically, and prepare all of your necessary federal, state and local tax returns.

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Should accountants work with entrepreneurs?

 · The dollars you spend end up back in the economy, which grows the overall GDP. There’s an expression: a rising tide lifts all boats. The things I suggest an entrepreneur do are not tax evasion. I’m speaking about hiring the most kickass accountant and the lawyer that you can find. Share your business goals and your current financial situation and then let them help you …

Do I need an accountant or a lawyer for my Small Business?

 · You may need an accountant to help you decide which type of business to form, e.g. a partnership, company or sole proprietorship. You may need an attorney for due diligence and company formation; Accountants may also help in preparing or reviewing your business plans; A lawyer may be necessary to help you ensure compliance

Why is it important for entrepreneurs to consider hiring a lawyer?

Why Entrepreneurs Need Accountants by Their Side. As their small business grows, business owners should seek out the services of a trained professional, such as an entrepreneur accountant, who can guide the company on a path toward financial success. By developing your knowledge of accounting procedures and best practices, you can position yourself among the …

What can an accountant do for your business?

 · Taking Risks. Perhaps one of the biggest differences between the average accounts firm partner and the entrepreneurial accountant is the fact that the latter is willing to take calculated risks while the former isn’t. The job of the entrepreneur is to grow his/her business and growth cannot happen until and unless risks are being taken.

Why will you probably need a lawyer and an accountant to start a business?

Your accountant can help you to think through various tax implications of your business structure, for instance, while your attorney can help you to consider various legal issues that may arise in each type of business structure.

Why do entrepreneurs need accountants?

Doing this helps business owners find problems, fix them, and take advantage of legal loopholes that save money. Accountants are also useful for risk analysis and can provide meaningful insight into a small business's future decision-making.

How does entrepreneurship relate to accounting?

Accounting can help entrepreneurs create and manage detailed budgets for their businesses. When you understand how much money is coming into and going out of your business, you're better equipped to plan for your expenses.

Is accounting and law a good combination?

An accountant with knowledge of the law can most efficiently handle complex tax issues. An attorney with accountancy expertise would be an asset to any firm looking to offer its clients all possible services.

How will accounting will help you as future work or entrepreneur?

Accounting Is a Resource and a Tool for Growth Beyond being necessary for a company's immediate financial health, accounting practices are important strategic tools for entrepreneurs. They allow small business managers to make future projections and predictions in real time.

How an accountant can help a business succeed?

Accountants help businesses with regular operations by providing monthly preparation and analysis of financial statements. The analysis will help managers make informed decisions with the most up-to-date data. Accountants can also help by overseeing payroll and estimating tax payments throughout the year.

What is accounting in entrepreneurship development?

Accounting is essentially documenting what happens to money once a company receives it and thereby makes that information available for reporting to stakeholders and regulatory agencies, and informing business decisions.

Do you think accounting skill is an essential skill for entrepreneurs?

Whether you're considering starting your own business or have already taken the leap, strengthening your accounting skills can enable you to reach your entrepreneurial goals.

Can a lawyer be an accountant?

Lawyers can obtain the CPA designation by completing 150 semester hours of education at the undergraduate or graduate level. Once this step is completed, they must acquire at least one year of work experience (depending on the state), pass the Uniform CPA Examination and apply for licensure.

What is the relationship between accounting and law?

Relationship between accounting and Law – Accounting is connected with law, as it operates within a legal environment and thus all the transactions are governed on the basis of different acts.

Why do lawyers need to know accounting?

Accounting helps the advocate to keep a track of the value earned towards any particular legal matter handled by him. The receipts of an advocate may not always be towards fees.

What is the role of an accountant in a business?

As an accountant, you’ll serve as a trustworthy aide to business owners as they build a team and expand their processes and procedures. When CEOs are confident that their delicate financial materials are being managed by a knowledgeable professional, they can focus on the tasks at hand and work toward their business goals.

Why are accountants important?

Business accountants are vital for the sustainable growth and long-term success of many small businesses. With complex codes and statutes that new businesses need to follow, they place their trust in accountants like you with the extensive skills, knowledge, and expertise to help them succeed.

What is the importance of accounting knowledge?

By developing your knowledge of accounting procedures and best practices, you can position yourself among the most valuable assets on an entrepreneur’s team, possessing the skills businesses require to thrive in a competitive startup environment.

What are the benefits of being an accountant?

There are a number of ways small businesses can benefit from your services as an accountant — especially in the early stages. Here are just a few examples of how, according to Early Growth Financial Services: 1 Business licenses 2 Incorporation filings 3 System implementations 4 Policies and procedures 5 Expense tracking 6 Financial planning

Why do accountants provide critical information?

As an accountant, you can provide critical information in the early stages of a company’s life cycle to help the business owner establish good financial habits that can lead to strong performance and sustainable success.

Why do people need financial knowledge?

Their financial knowledge equips them to raise money or self-fund their startup.

What happens if a business owner spends too much money on new hires or equipment?

If a business owner pursues growth too quickly, spends too much money on new hires or equipment, or raises service prices too high to pay for expansion, the results could be damaging to the business.

What is the difference between an accountant and an entrepreneur?

Perhaps one of the biggest differences between the average accounts firm partner and the entrepreneurial accountant is the fact that the latter is willing to take calculated risks while the former isn’t. The job of the entrepreneur is to grow his/her business and growth cannot happen until and unless risks are being taken. The entrepreneur will try to be bold and go to places where most firms would not dare to, and that’s usually what separates successful entrepreneurs from the typical firm partner.

What does it mean to let your inner businessman take charge of your accountant?

Instead, they will let their inner businessman take charge over the accountant, which means most of their time will be dedicated towards introducing innovation, developing new or improved business models, and restructuring the manpower as is fit for achieving the next goal.

Written By

Michael Acosta is a partner at Acosta & Williams LLC in Langhorne, Penn. As an attorney, he specializes in handling matters involving pharmaceutical litigation, personal injury, premises liability, auto and truck accidents, toxic torts, property and air contamination and wrongful death.

Michael Acosta

Michael Acosta is a partner at Acosta & Williams LLC in Langhorne, Penn. As an attorney, he specializes in handling matters involving pharmaceutical litigation, personal injury, premises liability, auto and truck accidents, toxic torts, property and air contamination and wrongful death.

What do accountants do for business?

4. Taxes and licenses. Although your accountant will prepare and file your business tax returns each year, your lawyer should know how to register your business for federal and state tax identification numbers, and understand the tax consequences of the more basic business transactions in which your business will engage.

What is a good business attorney?

A good business attorney will provide vital assistance in almost every aspect of your business, from basic zoning compliance and copyright and trademark advice to formal business incorporation and lawsuits and liability. First, some general rules about dealing with lawyers:

Why are lawyers reluctant to quote flat fees?

Lawyers will be reluctant to quote flat fees if the matter involves litigation or negotiations with third parties. The reason for this is bluntly stated by a lawyer friend of mine: "Even though it's a transaction I've done dozens of times, if the other side's lawyer turns out to be a blithering idiot who wants to fight over every comma and semicolon in the contracts, then I can't control the amount of time I will be putting into the matter, and will end up losing money if I quote a flat fee." In such situations, you will have to pay the lawyer's hourly rate. You should always ask for a written estimate of the amount of time involved, and advance notice if circumstances occur that will cause the lawyer to exceed his or her estimate.

How to find commercial lawyers?

Go to FindLaw , for instance, and you have instant access to thousands of lawyers. You can search by city and state, and several results come up within the area you specify, with details of each firm's background, areas of practice, published works, attorneys on staff and so on. There are other similar services listed on the ABA site.

How much do lawyers have to pay upfront?

Many attorneys require payment of a flat fee upfront, so that they can cover their out-of-pocket expenses. You should always ask to "hold back" 10 to 20 percent of a flat fee, though, in the event the lawyer doesn't do the job well.

What skills do you need to be a lawyer?

You will need a lawyer who can understand your business quickly; prepare the standard form contracts you will need with customers, clients and suppliers; and help you respond to contracts that other people will want you to sign. 2.

What is a "finder" attorney?

Your attorney should be a combination of a "minder" and a "grinder.".

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

Being an entrepreneur means having business insurance. Unfortunately, a lot of entrepreneurs these days love to run their business without setting up an insurance plan. This is where the need to have a lawyer on standby comes in. Let’s say you are a health coach and you advised the idea of using your products to improve a person’s health. Apparently, one of your customers took your advice and bought your product. The only catch, however, is that his/her health became worse after consulting your advice.

Is entrepreneurship a lawyer?

A person’s entrepreneurial path can be different from yours. But if there is one thing that both of you have in common, it is none other than the need to have a lawyer. It is the one factor that easily applies to all forms of entrepreneurship.

Can you control your employees?

Sometimes, you do not have the power to control your employees or oversee what they are doing on a daily basis. After all, you are busy running the core of the company, such as getting new contracts, building new partnerships, or planning a huge marketing campaign. In this case, it is easy for the company to be affected if one or more employees start messing around.

How does accounting help entrepreneurs?

An entrepreneur makes predictions through three basic projections: future revenues, future operating costs, and assets needed to service future demand. Accounting and finance can help because they give us analytical tools to make projections and to link what we expect to happen in the real world with the value added by our efforts.

What is the purpose of an entrepreneur?

One of an entrepreneur’s objectives is to make compelling predictions about the future in a way that attracts others to work on a shared vision that will change the world in some way. A group of people who have a common view of the future can work together to gather assets and to design and create processes that will help attract and satisfy customers in a way that makes the most efficient use of physical resources. In a sense, and within limits, entrepreneurs can shape the needs and desires of customers and transform raw material in a way that changes and shapes reality.

What is the purpose of accounting and finance?

For an entrepreneur, the truth is that accounting and finance are only tools to accomplish three key tasks: (1) To make predictions about the future; (2) To help you make more effective commitments of time, energy and money to attract customers and deliver goods and services at a larger and more efficient scale ; and.

What do entrepreneurs need to learn?

Aspiring entrepreneurs must learn to grasp accounting and finance tools , rather than merely develop the ability to regurgitate formulas and reproduce financial statements in carefully controlled environments, in order to meet these three objectives.

What is cost accounting?

Costs accounting – measuring costs and relating them to activity – is the key to making good commitments. You must understand the incremental impact to profits and cash flow of every incremental sales, operational, or financial decision.

What is the third task in accounting?

The Third Task: Measuring Progress. Using finance and accounting tools to monitor progress and, when necessary, make adjustments is crucial for a business. First, measuring actual progress versus predicted progress helps to keep you honest.

What does Acton write about?

Acton writes about principled entrepreneurship. This article is more than 8 years old. Observing finance and accounting professionals— or the way academics at most business schools train them — might lead you to believe that finance and accounting is a complex and arcane language understood only by an initiated few.

How can lawyers and law firms work together?

Lawyers and law firms can work to embrace entrepreneurial thinking by thoughtfully considering the value that they provide to their clients. The goal would be to understand what legal services can be automated, and what need the hand of the lawyer. That goes back to understand where lawyers provide value and where value can be better provided by an automated system, and where it makes sense to work in concert. Many larger firms are making progress on this front, and there are probably a number of small firms who are doing this work.

How can law firms promote entrepreneurial thinking?

Law firms can promote entrepreneurial thinking by educating students on how to work with clients and how law functions as a business. As it stands, at many schools, clients are spoken of as mysterious creatures that are only ever seen by law firm partners. Accordingly, law students are trained to cater to the needs of partners, and not clients.

What are some good books on entrepreneurship?

The ones that I have found most helpful are ones that are perennially popular among the startup set: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries , The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, Rework by Jason Fried, and Zero to One by Peter Thiel (I haven’t read this one yet, but I have heard great things). And since we are talking about legal practice, Tomorrow’s Lawyers by Richard Susskind is a must.

What is entrepreneurship in business?

At its simplest, entrepreneurship can be defined as combining resources to create a profitable business; an entrepreneur takes various types of capital and uses them to create something new. The more popular conception of entrepreneurship emphasizes innovation and entails certain cultural connotations and practices.

What are the administrative issues that lawyers face?

Similarly, any lawyer knows that there are a number of administrative issues to handle when running a legal business, everything from: billing, conflicts checking, managing trusts, networking, accounting and managing everyday office tasks. These areas can be made more efficient with the judicious application of technology.

How does technology help lawyers?

Technology now allows attorneys to try new ways of providing legal information and legal advice to customers. Whether that means writing books, offering flat-fee service packages or conducting seminars on legal topics, lawyers are increasingly seeking ways to get people what they need, at accessible prices, while preserving profitability.

Is entrepreneurship a security issue?

It’s important to be upfront: entrepreneurship lacks security. There is no guarantee that your best efforts will amount to anything, there will be expensive dead ends, and there is a real risk of total failure. It may be in vogue to fail faster, but it really hurts to experience it first-hand.