Long-Time Certified Public Accountant Discusses the Benefits of Hiring a CPA

Has Tax Season Ended For Cpas Now That April Is Over?

No, it’s not over. We did probably 900 extensions, so we’re going to be working on those the rest of the summer. Corporate deadline for extensions is September 15 and personal is October 15. In between those are trusts and estates on September 30. We’ll be having what we call our ‘second tax season’ in September and October. A lot of people don’t even know extensions exist. Then, when we mention doing one, they think it’s a big red flag for the IRS, but it’s not because there are so many people who don’t have all their documentation by April 15 now.

How Has Technology Improved Accounting?

Made us faster. We wouldn’t be doing as much if we didn’t have technology on our side. When we used to have to handwrite tax returns, there was no way we could do this many. With as much as goes into a tax return now, I can’t imagine doing it by hand. As far as technology, COVID sped things up with virtual meetings, so we can meet with anybody anywhere. We have remote workers who live out of the area. Technology has helped with that.

Is One Of The Biggest Advantages To Hiring A Cpa Because Tax Law Changes Are Often Highly Complicated And Hard To Keep Up With?

Some of them can be complicated. We do a lot of education this time of year. Since it’s not full-on tax season right now, that’s when we do our continuing education and try to stay up on things. I would say we’re learning every day, so if you don’t want to be a lifelong learner, don’t be a CPA. A lot of times, we choose to go somewhere because you get more out of the live instruction and the interaction with the other people there. We go to a lot of live instruction, but we watch some seminars online. Sometimes we just need to get out of the office and take a break.

What Do You And The Rest Of The Employees At Andre + Associates Love Most About What You Do?

You never know what you’re going to do when you walk in every morning. You don’t know who’s going to call you or who’s going to walk in that’s going to send you a different direction or make you have to go do a research project. You just never know. We like helping small businesspeople trying to make their businesses more profitable and letting us take care of the stuff they don’t want to do.

Andre + Associates Has Served Mckinney For Over 40 Years. What Is The Reason For Your Longevity?

We have a really good staff. We have long-term retention in our staff. We try to make this a really good place to come to work, so our staff stays with us, so we have consistency. We have clients we’ve had for that long.