Why Summer Is a Great Time to Find an Accountant

Whether you need an accountant for your small business or your own personal needs, it's important to find the right person for the job. The accountant you hire should be someone who's trustworthy, who takes the time to explain things, and who's knowledgeable enough to help you make savvy financial and tax-related decisions.

If you've yet to find the right accountant for you, it pays to focus on that search during the summer months. Here's why.

You can take your time without pressure

Many people first seek out accounting help when they're gearing up to file their taxes. But if you wait until the winter to find an accountant, you might struggle.

Accountants tend to be very busy during tax season. And the demand for them can be strong at that time. So an accountant may not have the time to schedule a consultation with you in February or March.

Similarly, toward the end of the year, some accountants are busy helping their business clients close out their books. Between that and the holidays, it's not the best time to be searching for help, either.

But during the summer, accountants tend to have more flexibility. This isn't necessarily the case for everyone, but in general, the typical accountant has more wiggle room in their schedule. So they're more likely to have time to sit down and have a lengthy discussion about what you're looking for.

Also, you yourself might feel a lot less pressured going about the process of finding an accountant during the summer. That's because you won't have a tax-filing deadline looming.

Ask the right questions

There are several key questions you'll want to ask to find the right accountant for you. These might include:

• What's your preferred method of communication? You might prefer someone who's willing to have you come in for meetings rather than someone who does most of their business over email and Zoom.
• What are your rates? This is an important one, because you need an accountant whose services you can afford. Forbes says that an accountant's rate can range from under $37 to upward of $400 per hour, depending on their experience and the work at hand. Clearly, that's quite a wide range, so you'll want to figure out what your fees will look like and what they give you in return.
• What experience do you have with situations like mine? If you run a small business, you'll want an accountant who's worked with small businesses before. It's important to find someone whose experience aligns with your needs.

At the same time, you'll want to make sure any accountant you talk to asks you the right questions. They should want to know things like what your employment status is (salaried versus self-employed, for example) and what your financial goals and concerns entail.

An accountant can do a lot more than just help you with taxes. They can also help you with tax and financial planning and help you implement strategies to lower your IRS burden. So if you need someone to do those things for you, start looking this summer -- before you head into a crunch.