Ask These Questions While Hiring Your Accounting Firm

1. Ask These Questions While Hiring Your Accounting Firm Every year, the government twists turn and change the tax laws leaving many businesses and individuals confused. As a business owner, you are left wondering how to get tax breaks after the recently announced budget. If you don’t have a professional accounting firm by your side, you may also not know how to account for your latest acquired property. Small businesses having an appreciable turnover need to have a firm specializing in GST filing in Singapore. GST is a complex area and it can be managed by only those accounting firms that have the required domain expertise. Ask these key questions before hiring your accounting firm. Fees The top audit firms in Singapore charge their clients in various ways. Some accounting firms charge by the minute. Every piece of advice they give is chargeable. If you are a start-up, you may find this arrangement very expensive. Then there are some corporate tax services in Singapore that work on a retainership. These firms will charge you a flat fee, irrespective of the volume of work they handle. Many Singapore-based companies hire their tax advisors on retainership basis. You may like to hire your accounting firm on a variable fee basis. For example, GST filing and preparation of tax returns may have differing fee structures. So, your fee varies with the complexity of the job. Business specialties Not all accountants have the same expertise. Some accountants may be very good at auditing, while there would be some who excel in financial reporting. A few others might be experts in GST filing, VAT, and Transfer Pricing. As a business owner, you need to choose a firm that can perform most functions effectively. Certification Check whether your potential accounting firm has CPAs on its rolls. When you have certified accountants, you get correct, relevant and meaningful advice. Please avoid those tax accountants who hire non-experts in their fields.

2. Localization If you are a Singapore-based business, you need to hire tax professionals who are aware of the local laws and procedures. Your tax partner must know the latest tax laws, any changes brought in by the government, etc. Having said that, you should also hire professionals who are reasonably aware of different tax laws around the world. Since Singapore is a major trade hub, it houses the regional headquarters of many global multinationals. Your corporate tax services firm should know the tax regimes of at least the major countries if not all. Availability Some businesses speak with their tax partners just once or twice a year. But if you have a reasonably large operation, you might want to hire a firm that is readily available with all kinds of advice. Sometimes personal connections also help in getting the right tax advisory firm otherwise use your own professional network to get the right corporate tax services firm in Singapore. You can look up at Lee and Hew in Singapore for all your tax and GST filing needs. Leaders in tax filing, GST, and secretarial services. Lee and Hew work with several global organizations. You can reach them at https://www.leeandhew.com.sg/