Accounting Archives - Experienced Las Vegas CPA Firm | Larry L. Bertsch, CPA & Associates

September 15, 2020 By Larry L. Bertsch, CPA and Associates

How Forensic Accountants Help the Divorce Process

A divorce can be a stressful experience, especially when it concerns sorting out complicated financial matters. To make the process run as smoothly as possible, divorce lawyers and people seeking a divorce often hire a forensic accountant to help locate hidden assets.

Using a forensic accountant in a divorce can help reveal important information that can facilitate divorce proceedings. The forensic accountant can help achieve complete financial transparency by uncovering hidden assets. They can also provide professional asset and income valuations, determine the correct child support income, and so much more. Read on to find out why you need a forensic accountant during a divorce.

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June 22, 2020 By Larry L. Bertsch, CPA and Associates

What Are the Principles of GAAP?

If you’re doing accounting tasks for your business, you’ve probably heard of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), but you may now know exactly what they are. However, applying them will ensure that your business’s finances are represented fairly and accurately. So, what are the principles of GAAP? Read on to learn about the principles and how they should be used for your own accounting practices.

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June 12, 2018 By Larry L. Bertsch, CPA and Associates

What Is the Difference Between Bookkeeping and Accounting?

You’ve been doing the finances of your business for far too long, and you recognize that it is costing you time and, in effect, money. If you’ve been considering having a professional take over, you may be wondering exactly what the difference is between accounting services vs. bookkeeping services. [Read more…]

August 11, 2016 By Larry L. Bertsch, CPA and Associates

The Role of a CPA in Estate Planning

Undoubtedly, just about every individual should create an estate plan as soon as feasibly possible. Many people harbor the misconception that an estate plan is only necessary for the rich or individuals with significant assets. As a result of this misconception, many people end up overlooking the assets they actually do possess because they believe that they don’t have an estate. All people, with very few exceptions, possess an estate and accordingly need an estate plan. If you’re creating an estate plan, here is some information about the role of a CPA in the estate planning process.

What Is a CPA?

A “Certified Public Accountant” or CPA is the title of qualified accountants in the United States. In order to become a CPA, an individual must pass the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and meet state experience and education requirements. CPAs are responsible for consulting individuals, businesses, government agencies, financial institutions, and nonprofit organizations. While CPAs mostly act as advisors when it comes to taxes and financial goals, they can also provide help and advice related to the estate planning process.

What Is the Role of a CPA in Estate Planning?

Without a doubt, estate planning is best done with the help of a team of professionals working together. Some key players for an estate planning team include attorneys, investment advisors, insurance agents, bank trust officers, and CPAs.

Tax Knowledge

A CPA can bring his or her knowledge of taxes to the table to ensure you create a proper estate plan. Thanks to this intricate knowledge of taxes, a CPA will be able to tell you the tax implications of every decision you make. This will help you ensure that your estate plan minimizes the taxes and maximizes the portion of your estate that will be passed down to your beneficiaries.

Due to the incredibly high rates of taxation and inflation, it is now more important than ever to have a CPA by your side to make preserving your estate as simple as possible. You need sound estate planning to preserve the estate and wealth you worked so hard to attain. Even if you are young, you need to start planning the disposition of property as soon as possible so that your heirs receive everything entitled to them when the time comes.

Future Expectations

Another way a CPA will be able to help you with the estate planning process is giving you reasonable future expectations for your estate. As stated above, many people don’t see the need of creating an estate plan because they don’t believe they have a sizable estate. However, it is possible that an estate of modest value today could become very significant by the time you die. A CPA can use their knowledge of market trends and finances to predict whether the value of your estate will increase, decrease, or stay the same a few decades down the line.

Of course, you can’t expect the predictions of a CPA to be 100 percent accurate. However, in many cases, these predictions will be very close. Thanks to these predictions, you will be able to make informed decisions now and when you make modifications to your estate plan in the future.

An estate plan is one of those things that you should do sooner rather than later. The fact that an individual can die at any time is a sobering but true fact. If you want to learn more about the importance of CPA estate planning, contact us here at Larry Bertsch. We offer a full range of accounting (including forensic accounting), tax preparation, and small business bookkeeping services at affordable fees.

May 23, 2016 By Larry L. Bertsch, CPA and Associates

Top 5 Reasons Your Small Business Needs to Hire a CPA Today

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is a significant addition to any business, and a company should look to hire a CPA as soon as possible. There are a lot of reasons why having a CPA is a major concern for business, not least of all because it allows a business to operate more efficiently.

Many small and medium businesses don’t understand why having a CPA is such a big deal, but there are a lot of motives for hiring one.

Why Hire a CPA?

1. Company Assets

Assets, in the lingo of an accountant, is anything that the business owns that brings value to the table and can be used as collateral to borrow against. A CPA can precisely categorize a company’s assets so that the owners and managers are able to have an understanding of how much the business is worth at a glance.

In some situations, this can be very useful, such as using the company itself as collateral for a loan.

2. Technical Accounting Knowledge

Even though you might have an idea what a debit and a credit is in accounting terms, you’re probably be hopelessly lost if you had to utilize this knowledge in the framework of a modern software suite. A CPA is skilled in using and manipulating data within the confines of current accounting software in order to make it intelligible to the layman.

An experienced CPA knows the most modern accounting suites inside out.

3. Audits

The thing with how the IRS does audits is that it seems as though the way they choose the companies to review are incredibly random. The truth of the matter is that the IRS would only consider a company for auditing if the information they have about the company doesn’t add up.

Although in a lot of cases it’s simply a matter of accidentally not calculating correctly, even accidents can carry a hefty fine if a company is found in breach of the law. A CPA ensures that this doesn’t happen and even lessens the chance of an audit even occurring through thorough record-keeping.

4. Operate More Efficiently

Some small businesses contend that the amount that would be paid on a CPA would be too expensive for them to even consider it. The fact is, a CPA on staff almost pays for themselves, and even managed to save the company money in the long run. Overall, having a CPA can enable a business to be more profitable by ensuring that cash and assets are used to grow the business more efficiently.

To do this properly, however, you’d need someone like a skilled CPA to show you the way.

5. Plan the Future

Businesses don’t stay small forever. However, some grow a lot more than others. The growth of a business is almost always directly linked to its management of capital and assets. A skilled CPA can help a business to plot where it should be over a series of years and even plan a route that would utilize the existing assets and capital to get there.

Having a roadmap for anything helps to navigate and for a business, this is even more important.

The Road to Growth and Prosperity is Through a CPA

Normally, tax season is something a lot of businesses and individuals dread. With a CPA on staff, you can rest easy knowing that your financial obligations are already going to be managed professionally. If your company needs to hire a CPA, then you should look into getting one that is both professional and efficient in the job they do.

Contact Larry L. Bertsch today to find out how a CPA can make tax season seem exciting for once!