HOUSTON BUSINESS REVIEW

Getting the Most from Your CPA, The Third in a Series
By Gary Cooper

GARY N. COOPER, C.P.A., C.V.A., is managing partner of Cooper, Bergman & Company, L.L.P., certified public accountants which was formed in 1991, assisting small businesses and individuals with accounting, consulting and income tax planning and compliance. Services provided include medical practice consulting, business valuation, assistance with buy/sell transactions, development and implementation of policies and procedures, accounting services and tax compliance and planning. The Company has offices in Plano and Houston, Texas.

If you are using your CPA as a mere bean counter you are not getting the most of your money or that important relationship. Your CPA should have the knowledge, skills, and background to help in business financial services, estate planning, management consulting, financial planning services, and small business services. In the next several weeks we will review each of these areas and how you can make the most of that CPA relationship. If you don’t feel your CPA fulfills these objectives, feel free to contact me.

Estate Planning – Sound financial and estate planning can help preserve the financial security that you are working so hard to achieve.  It is important to plan for the disposition of property during your lifetime and upon your death.  With effective planning, you can minimize the tax burden on your estate and know that your beneficiaries will receive the maximum amount that the law allows.

An essential part of lifetime planning is making sure that only appropriate assets pass to the survivors.  Certain businesses and investments may be impractical or impossible for a grieving family to manage.  A CPA can assist you in putting your affairs in order in the most effective way to provide for your loved ones.

Effective financial planning is essential.  An estate you consider of modest value today may well become very sizable when measured in inflated market values at the time of your death.

A strategy can be developed to conserve, increase and, ultimately, pass on your estate with maximum tax savings.     

Next week I will review management consulting.