Tax Accountant/Adviser Recommendations

[Coleman Nelson]

We are looking for recommendations for a good alternative to the tax accountant our company is currently working with. Our accountant has been reliable in completing our company tax returns, but we are looking for someone who is more responsive and can provide more. I am a CPA myself, but my experience is more in audit and corporate accounting and reporting...not as much in tax.

We are a small, but growing company with high ambitions. We are looking for a company or individual who can not only prepare our taxes, but also be an adviser to guide us along the way. We want someone who can advise us on entity structure and tax strategies as we continue to acquire and self-manage apartment buildings. We also anticipate syndication in our near future and would like someone with experience in that area.

Our preference is someone local to Cincinnati, Ohio or Northern Kentucky, but we are open to someone remote if they are a good fit. If you have anyone that you have used and would recommend, we would really appreciate it. Or, if you think you would be a good fit for what we are looking for, please message me.

Thanks for your help!

[Coleman Nelson]

Thanks @Brandon Hall for your response and insights. We aren't committed to switching CPAs at this point, but the thought keeps coming back to us of wishing we had a little more so we've decided to see what other options there are.

As far a local or non-local, I don't care about their physical presence as long as they are able to handle the state and local taxes.

Our ideal CPA would be more like a business adviser rather than just a tax preparer. We want someone that we can bounce ideas off of when we need it, and someone who will also give us recommendations for things we haven't thought about. If a new tax regulation comes out and there's something we can do in our business to save money, I want our accountant to tell us what we should be doing rather than having to hear it on a BiggerPockets podcast or blog post and then running it by them!

As far as frequency of communication, I would say at least 2-3 times a year to discuss any changes, such as an acquisition, and any year-end strategies based on how our financials are trending. But I'd want to be able to have a quick phone call or email to bounce a question off of them if needed. I don't want to have to spend time "prodding" someone that I am paying for their services. So reasonably timely responses is expected.

As far as expertise, we would like someone who is familiar with multi-family investing, preferably experience with clients who have done syndications, 1031 exchanges, etc. as these may be in our future.