Questions to ask a CPA?

[Keith Lutz]

Since we are approaching tax season, and I am new to investing, I figure it would be a good idea to look/interview for a CPA?

Do you have any qualifying questions I should ask?

I figure one pre-qualifiying question would be if they have real estate investments themselves. Aside from that I am at a loss, any help much appreciated.

I remember seeing another thread, where someone said not to be too concerned with the CPA portion of those creditentials. Do BP'ers agree?

Thanks,
Keith

[Steven Hamilton II]

Keith,

I have compiled a list of questions that you can select which are most pertinent to your situation:

What was the most recent CE course you took and when?
What subject is/are your academic degree(s) in?
What is your specialty (tax accounting, tax representation, etc.)
How long have you been practicing?
How many clients do you have?
What percentage of your practice today is in real estate?
Have you represented clients in front of the IRA, and what is your success rate?
Will you share a reference(s) from your current client who runs a business similar to mine?
Will you share a reference who can speak to your representation before the IRA?
How can you or your professional network help me with entity structuring, retirement/estate planning, business analysis, etc.?
Help you define the appropriate business structures, both from a legal protection and from a financial/tax perspective
Help you create a tax strategy for your business that will allow you to legally keep as much money as you possibly can
Help you make smart decisions with respect to your individual real estate investments
Prepare your annual tax returns
Recommend other team members (attorney, insurance agent, real estate agent, etc) who can help make your business a success
What are your credentials?
What services do you offer?
What areas of tax and accounting do you specialize in?
What is your background and do you personally own real estate?
How would I be able to communicate with you? Can I get questions answered by email?
Given my circumstances, what business structure(s) do you recommend? Why?
Can you register the business structures for us?
How can you help in the various phases of real estate investing (acquisition through sale)?
Do you specialize in tax strategy? Specifically geared towards real estate?
How aggressive will you be in helping us keep as much money as possible?
What tax strategies/issues should I be aware of upfront?
How often would you suggest we meet to review our progress/plan?
Do you do tax preparation?
What software do you use (and expect me to use) to do our accounting?
Can you help me find other team members (attorney, insurance agents, real estate agents, etc)?
What is your schedule of fees?
Do you have references?

Some of the questions are duplicated in here for the reason of asking them a different way for a different response.

Also here is a link to another similar discussion we had on this topic (it is some very good reading): http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/63679