How to asses an accounting firm

This is our main tax information forum which deals with topics concerning Canadians living and working in the U.S., U.S. citizens contemplating working in Canada, and all aspects of Canadian and U.S. income tax and related adminstrative issues.

Moderator: Mark T Serbinski CA CPA

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mbert
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:05 pm

How to asses an accounting firm

Post by mbert »

I am wondering what to look for / how to assess an accounting firm. I.e. what questions to ask, any red flags, and a general idea about cost. Obviously this is dependent our the individuals situation, so here are some pertinent facts.

1) I am a dual US/Canadian citizen
2) I've lived and worked 4 years in Canada before moving to the US to work for a year. I will be relocating to Singapore to work the rest of 2019
3) My income is in the range of 150K US
4) My net wealth is mostly in stocks, I don't own any property.

Any advice / info is much appreciated.
mbert
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:05 pm

Re: How to asses an accounting firm

Post by mbert »

Just following up on this. I know the obvious answer given the location of this post would be Serbinski! However my understanding is that they specialise in Canada and US taxes only.

I guess one possibility is I use different firms for 2018 and 2019, firms which specialise in US/Canada and then US/Singapore respectively. I'm wondering what they trade offs for this would be vs using someone who deals with US/Canada/Singapore. E.g. would it generally be much easier (and cheaper) to find firms who specialise with each of these scenarios individually vs someone who deals with US/Canada/Singapore. Is transferring accountants simple enough that using different firms for 2018/2019 would be fairly seamless? Are there tax planning issues that could be better advised on by having knowledge of all three jurisdictions?

I realise that the issues above are quite broad but any advice on any of them would be much appreciated.
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