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Hiring an accountant for your small business: When + why to take the leap

By Marshall Hargrave
Published on July 1, 2025

Key takeaways:

  • Small business accountants file taxes, maintain tax compliance, and help clients avoid penalties.
  • Unless you have accounting experience, hiring an accountant is recommended to stay compliant.
  • Only certified public accountants (CPAs) can act as an intermediary to the IRS.


As a successful small business owner, you’re likely always looking out for the next big step for your business. Whether you want to take some tasks off your plate or just need some accounting support, you may have asked yourself, “Should I hire an accountant for my small business?” 

Considering that our 2025 Entrepreneurship report found that 3 out of 10 business owners have made a tax error, the answer is probably yes. But, like all business decisions, you want to ensure you’re making the right one. To help you decide if hiring an accountant is right for you, read through our ultimate guide for hiring an accountant for small businesses.

Jump to:

A flowchart helps break down the decision-making process for hiring an accountant for a small business.

Do you need an accountant for your small business?

Unless you’re an ex-accountant turned small business owner, you’ve likely wondered when to hire an accountant. While hiring an accountant isn’t a requirement, it can be a valuable investment for your business.

To help determine whether or not your small business needs accounting help, ask yourself:

  • Do I know how to do it myself?
  • Do I have enough free time?
  • Is now a bad time to hire an accountant?
  • Can I keep up with the growth of my business?
  • Do I know how to file small business taxes?
  • Is an accountant too expensive?

By asking yourself the above questions, you can quickly gauge the benefits of hiring a small business accountant and whether they can fulfill your needs.

What does a small business accountant do?

When you think about a small business accountant, you might think of someone who helps you pay your taxes. While this is true, small business accountants have many more responsibilities, including:

Business accountants can provide value for you and your business all year round—they do more than handle small business tax prep when tax season comes around. 

If any of these services sound like something you’d like to have for your business, you might consider hiring one. Connect with an accountant in your area to discuss how they can help streamline your business finances.

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Benefits of hiring an accountant

Small business owners can juggle a lot—that doesn't always mean you should. Accountants have the expertise to ensure bookkeeping is done correctly, saving you time, money, and many potential headaches.

Some pros of hiring a small business accountant include:

  • Compliance: Accountants know exactly what you need to do to stay in compliance, avoiding fines and potential legal issues.
  • Time management: Free up your time to focus on growing your business without worrying about the books.
  • Cost: Although you're paying for an accountant's services, you could potentially save thousands by avoiding tax penalties and taking full advantage of any tax deductions.
  • Peace of mind: Some accountants or tax services will pay any penalties if they make mistakes, so you can trust they're doing an effective job.

How do you find and hire a small business accountant?

Now that you know what a business accountant does, you may wonder how to find one for your small business. Whether you’d prefer to advertise a job opening, leverage network connections, or work with an accounting firm, read through these steps to find out how to hire an accountant for your business. 

1. Identify your accounting needs 

First, identify your specific accounting needs before looking for an accountant. Some accountants also provide bookkeeping services, whereas others may only stick to specific accounting tasks, such as generating financial statements and performing business audits.

Use this chart below to help determine if an accountant, bookkeeper, or Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is best for your small business.

2. Prepare a job posting and interview questions

With an understanding of exactly what you’re looking for in an accountant, you can begin drafting a job posting to attract the accountant of your dreams. Some information you might want to highlight in your job posting includes:

  • Expected working hours and office location
  • Whether hybrid or remote work is an option
  • Salary range and overview of benefits
  • Education and certificate requirements
  • Years of experience
  • Brief description of your small business
  • Other required or preferred skills

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To help you create a job posting that accurately reflects your needs, reach out to anyone at your business with a hand in your current bookkeeping processes.


You’ll also want to prepare a collection of interview questions that can help you vet potential hires. This can help ensure that none of your business’s requirements go unmentioned, allowing you to hire an accountant to help with everything you need.

For example, you may ask a potential hire the following questions:

  • Describe a situation in which you made an accounting error. How did you respond to the situation?
  • What accounting tasks are you most comfortable with? Which ones are you least comfortable with?
  • What types of accounting software are you familiar with?
  • How do you stay informed on current accounting laws and regulations?
  • What do you think are the top five skills of a great accountant?
  • How can you reduce human error in the accounting department?

3. Post a job or look for an accounting firm to hire

Once you’ve drafted the perfect job posting, you can post it to job sites, such as Indeed or LinkedIn, and wait for the talent to come in. If you don’t care as much about hiring an individual accountant for your business, you may look for an accounting firm to handle your accounting needs instead.

An accounting firm is a company with multiple accountants. Unlike hiring a full-time accountant, you can lean on an accounting firm as needed. This allows you to pay only for the services you need when you need them. There may be a required retainer agreement, so do your research when deciding on an accounting firm.

An image features an interview question checklist for hiring an accountant for a small business.

4. Speak to potential hires in person

Just like hiring any employee, you must meet candidates face to face to assess whether or not you think they’d be a good fit for your small business. While you'll always want to hire an employee with the technical skills you’re searching for, finding someone you’ll enjoy working with is just as important.


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To get to know your potential hire better, consider meeting outside of a formal interview setting, perhaps by grabbing lunch or coffee together.


5. Hire and onboard your chosen accountant

Once you’ve decided on the best accountant or accounting firm for the job, it’s time to begin onboarding them to your business. At this time, you must inform your new accountant of any reporting preferences you have and anything else you’d like them to know about your desired accounting processes.

The onboarding process is also a good time to lay out how you plan on measuring your accountant’s performance to ensure you’re both on the same page. Lastly, make your new accountant feel at home and introduce them to the people they will be working with.

It’s also important that you make yourself available to answer any questions from your new accountant and that they have the proper resources to do their job effectively.

Spend more time growing your business

Just because you can’t afford an accountant doesn’t mean you need to miss out on all the benefits of having one. With the help of accounting software, you can reap the benefits of streamlined accounting processes, from calculating tax deductions to tracking expenses across all your accounts.

Hiring an accountant for small business FAQ


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