Preface: Good business attorneys provide a valuable source of independent counsel in business decisions. Their expertise and experience when obtained in appropriate circumstances can be invaluable…..they know more than most what business inferno’s look like. Appreciate and respect an attorneys expertise….ask for their counsel and let them help you avoid the hot seat.
Why Your CPA Advises You to Work with an Attorney When Necessary
Credit: Donald Sauder, CPA
You are well advised to retain an attorney in certain instances. Why? Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. Your CPA appreciates this fact. After all, if you knew every tax and accounting angle, you wouldn’t need your CPA. When financial matters involve a peripheral individual or business, additional risks arise, and an attorney is worth the investment.
If you need accurate financial statements, tax advice, resolution of an IRS matter, or numerical analysis, your CPA is the right resource. If you need to amend a partnership agreement, write a buy-sell agreement, incorporate a new business, or draft a letter of intent, you need an attorney. If your CPA or attorney disagrees with this advice, you probably need a new CPA or attorney.
Often your CPA and attorney will work together to provide your business with a financial fortress. The fortress works like this. You wouldn’t pay a carpenter to install a new phone system in your business, nor would you pay marketing experts to install carpet in your new office. You understand the importance and value in working with a business or individual specializing in the task at hand. You would, perhaps, pay a human resource specialist to hire the right talent for a managerial role in your business. These are understandable examples of specialization. In too many instances, entrepreneurs have the wrong impression of what trusted advisors, such as a good attorney, can do for their business.
Suppose you are selling an interest in an LLC to your partner. You tell your accountant your plans, and he writes an agreement of sale document and amends the Operating Agreement. Your accountant makes the appropriate adjustments with the tax filing, and you receive payment. Here’s how things can go wrong. Three years later you decide to contact the bank for a loan on investment real estate. Your banker says your credit score is too low, but when you checked five years ago it was stellar. The problem–the partner who bought your business interest has a delinquent credit card with a $35,000 balance. Who forgot to take your name off the business credit card, or the at-the-limit-line of credit with your personal guarantee? Don’t sweat a business attorney’s fees if you want savvy advice. It should be obvious why your CPA advises you to retain an attorney. They don’t want to pay the line of credit or credit cards from a malpractice lawsuit, and the professional oversight of an attorney provides additional financial protection to you and your CPA.
Think of your attorney as saving you and your business from making major mistakes, not just getting you and your business out of major mistakes. Listening to your CPA when they advise you to retain an attorney, it is in your best interest.
In summary, attorneys can save you and your business from legal hassles. An attorney is an asset to your business, not a liability. Your CPA will likely give you a referral to a trusted attorney, should the need arise within your business.