One of the things my Las Vegas clients ask me often is, "How can you help me more with my tax planning?", and I think the best answer to that is "I need to talk to you". Whoever your Las Vegas CPA is, if you let them know what you're doing before March of the next year, they can often do a lot of things with entity structure, or just planning the deal to make it more tax efficient. Communication is the key with Las Vegas tax planning, but if you only talk to your CPA once a year, in March, you're missing the boat, and he or she isn't able to help you as much as they could.

For example: I had a client come to me once that was doing a land deal; they owned some land and they were going to build a building on it. And by talking with us, and letting us understand their particular tax situation, we were able to structure another entity, take the advantages between a partnership and a corporation, and capture most of that gain as long-term capital gain, instead of all as ordinary income. But it's one of those things that we couldn't have done if they had started construction and talked to us after the fact.

Make sure that your CPA understands your business and tax situation as early as possible. Give them any information that they might be able to use during the tax planning process, and make sure your Las Vegas accountant really gets to know your and your business.

I'm a Las Vegas CPA who just came out of a meeting with a bunch of students. They were down at a recruiting visit down in Southern Utah. And one of the things we told them when they're looking for an employer is to "find your fit". And that is an absolutely important tip I can give to any business owner as well: When you're looking for an advisor - your attorney, your insurance agent, your Las Vegas CPA - these are people you're going to have to trust an awful lot with the personal details of your life and with the success of your business in some case, and so you need to take the time to interview people and see whether you relate to them, and whether it's somebody that you can trust, someone you can get on the phone and talk to, and someone who shares your values.

Maybe they have a similar appetite for risk. You may not be as cutting edge as your CPA wants to be on taxes, and that may make you uncomfortable. Or, your CPA may be more conservative than you want to be. So it's very important that you spend the time on this relationship at the front, because it's much easier to spend it then, than to change CPAs every 2 or 3 years. So, "find your fit" when choosing a Las Vegas CPA.

As a CPA in Las Vegas I want to take just a minute to talk about the service you should expect from someone who is really interested in you, and that is your CPA. Most CPAs in Las Vegas have a perspective of history - they ask you for last year's tax returns, they ask you for last year's information for financial statements - but someone who is really worried about you needs to be looking towards the future; needs to be looking to see what the past has in its base of information that will help you reach your goals and objectives in the future.

I have often said that CPAs stand on this line, which is today, and look back, but they should be taking that perspective of seeing what's in the past and looking forward towards the future; to help you meet your goals and objectives, your wishes and your dreams. That perspective will help you plan for the future and allow you to make the goals that you have for yourself. Most residents of Las Vegas feel like they're making an educated decision when choosing a CPA, however, they might be looking for the wrong things. While experience and reputation are still very important, you should be focusing on that personal relationship. You want to avoid any CPA who treats you like everyone else, and find the CPA in Las Vegas that will really take a personal interest in you specifically.