I am currently a CPA that is almost at the top of my audit career ladder. I have been getting interested in buying a CPA firm instead of pursuing partner at my current firm. The only downside is that most are primarily tax work. The closest I have seen from an audit/tax mix was a 40%/40% with 20% being bookkeeping. This still leaves 40% that I don’t have experience with. Obviously, I know the basics to pass the exam, what was taught in my masters program, and what I have picked up along the way for personal reasons. How would you recommend picking up that experience? How difficult of a transition would this be? If I found another even mix firm, what tax position would I be looking to hire if I cannot manage that side of the business?
Thank you.
Switching from Audit to Tax to buy a firm
byu/SCFlipper intax
Posted by SCFlipper
2 Comments
I mean… broad question. Are you buying a 1040 mill or complex multistate partnerships? Do you think you could have the current owner stay on board at least temporarily as you get up to speed or have a partner with that tax background?
It’s a pretty sharp difference. You have the GAAP know-how, which is half the battle, but knowing how to translate GAAP to tax, tracking those adjustments properly, all the forms, state apportionment rules, choice of entity, allocations to partners just off the top of my head. There’s a good chunk of complexity there that’d probably take some time to get up to speed on, especially if it’s just you 100% that could be risky.
Maybe check the r/taxpros for better advice