Accountant or Bookkeeper?

Accountant
An accountant can analyze your financial situation and offer strategic advice. He or she produces key financial documents, such as a profit-and-loss statement and files a company’s taxes.

Bookkeeper
A bookkeeper does the everyday tasks necessary in a business such as making sure new employees file the right paperwork for the company’s payroll, submitting invoices and following up on them and paying the bills. The bookkeeper also tracks company expenses and can assure that every cost has been entered, and recorded correctly, so that the business is ready for tax time along with filing any other reporting to creditors or investors.

Search Guidelines

Business Structure
Find an accountant that specializes in the business structure you chose for your business.

References
Ask for references from clients in your industry and in your size range.

Other Qualifications
Check qualifications by finding out education background and whether they are a member of professional organization such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Services
Accounting, bookkeeping, auditing, tax advice, management consulting, and even estate planning are all services that different individuals or firms may offer. Be sure you understand what each accountant and bookkeeper can do for you before making a decision.

Fees
Ask about fees upfront and get a range of quotes from different accountants. Also try to get an estimate of the total annual charges based on the services you have discussed.

NOTE: Accounting firms charge by the hour and can be very costly, ranging from $100 to $275.

Personality
Your business will run a lot smoother if you work well with whomever you are hiring.

General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance covers legal issues due to an accident-induced injury or claims of negligence. This type of insurance policy can protect against payments as result of injury, medical expenses, libel/slander, property damage, and the cost of defending a lawsuit. If you are running a high risk business, like a construction service, you may want to buy a more extensive general liability insurance policy than an average small business would.

Product Liability Insurance

Product liability insurance protects against financial loss as a result of a defective product that causes injury or harm. If you are running a clothing store, you will not need as much product liability coverage as much as an automobile or small appliance manufacturer would since the odds of your product causing injury or bodily harm is considerably lower.

Professional Liability Insurance

Professional liability insurance (also known as errors and omissions insurance) is a type of liability coverage that will protect your business against negligence, errors and malpractice. Connecticut requires that any individuals licensed and providing direct patient care will need to hold this insurance before practicing.

Commercial Property Insurance

Commercial property insurance covers damage and loss of a company property due to a huge variety of events like fire, smoke, wind, and even civil disobedience and vandalism. The insurance company’s definition of “property” is broad and typically includes buildings, computers, equipment, money, and even lost income and business interruption. There are two types of property insurance: all-risk and peril-specific.

All-risk property insurance policies cover a wide-array of incidents; however, there will be exceptions specifically listed in the document. A common peril that may be left out of an all-risk property insurance policy is flood insurance. You can get flood-specific property insurance through a peril-specific policy. Other peril-specific policies include fire, crime, business interruption service and more. If your business is located in area that is susceptible to a specific peril, like hurricanes. It would be best if you took out extensive wind or flood-specific property insurance.

Workers' Compensation (WC)

All businesses are required to have Worker’s Compensation Insurance, which protects your business’s employees against the costs associated with work-related injuries. Businesses can find WC through a commercial carrier.

Note: If you are a sole proprietor, you are NOT covered under your worker’s compensation insurance policy, but you can intentionally add yourself to your coverage if needed. If you are in a partnership or are a corporate official you are automatically included in your company’s worker’s comp insurance, but you can choose to be excluded if you’d like.

Unemployment Insurance Tax

Paying for unemployment insurance is required by state law. The unemployment insurance tax helps pay for unemployment compensation funding. Check out the Reporting & Tax Requirements for more information.

Health Insurance

Health insurance coverage covers health-related costs like doctor visits, prescription drugs, and hospital visits. If you have more than 50 full-time employees, you are required under the Affordable Care Act to participate in the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment program, which requires these businesses to offer adequate health care coverage to all of their employees. Employers with less than 50 full-time employees are not required to participate in this program, but are recommended to and will receive a tax credit. Self-employed employers with no employees are not employers and thus do not need to worry about the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment program (but are still required to get insurance for themselves under the Individual Mandate portion of the ACA).

View more information on health insurance, the different types, and where you can purchase a plan for yourself or for your employees.

Inland Marine Insurance

This type of insurance is a type of property insurance used for property in transit over land. If you plan to transport valuable products over land, this insurance policy may be able to protect you from damage-related costs.

Business Interruption Insurance

A form of insurance coverage that replaces business income lost as a result of an event that interrupts business operations, such as fire, natural disaster, road closure, etc. Business interruption insurance is not sold as a separate policy, but is either added to a property/casualty policy or included in a comprehensive package policy.

Automobile Insurance

Automobile insurance helps reduce the costs associated with getting in a car accident.

Home-Based Business Insurance

Homeowner’s insurance does not typically cover home-based businesses, so any damage done to business property in your personal home won’t be reimbursed. You can get a homeowner’s insurance policy that does cover home-based business operations and property, but it is advisable to purchase additional policies like general/professional liability insurance in order to cover any gaps the homeowner’s policy may have.

Officer and Director Insurance

Officer and director insurance provides coverage for the directors and officers of a company against any legal judgments and costs associated with erroneous investment decisions, releasing confidential information, conflicts of interest, failure to maintain property/gross negligence and other errors/unlawful acts.

Form a Corporation
You can take care of the formation of a legal business entity such as an LLC or business partnership without legal help, however, forming a corporation with shareholders and a board is a complex process. Articles of incorporation can be filed without lawyers, but the administrative side of managing the complex tax and legal requirements often requires the services of a corporate attorney.

File a Patent
Patents are expensive and time consuming. Consider whether patenting your product actually gives you a major market advantage because it can take years to get it approved. Consult a patent attorney to help you evaluate your product and understand what rights you will achieve.

Litigate
This can include dealing with lawsuits by customers or by current or former employees, discrimination or harassment lawsuits, environmental lawsuits, and government investigations for legal violations.

Buy or Sell a Business
Lawyers can help with negotiating sales agreements, lease agreements, and more.