Choosing a small business accountant in the Fraser Valley: 10 questions to ask before you sign

Choosing a new accountant is hard to do fairly: everyone claims to be “experienced” and “responsive,” fees are rarely posted, and you often learn who does the work only after signing. These ten plain questions cut through the pitch, for first-time hires or switches. Ask every firm the same ones.

Choosing an accountant in the Fraser Valley: the 10 questions to ask

Each of these has a checkable answer, which is the point: a question that can only be answered with an impression tells you nothing. Our own answer follows each one, so the same standard applies here.

1. Are you a CPA, and who regulates you?

Anyone can say “accountant,” but a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) is licensed by a provincial regulator and trained in corporate tax and statements. Ask, and confirm good standing. It is the fastest filter.

2. How do you charge — fixed fees or hourly?

Fixed fees let you budget and ask mid-year questions without a surprise bill. Hourly billing suits unpredictable projects, but for recurring work it sets you against the clock. Get the model in writing.

3. Who will actually do my work?

At many firms the salesperson is not the preparer. That can be fine, but know whether a CPA reviews your file and who answers your questions.

4. How quickly do you reply during the year?

A late CRA letter or a financing deadline does not wait for tax season. Ask what a normal response time looks like — same day, one business day, a week?, and whether that holds in March as well as August.

5. Are you available year-round, or only at tax time?

Some practices effectively close between filing seasons. If you want planning conversations, mid-year check-ins, or help when something unexpected lands, confirm the firm is reachable all twelve months, not just in the run-up to a deadline.

6. Do you have experience in my industry?

A contractor with T5018 obligations, a quota farm, a trucker with per-kilometre records or a multi-province online seller each has quirks a generalist can miss. You want someone who has seen your situation.

7. What software and systems do you use?

Cloud bookkeeping, secure document portals and e-signature make a remote relationship smooth; shoeboxes of receipts and emailed spreadsheets do not. Ask how documents move between you, how your books are kept, and whether you will have visibility into your own numbers.

8. What exactly is included, and what costs extra?

“Year-end and taxes” varies. Does the fee include the corporate and personal returns, GST/PST, payroll and CRA letters? Get scope in writing so a “cheaper” quote is not just smaller.

9. How does switching work if I come from another firm?

A good accountant requests your prior files and handles CRA authorization with little of your time. Vagueness about the handover is a signal. (See how the handover works.)

10. What are the red flags?

Beware anyone who guarantees a refund unseen, dodges fees, hides who does the work, promises aggressive deductions or disappears after tax season. Confidence is fine; pressure and vagueness are not.

How to compare quotes fairly

Compare quotes on the same terms, against exactly what each includes: a $1,000 quote for the corporate return alone is not cheaper than a slightly higher one adding GST, payroll and year-round questions. Weigh availability and who does the work. A firm that answers these ten questions clearly in writing shows how it will communicate.

If comparing fixed-fee quotes is where you are stuck, our pricing page lays out what our own fixed fees include, which you can use as a yardstick even if you are talking to several firms.

If you are weighing up local options, our city pages set out what we do in each: Chilliwack, Langley, Mission, Maple Ridge business owners and Surrey.

Choosing somewhere else? The same questions, with the local specifics, for Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Choosing an accountant in Langley, and what to ask first, Surrey, Maple Ridge, Aldergrove, Vancouver, Victoria and Mission.