SMT & Associates - How We Are Different!

We Are Different!

Our tagline says "not your ordinary accounting firm." So what makes us different? How do we compare to the traditional firm? The traditional firm may spend some time at the beginning of your relationship with you setting you up in QuickBooks or some other program. Then they leave you and say "Call with any questions and bring your information to us after the end of the year." We are different. We prefer to work with our clients on a monthly or quarterly basis. Part of our setup with this program is a series of initial strategy sessions where we do a "state of the union" analysis of your business, a financial tune-up where we review your record keeping system, review entity structure, put together an owner compensation plan, review financial statements, and prepare detailed tax projections. When you walk out of our second meeting you will know exactly where your business stands from a financial and tax perspective. You will also have a structured process for record-keeping eliminating wasted time on your part and allowing for time to focus on your business. The traditional firm operates on a "call us if you have questions" basis. The problem is many business owners don't know which questions to ask. We are different. We work with you on a proactive basis. We've been consulting with business owners long enough that we can anticipate many of the owner's needs and, before the owner has even thought of the question, we've provided the answer. Over the years, we've honed a systematized approach to servicing the business owner. The traditional firm works in many disciplines. We focus on small and mid-sized businesses and their owners. The traditional firm has you bringing in your financial information in January or February. We are different. For us that is too late. There is no way they can provide any tax planning at that point. We keep your records up to date every month instead of once per year. The traditional firm's big event is "tax season." Our big event is the fall tax and business planning season. We meet with every client to review their financial results and to finalize the tax projections we prepared earlier in the year. Most importantly we use our tax planning checklist to come up with ideas to save you tax dollars. Our calendar is full in the fall, while theirs is full during tax season. The traditional firm is doing 12 months of work for all their clients during the short tax season. This usually results in delays and extensions for both corporate and personal tax returns. We are performing only December work in January and actually getting a good number of tax returns finished in January. This speeds up the preparation of the individual return eliminating extensions and penalties for businesses on our monthly program. The traditional firm is asking you questions in March or April (or sometimes September) about things that happened in your business over a year ago. We are always up to date and asking questions about what happened in your business the previous month - not the previous year. With the traditional form you are waiting until 4/15 or later to find out what you owe the IRS. With us you generally find out in the fall during our final tax planning season how much you will owe or get back. Our tax season consists of providing your tax return (with no bills) with our clients saying "that's what I thought." There are no surprises in our system. The traditional firm prepares your tax return but has clients going to one place for bookkeeping, another place for payroll, and yet another place for financial and wealth planning. There are too many people in the mix and nobody has a complete picture not to mention the fact it is an inefficient model. We are a one-stop shop; there are so many issues intertwined today that it requires a one firm approach to view it all and make timely, relevant decisions about your most important financial issues. With the traditional firm, you generally never know what your fee will be from one year to the next. You generally get charged by the hour which incentivizes the firm to work more hours. We are different! All of our monthly plans are fixed, all-inclusive, and quoted up front. You know exactly what you are paying upfront and it makes for a better working relationship. We don't even send you any bills. We work out a fee that is comfortable for you and then get right to work. Contact us today for a free initial consultation to learn more about our fixed fee programs.

Home|

About Us|