Having a good CPA to help with your YouTube channel’s accounting, bookkeeping, and taxes can be one of the most important people you add to your team. Not only can a good CPA save you thousands of dollars in taxes, but they can help you manage the budging and finance side of your channel, too, so you make good decisions about where your channel is heading financially. In this video I interview my accountant and discuss why you need a good YouTube accountant working on your YouTube channel’s business.
We got a question from Taken By Clarence, who wrote and asked this: “Hey, Tim. I just wanted to know what CPA do you recommend the most?”
So I’m hanging out with my accountant talking money stuff. So while we’re here, I thought I’d take a moment and answer your question. First of all, Ryan, what is a CPA/accountant/bookkeeper? What are those people? We’ve heard those terms. What are they?
- CPA is a certified public accountant, which means they have a degree. They pass the test, and they are professional accountants.
- An accountant basically takes care of all your money stuff. So like taxes, payroll, bookkeeping.
- Bookkeeping, like where all transactions go. Budgeting, all that kind of stuff. So that the money you’re earning from your YouTube channel, you can stay on track with that and make sure you’re making money instead of losing it all in one way or another.
What should a creator be looking for in a CPA?
You’ve got to decide is what level of commitment, what level relationship do you want with the CPA?
For example, do you want to have a person you just drop off your documents, they do your taxes, and then see you next year?
Or do you want a person that you’re going to actually have a communication throughout the year, do some tax planning, understand if you’re profitable, how to spend your money? So you really have to decide what kind of relationship you want with the CPA.
TIM: That’s the kind of relationship I want, you know, someone who’s going to be a little more hands-on with me and helping me make good decisions, telling me things I didn’t even know that I need to know. For example– this isn’t like a plug. They’re not sponsoring this or anything. I’m just tyring to help you guys out. You know, you’ve saved me 20 times more than I pay you, I think, in taxes. Something like that. So a good accountant leveler is definitely worth their weight.
If you call a CPA from January to April, they’re going to have very limited time to talk to you. So if you’re looking for a CPA, the best time to do it is between May and December. H&R Block, they’re really a tax shop. So if you show up in an H&R Block, they’re going to want to do your tax return, get that done, get a fee, get you out of there.
Do you need a small business accountant
So what you’re really looking for is you’re looking for a small business account. You have to determine if you’re making enough money to require a small-business accountant.
Basically, if you’re making any profit, you’re probably ready for small-business accountant.
I would recommend go to Facebook, ask your friends. You probably have friends who have small businesses. Ask them if they have a good accountant, somebody that you can trust. That’s probably the number-one way accountants find clients is through referrals. So I definitely recommend going there.
Questions for you accountant
You also want to ask the accountant, do you have small-business clients? And ask them a little bit about his background or her background to understand if they are really competent in what they’re doing. You don’t have to ask a lot of questions.
- Just say, hey, have you ever dealt with any YouTube clients?
- Any video people?
- Any production companies?
- Have you dealt with small businesses?
And let them let them come back with the answer and justify their business to you.
And I have found that Ryan’s dug up some stuff about, like the YouTube side, that I don’t think applies to normal stuff. Like for example, having on my family’s channel, like my kids getting paid as child actors, which has a lot of tax implications and things that I wouldn’t have known about. And I guess Most CPAs wouldn’t even dig into it. So asking good questions. And I know one thing I considered before kind of jumping into this is like, I’ve known Ryan for a while. And so we’ve built like a little bit of a friendship before we jumped into this. Is that something you would recommend how should someone go about determining that?
It is kind of a marriage relationship with some of your vendors. Again, as you grow, it’s good to have a lawyer. It’s good to have an accountant and these experts that you can go to when you have questions. So I’d definitely recommend taking this seriously. There’s a lot of money you may be leaving on the table by not.
So you guys want to check him out, midatlanticcpas.com. Not sponsoring or anything, but it’s linked down below. You can check them out and see if they might be right for you or not. But I’d love to hear from you guys who do have CPAs? Check out Ryan!