Quickbooks, CPA, or Both For Taxes

[Derek Wheeler]

My wife and I are realty agents, and we are in our first year. Up until now, we have been employed by companies that provided W-2s. I am doing what I can to keep track of our finances and tax obligations, but we are looking to start an S-Corp due to wanting to pay ourselves salaries to provide easier proof of income for loans and what not. So, while looking over a lot of tax information, I think that I have a gist of it, but I want to cover our backs and have our taxes handled professionally. I was thinking of getting Quickbooks, as it seems relatively cheap and thorough. But would getting a CPA be better for us? Or would utilizing both be a good solution? Has anyone used both and prefer one or the other? Some background info: being our first year into real estate sales, commission isn't what is will be in our second or third year, as we are building our leads-database. So, we don't have a lot extra to spend on financial preparation. If a CPA is expensive, we might only be able to go that route, instead of Quickbooks as well. We are hoping to head away from real estate sales later on, as we save up, and start investing (another reason for the S-Corp). Thanks for any help you can supply us.

[Natalie Kolodij]

Quickbooks and a CPA are not really...a one or the other situation. 

I would utilize both. You'll want a good CPA to not only file your taxes but to provide you with structuring, strategy, and planning advice as well. 

If you have to choose one choose a CPA and track your things on an excel. But quickbooks is only like $140 and will allow you to personally get set up in a way that will allow for tracking profits as you grow as well.