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Choose a firm whose experience, proposed team, and written service scope match the specific work your business needs. Before hiring, verify relevant credentials and disciplinary history, ask who will do and supervise the work, compare fees and deliverables on the same basis, and agree on confidentiality, communication, and change procedures in writing. For an audit, review, or other attest engagement, check signer authorization and independence as separate requirements.
Start by defining the work you need
“Accounting and consulting” can describe very different assignments. Before speaking with firms, write down the business problem, the service you believe will address it, and the result you need. Possible services include bookkeeping, tax preparation or planning, financial statement preparation, compilation, review, audit, CFO or management advisory, and a defined consulting project.
- What will the firm deliver, and what is specifically outside the scope?
- What information, access, or decisions must your business provide?
- What are the key dates, and how will you judge whether the work is successful?
A CPA credential does not establish that a person has experience in every service or authority to sign every type of report. Evaluate the proposed practitioner for the particular assignment rather than relying on the firm’s broad service list.
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Verify credentials, standing, and relevant experience
Check an individual CPA’s active license and public disciplinary or enforcement record with the regulator for the relevant jurisdiction. Also confirm that the firm is permitted to operate where required. A directory profile or professional title alone is not proof of current good standing.
Ask the proposed lead about recent work similar to yours, industry familiarity, relevant continuing education, and experience with the specific service. If the engagement involves an audit, review, or examination of prospective financial information, verify that the signing CPA is authorized and qualified for that work in your jurisdiction. Rules differ by location and service. For example, the California Board of Accountancy’s consumer guidance describes state-specific attest authorization; its requirements should not be treated as a general competence test or applied outside California.
Where peer review applies to the firm’s work, ask about its scope and outcome. Peer review covers specified accounting and auditing work under applicable standards; it is not a blanket guarantee of every consulting service or every aspect of client service. California’s board explains the context in its consumer guidance.
Rank #2
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Find out who will actually do the work
Meet the proposed engagement lead and clarify the delivery team before signing. A senior partner may sell or oversee an engagement while other staff handle routine work, so ask who performs each part and who reviews it.
- Who is the engagement partner or lead, and how much direct access will you have?
- Who will perform routine tasks, review the work, and answer day-to-day questions?
- What happens to deadlines and continuity during busy periods, staff changes, or handoffs?
- Will subcontractors or offshore providers receive business data? If so, what work will they do and what safeguards apply?
The firm should be able to explain how its people and resources fit the assignment. UK firms can consult ICAEW’s practice-assurance guidance on expertise, resources, conflicts, and clear client terms; applicable requirements vary by jurisdiction.
Compare proposals on the same basis
Ask each candidate to propose the same service assumptions where possible. Compare what each will deliver—not just the headline fee—and identify exclusions or assumptions that could lead to extra work.
| What to compare | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Service fit | Does the firm have relevant experience with this exact service and, where important, this industry? |
| Credentials and quality review | Are the proposed people appropriately licensed and experienced? Does a relevant peer-review requirement apply? |
| Team and access | Who does, reviews, and supervises the work? How available is the lead? |
| Scope and deliverables | What is included, excluded, assumed, and due—and what must your business provide? |
| Fees | Is the fee fixed, hourly, recurring, or calculated another way? What can change the estimate? |
| Data handling | Who can access your information, including subcontractors, and how are records protected and transferred? |
| Communication and conflicts | Who answers questions, how are urgent issues handled, and how are conflicts disclosed and managed? |
There is no universal best firm size or market-wide fee benchmark established by the cited guidance. Compare the candidates’ written terms and expected total cost for the same work rather than assuming that a larger firm, a lower quote, or a particular pricing model is automatically better.
Rank #4
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Put the agreement in writing before work begins
An engagement letter or equivalent written agreement should make the parties’ expectations concrete. Review it with the proposed lead, not just the sales contact. Professional guidance in California and Virginia identifies written scope, people, timing or responsibilities, and charges as important terms; ICAEW also emphasizes fee basis, complaints information, revised terms, and disengagement arrangements.
- Scope and deliverables: services included, exclusions, assumptions, and the form of the finished work.
- Responsibilities and timing: what the firm and your business must do, information needed, milestones, and deadlines.
- Team and service model: named lead and key staff, supervision, and any outsourcing or subcontracting.
- Fees and changes: fee basis, what can change the estimate, how additional requests are priced, and when approval is required before out-of-scope work starts.
- Information handling: confidentiality and security commitments, access to records, retention, and how records will be returned or transferred.
- Working relationship: communication cadence, urgent-question handling, and how to raise a complaint.
- Ending or changing the engagement: notice, work in progress, transition support, and record transfer.
If the services or fees change, agree to revised terms rather than relying on an informal understanding. Virginia’s consumer guidance outlines engagement-letter topics, while ICAEW’s guidance addresses written fee terms, changes, complaints, and disengagement.
Best Value
Discuss communication, conflicts, and independence
Ask the proposed lead how recommendations will be explained, who handles routine questions, and how urgent matters are escalated. Request examples of comparable work and references where appropriate. A useful fit is a team that can explain tradeoffs in plain language and has a workable plan for access and continuity.
Ask whether business, financial, family, referral, or client relationships could affect the firm’s objectivity. Request disclosure of relevant referral arrangements or financial interests and ask what safeguards would apply. The AICPA ethics text hosted by the PCAOB states that a member should maintain objectivity and integrity, be free of conflicts of interest, and not knowingly misrepresent facts or subordinate professional judgment. It distinguishes attest engagements requiring independence from other situations where disclosure and consent may be relevant. For an attest engagement, verify the applicable independence rules directly: disclosure and client consent do not cure an impairment where independence is required. See the PCAOB-hosted AICPA ethics text.
Use the same decision process for every candidate
- Write a short brief: define the business problem, service, desired deliverable, key dates, and information you can provide.
- Check standing: use the relevant regulator to verify licenses, firm status where required, and public disciplinary history.
- Interview the proposed lead: ask about comparable work, relevant credentials, staffing, availability, outsourcing, and conflicts.
- Request comparable written proposals: compare scope, deliverables, assumptions, fee basis, expected total cost, security, and change terms.
- Confirm special requirements: for attest work, separately verify signer authorization and independence under the rules that apply to your location and engagement.
- Agree to written terms: make sure both sides understand responsibilities, fees, information handling, communication, and how changes or disengagement will work.
Licensing, attest authority, privacy obligations, complaints routes, and independence requirements vary across jurisdictions and services. For current requirements, consult the regulator and professional standards applicable to your business and the proposed engagement. AICPA & CIMA describes the breadth of CPA consulting skills and points to Statement on Standards for Consulting Services No. 1 in its consulting-services resource.
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