Author Topic: Giving bookkeeper/tax preparer access to bank account?  (Read 1840 times)

joenorm

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Giving bookkeeper/tax preparer access to bank account?
« on: June 26, 2022, 07:29:47 AM »
Hi All,

I have started a very small business. I am giving myself the luxury of hiring basic help with the books and tax prep.

Should I allow access to my bank account so this person can pay taxes from it directly? I am hesitant to do so but I was wondering if this is standard practice and perhaps there really isn't a lot of risk? It's not like I don't trust the person, its more like I don't know them so how could one possibly feel totally comfortable giving this kind of personal information?

Just looking for some advise, thanks!

Dicey

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Re: Giving bookkeeper/tax preparer access to bank account?
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2022, 09:31:59 AM »
How difficult is it to make those payments yourself? It doesn't seem worth the risk unless you have a separate account with only a small amount of money in it. Monitoring that would be almost as much effort as paying your own taxes, wouldn't it? The risk-benefit ratio just isn't there. Hard no, IMO.

Lamancha

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Re: Giving bookkeeper/tax preparer access to bank account?
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2022, 02:29:52 PM »
My CPA has access to my Quickbooks online, DOR, and other accounts he needs in order to do our taxes.  He gets copies of all of our bank statements, but there is no reason for him to have access to our bank accounts because we pay our taxes ourselves.  A lot of accountants offer payroll services, so obviously they would need your business checking account info for that.  I wouldn't hesitate to give my account info to him now that I know and trust him though.  It's pretty easy to keep an eye on your accounts and make sure nothing weird is going on.

I think most accountants are pretty legit.  They are well educated, crazy busy, and have better things to do than mess around with stealing from clients.  I feel incredibly lucky to have an awesome CPA and team to help me navigate through this post-Covid tax nightmare.

cupcakery

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Re: Giving bookkeeper/tax preparer access to bank account?
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2022, 06:43:53 AM »
All but one of my bookkeeping clients gives me access to some or all their bank of accounts.  Most of them got to know me first before giving me access.  The pros are that I can get on and get whatever information whenever I need it and not have to wait.  (They all love to procrastinate on their end and want quick turnaround on my end.)  The cons are that they sometimes like to change their passwords and forget to tell me so I end up locking us both out of the account.  I think it is fine if you don't give access as long as you give them what they need in a timely manner.  It is also probably fine if you do give access, but make sure the person is trustworthy.  You can usually set up account alerts in online banking to let you know about unusual transactions or transaction limits.

joenorm

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Re: Giving bookkeeper/tax preparer access to bank account?
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2022, 07:10:32 AM »
That you all for the responses and differing views. It is helpful.

travel2020

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Re: Giving bookkeeper/tax preparer access to bank account?
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2022, 09:13:41 PM »
You don’t necessarily need to give direct access to the bank account for the book keeper to use to to pay bills. Our book keeper has my business bank account routing and account number and just enters it for paying taxes etc.

For expenses requiring payment by physical check, I have the book keeper mail batch of checks as needed so I can sign and mail them. Most of our bill have net 30 days term so doing a monthly batching is all that’s needed.

For other bills, I have separate business credit cards for employees that are linked to the main business account and they can use it for making small payments directly ( each card has its own limit so easy to manage spending).

Michael in ABQ

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Re: Giving bookkeeper/tax preparer access to bank account?
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2022, 08:17:19 AM »
Our bookkeeper has read only access to our business bank account. They have the password and login to many of our accounts including our state tax account where the information to make an ACH payment is already entered. I handle paying all our bills, nearly all of which run through a couple of business credit cards (gotta love those miles and cash back rewards when you spend tens of thousands of dollars.)

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!