OT: Small Busn. Owners: Who should analyze financial papers?
12-11-2003, 04:22 AM
#1
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OT: Small Busn. Owners: Who should analyze financial papers?
Here‘s the situation...
1. My brother is thinking about purchasing a small business and is looking for someone to analyze the financial paperwork. My brother has been a mechanic for 12+ years, which will help out a lot since it's a Goodyear/misc. automotive services shop. The owner has already told him outright that the numbers are not accurate (understated) due to taxes. So whom should he talk to? CPA? I spoke with an accountant professor and she recommended speaking to a lawyer who has a strong back round in finance/accounting or but by her tone of voice, I could tell she was just looking to brush me off
.
2. I go to school full-time (probably dropping out after next semester), work another 30 hours/week as a loan officer at a mortgage firm (see sig
), but it's not enough to keep me occupied and I want to do something related to cars. I just started all the paperwork to get my dealer/auto broker license. One of the requirements is to rent out an office/property, which I have already found in the same building as my current employment for a couple hundred bucks a month. Like I said, my brother is already working at a dealership and is good friends with the sales manager there as well as at a couple other dealerships he has worked at. It will take some time to develop more and more connections, but I'm thinking it will pay off v. going to a dealer's auction (more risk & the cars are generally in worse condition). I'll keep it relatively small (max. 5-7 cars in inventory) since it'll remain as a part-time gig. What do you guys/gals think?
1. My brother is thinking about purchasing a small business and is looking for someone to analyze the financial paperwork. My brother has been a mechanic for 12+ years, which will help out a lot since it's a Goodyear/misc. automotive services shop. The owner has already told him outright that the numbers are not accurate (understated) due to taxes. So whom should he talk to? CPA? I spoke with an accountant professor and she recommended speaking to a lawyer who has a strong back round in finance/accounting or but by her tone of voice, I could tell she was just looking to brush me off
. 2. I go to school full-time (probably dropping out after next semester), work another 30 hours/week as a loan officer at a mortgage firm (see sig
), but it's not enough to keep me occupied and I want to do something related to cars. I just started all the paperwork to get my dealer/auto broker license. One of the requirements is to rent out an office/property, which I have already found in the same building as my current employment for a couple hundred bucks a month. Like I said, my brother is already working at a dealership and is good friends with the sales manager there as well as at a couple other dealerships he has worked at. It will take some time to develop more and more connections, but I'm thinking it will pay off v. going to a dealer's auction (more risk & the cars are generally in worse condition). I'll keep it relatively small (max. 5-7 cars in inventory) since it'll remain as a part-time gig. What do you guys/gals think?
12-11-2003, 04:39 AM
#2
Nordschleife Master
Tony, you want an accountant that is familiar with the auto biz and scams that go on, such as the tax fraud you already know about. Use the lawyer for the legal items.
This is from a CPA that has worked over 100 litigation purchase disputes. One item I would offer is that the sellers are lying nearly 100% of the time. Some are small lies, some are big. The trick is to find them before you do the deal.
This is from a CPA that has worked over 100 litigation purchase disputes. One item I would offer is that the sellers are lying nearly 100% of the time. Some are small lies, some are big. The trick is to find them before you do the deal.
12-11-2003, 08:25 AM
#3
Race Director
I agree with IceShark. I'm an accountant as well (controller of an oilfield services company) and when I spent a little time in public accounting (just over a tax season) I realized how important a good CPA with knowledge of the industry can be. A good accountant and a good lawyer with knowledge of that industry can be the difference between success and failure.
