CPAs are probably most recognized by the public as tax advisors. As such, CPAs help individuals and businesses with a variety of tax problems. They assist clients with tax planning, income tax return preparation and representation before government agencies at the federal, state and local levels. All CPAs in public practice are expected to have a sound knowledge of taxes, and a large proportion of practitioners specialize in this field. In this role, they provide tax planning services to their clients (both businesses and individuals) throughout the year, advise them on the tax consequences of business and investment decisions, recommend tax savings and strategies, and help them comply with tax laws.

The CPA may be asked to design compensation, fringe benefit and retirement plans for businesses to provide to officers and employees. A CPA may be involved in reorganizing a multinational company's domestic and foreign operations in a manner that takes into consideration U. S. and foreign taxes, cash investments, dividends and economic growth.

Another way to serve clients includes obtaining an advance ruling from the IRS on the tax consequences of a proposed transaction such as a corporate acquisition of the stock or assets of another company. CPAs also analyze the investment opportunities and tax benefits provided by syndications of oil and gas, real estate and other risk capital ventures.

In the compliance area, the CPA tax advisor is often responsible for preparing and reviewing individual tax returns, preparing corporate returns, reviewing tax returns prepared by a company's in-house tax department, preparing a consolidated tax return for an affiliated group of corporations and preparing estate and gift tax returns.

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Reprinted with permission of The Ohio Society of CPAs.