Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: condo association accounting services

[Alexander Robin A (alexande.robi]

The main reason to be local is that, in my opinion, a small, perhaps sole 
owner, accountant is best for simple organizations such as cohousings. You do 
not need or want the services of a regional firm as you will be paying too much 
and they are not really interested in the small amount of business you will 
supply. So if you're using an accountant/bookkeeper, it is nice to be able to 
go over and talk face to face if needed and it is cheaper for him/her to drop 
by and look things over. In my experience, sole practitioners give the best 
value in our case. The larger the firm gets, the more they are interested in 
money and the more likely you will be pawned off to a new hire because the 
experienced people are going after the profitable clients.

In case anyone is wondering if I have any credibility, I taught accounting for 
23 years and have interacted with recruiters from the mid and large size firms. 
To an extent, I know where the money goes in these places. I'd be happy to 
answer any questions with the caveat that I have not actually worked at a large 
accounting firm.

Robin A

"Live in peace with the animals. Animals bring love to our hearts, and warmth 
to our souls."
Colleen Klaum




From: Diana Carroll
Sent: Mon 12/8/2008 8:28 PM
To: Cohousing-L
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ condo association accounting services


Can you say more about how you interact with your bookkeeper that requires
him/her to be local?

None of the companies I've talked to so far as local to us.  the closest is
two hours away in New Hampshire.  The furthest is in California.   The only
concerns mentioned with regard to distance/location were how quickly
invoices and checks could be sent in the mail, and that there might be
state-specific condo regulations that would have to be addressed.

- diana

On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 9:24 PM, Larry Miller <larry.miller [at] 
charter.net>wrote:

>
> The reason I didn't name anyone is that our firm is local to Paso Robles.
> As we interact with
> our bookkeeper regularly, it probably wouldn't help unless you were located
> in Paso Robles, CA.
>
> Larry
> Oak Creek Commons
>
>
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