OT: Do you use a bookkeeper or accountant? Why or why not?

[btcarfagno]

First of all, thank you to Leon for allowing me to make this off topic post. It is greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately I lost my job due to a downsizing several days ago. Those of you on the board who know me know that I am an accoutnant, so the fact that I was let go two days after tax season ended was a bit tough to take.

I am trying to gain some insight as to the thoughts within the industry regarding keeping of books for tax purposes. I have to assume that feelings and actions on the topic run the gamut. I hope to gauge whether or not there may be a niche market for someone who would specialize in keeping the books for individuals and small businesses within the collectibles industry.

So what I would like to do is to open this up for any sort of response. Some of the questions I have (though there are many more and I do not want to limit things) include:

Do you keep an inventory? If so in what format (database, Excel, etc)?

Do you report your sales with your taxes? With the advent of the ever-so-lovely Payapl 1099-K forms, I assume we all have to report them in some way, which leads to my next question...

Do you report sales on a Schedule C? Are you an LLC or S-Corp? Do you report as an investor only on a Schedule D?

Do you currently have someone who keeps on top of things on a monthly or quarterly basis so that things don't get out of hand come the following April?

What would be your concerns or misgivings about hiring such a person? Cost? Fear (unwarrented) of someone requiring you to report cash transactions?

Do you think there could be a market for someone who is already an expert in taxation, bookkeeping and accounting who would specialize in the collectibles industry?

Again, any thoughts on the topic at all would be so greatly appreciated. If you would rather not post your feelings on the subject to the board, I would certainly welcome pm's as well.

Tom C