If you’ve asked yourself “Do I need an accountant for my small business?” then you’ve come to the right place. The short answer is “Yes.” The longer answer is yes, and there are many benefits to hiring an accountant even for the smallest of businesses. Hiring an accountant means that you can take the guesswork out of bookkeeping, taxes, financial planning, and other skills an accountant can bring to your business. Here are some other reasons that you should consider hiring a financial analyst and tax accountant for small business:

1. If you’re the CEO or CFO of a small business, you may not have adequate time to keep up with the demands of bookkeeping and tax preparation, especially during the end of each tax quarter. Hiring a professional bookkeeper will not only allow you to stay on top of your finances all year, but it will also help your business prepare in the event of an audit or other review. You have a business to run, and you can’t let the quality of your work suffer by doing something you can have a specialist do instead.

2. Tax prep takes time–an average of eight hours each year for many Americans when they file with the IRS. If your business’s taxes are done incorrectly, it could cost you serious money, in addition to potentially facing an even more time-consuming audit. Consider this fact: Individual tax returns gave recipients roughly $324.1 billion in the United States in 2012. Filing incorrectly will not only cause headaches if the IRS needs to review your business’s records, but it could also lead to not receiving a full refund for over-payments. Hiring an accountant will get you the money that you deserve.

3. If you’ve wondered “Do I need an accountant for my small business if it’s expanding?”, the answer is also yes. Depending on where you’ve expanded your business, such as in the event of adding another branch, your tax rates may have changed also. For instance, the highest corporate income tax in the entire world is in New York City. Even if your business hasn’t expanded to New York City, there are some areas of the United States where taxes are higher than others. Having an accountant deal with these details will save you from wasting time doing research and having to know the ins and outs of tax codes.

4. Having an accountant do your bookkeeping is great for the present, but did you know that same person or organization can also help you plan for the future? Your accountant can explain to you how to plan for your future, and you can work with an accounting firm’s financial advisers to assist you with preparing for your retirement. For example, a financial adviser can help you decide how to invest and save in order to acquire enough money for a comfortable retirement.

Back to the original question: “Do I need an accountant for my small business?” The answer is definitely “Yes.” Don’t gamble with your livelihood and your future–and don’t risk the unpleasantness of an IRS audit because you cut corners with incorrect tax preparation. Hiring an accounting firm for your finances is the best move for your business now and in the future.