Run a firm with auditing without a CPA myself?
Answer:
Only CPA's can provide attestation services, which is what you do when you audit somebody. The majority of the owners of the auditing firm (I believe it's 2/3rds) must be CPA's in order to provide attestation services. So if you are the only owner, I don't believe that this is a route you can travel without getting into some serious trouble later.
the CPA's you hire will be able to better explain,..it depends on their certifications, and continued education
Enrolled Agents are probably what you are looking for. Today’s EAs are the only tax professionals tested by IRS on their knowledge of tax law and regulations. They provide tax preparation, representation, tax planning and other financial services to millions of individual and business taxpayers.
The biggest misconception about CPA's is that they know taxation. Most accountants that have their CPA have had 8 units or less in Income Taxation education in the entire scope of their education. Hiring an Enrolled Agent is like hiring a CPA whose sole focus is Taxation. Many Enrolled Agents are former IRS employees with Audit experience. For more information about Enrolled Agents, please visit The National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) website at
http://www.naea.org/memberportal/...
RamsGod makes an excellent point about providing tax advice. As for auditing, each state has its own rules. Look on your state's website for the State Board of Accountancy or try to link to it from aicpa.org.
What you cannot do is call yourself a CPA firm if you are the owner and you have CPA's working for you.
You can provide the services BUT you need to be a CPA in order to sign an audit, review, or compilation.
If you're the only partner, then you better have dumb enough employees to sign them because it then becomes their @ss on the line too.
More Questions & Answers...