How to Choose an Advisor–Top 5 Questions You Want to Ask

By Nina Kaufman, Esq.

I was sitting with a colleague, Matt Clifford of The Island Financial Group last week, chatting about a range of things: the economy, is the administration’s Stimulus Package truly stimulating (or is it a handout), and how small business owners can protect themselves.

Our conversation then moved to “whom can you trust?” With the seemingly pervasive attitude of fear, how can business owners protect themselves in areas where they might not have enough experience (e.g., financial planning, accounting and law)? How can they feel comfortable trusting those professional specialists? For starters, we came up with a list of Top 5 questions to ask those who will become part of their trusted advisor team.

Choosing a Financial Planner:

  1. What does “financial planner” mean to you? What will you be doing for me? Manage/invest my money? Write a plan? Set goals?Sell insurance? Some combination of the above?
  2. What’s the breakdown (in percentages) of your own income? How much comes from money management fees? Fees for plan creation? Selling insurance?
  3. How can you help me create a lifestyle for myself and my future? How can you help me take the money I accumulate and turn it into an income I can live on?
  4. How will you help me protect what we put together? What will you/we do to protect against the effects of inflation, market downturns, disability, prolonged illnesses and more dependents (e.g., caring for parents or siblings)?
  5. Tell me a story: How were you able to help someone in similar circumstances to mine?

Choosing an Accountant:

  1. How will you act as my advisor? Are you just filing my taxes or is there more you’ll do?
  2. How can you help my company meet its financial and tax goals?
  3. Can you help me determine the profitability/feasibility of major financial decisions, such as buying equipment, business acquisition or business expansion?
  4. What is your background and experience with companies in my industry? With my revenue levels? With the particular issues my company is facing?
  5. Do you have your certified professional accountant (CPA) designation, and will that be important for the kind of work I’ll need done?

Choosing an Attorney:

  1. What is your background and experience with companies in my industry? With my revenue levels? With the particular issues my company is facing?
  2. How do you charge for your services? Hourly rates? Flat fees? What are those rates/fees? Do you require monthly retainer payments or do you charge on a project basis? How can you help me keep my legal fees and costs down once I’ve hired you?
  3. Who will be doing the actual work on my matters? You? Or someone else in your firm? (Make sure you meet those people, too)
  4. How will you keep me informed about the progress of my matters? Should I call you periodically? E-mail check-ins? How quickly can I expect to hear from you in response to my call or email?
  5. Tell me a story: How were you able to help someone in similar circumstances to mine?

For more details on how to hire an attorney, when you’ll want to have one on your team and how to manage the relationship so that it works for you, I’ve created a program, How to Choose and Use Attorneys, available through my site GreatBusinessLawResources.com. It comes with a handy checklist/questionnaire to make sure you ask the attorney–and yourself–all of the pertinent questions you want the answers to when you’re pre-screening.

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About Nina Kaufman, Esq.