Find the right service for your business.

How to choose a provider well

The directory lists accountants, bookkeepers, insurers, lenders and other professionals who work with small businesses. Choosing between them is easier with a short, boring checklist than with a good first impression.

Ask what the engagement actually covers

The same job title can mean very different work. A bookkeeper who records and reconciles is not the same as an accountant who prepares and files a return, and neither is automatically a tax planner. Ask in writing which of those three you are buying, how often, and what happens if a filing deadline is missed.

Fixed monthly fees are easier to budget than hourly work, but confirm what falls outside the fee: a late clean-up of prior years, an amended return, or responding to a tax notice are commonly billed separately.

Check credentials and coverage

For tax work in the United States, a CPA, an enrolled agent or an attorney can represent you before the IRS; a preparer without those credentials generally cannot. For insurance and lending, confirm the licence covers your state and the specific product being sold.

Ask about professional indemnity cover and who owns the working papers if you leave. A provider who answers both quickly has been asked before, which is itself a good sign.

Compare on scope, then on price

Request the same scope from two or three providers so the quotes are comparable, and ask each what they would need from you monthly. The cheapest quote is often the one assuming your books arrive clean — which is only true if they do.

If you keep your records in Hate Ledger you can invite a bookkeeper or accountant directly into the books with a scoped role, so they see the ledger without seeing your billing details, and you both work from the same figures instead of emailing spreadsheets back and forth.

What we do with your request

A quote request is shared only with the providers matched to it, and only with your explicit consent on the form. We never sell your details, and you can ask us to delete a request at any time.

Listings are not endorsements. Ratings come from businesses who worked with a provider through the directory, and we show the star average and review count as submitted rather than curating them.