Power Talk Friday: Peter Lang: The Designer CPA

Episode 349 of A Well-Designed Business®

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349: Power Talk Friday: Peter Lang: The Designer CPA

Welcome to today’s episode of Power Talk Friday! We are very happy to introduce you to Peter Lang today. Peter is a really smart CPA who has niched his business around helping designers with their unique financial challenges, like unconventional sales tax situations and budgeting around the massive upfront payments from clients. Many designers and artistic professionals find that ordinary CPA’s are simply not equipped to cope with their specific needs. Peter, however, is a proven expert in helping interior designers with the kinds of financial duties that they weren’t taught in art school. On the show today Peter discusses the years he spent learning how to help our constantly under-served industry and he also explains why he chose to follow his dream of starting a firm of his own. Listen in find out more.

Peter started out at a large firm in Boston, where he became aware of the kind of problems that artistic professionals, like interior designers, were facing. He moved to a smaller firm but soon became bored with being a traditional CPA. He noticed that interior designers were constantly being under-served by standard CPAs, so he followed his heart and started his own business in Rhode Island, where he now lives with his family. Listen in today to find out what Peter has to share with you.

Show highlights:

Peter’s experience of being told that he helped people too much while working at a cut-throat firm in Boston.
The importance of being comfortable enough with your accountant to ask him whatever you need to know.
How it happened that Peter started helping interior designers.
The difference between gross profit and net profit.
Why you need to keep track of your expenses in order to set your goals.
Financial mistakes that designers often tend to make.
How Peter helps new designers to really understand their financial situation.
The way that Peter helps designers to increase their profit margins.
Situations and ideas that could get designers into financial trouble.
Peter explains how putting your money into a number of different bank accounts can help you to better manage your finances.
Why you really need to trust your accountant.
How Peter helps designers navigate their way to success by finding the right software for their business.
Choosing the legal entity that best fits your specific business.
When it makes sense to change your business to become an S-Corporation.
Understanding more about taxation.