THIS MONTH’S QUESTION: DO YOU DO YOUR OWN TAXES?

Yes: 13%

• Lengthy, depressing and expensive. Billy Isgett, Eyecare of Florence, Florence, SC
• Not hard to do my own taxes. Will Taylor, Eye 2 Eye Contact, Northville, MI
• My husband is a finance guy so he totally gets how to do all of the finance for the shop. He geeks out on it. We are a good team. Nancy Revis, Uber Optics, Petaluma, CA
• It’s a necessary evil. Rick Rickgauer, Vision Associates, Girard, PA
• This is a half truth, I give them to my husband and then walk in the other room with a bottle of wine to make it a bit more bearable. Sherry Berry Eye against Eye, Philadelphia, PA
• My husband is a CPA and he is the CFO of my business, so it’s kind of like I do it myself. Either way, it’s not outsourced and I don’t pay for it. Chani Miller, OD, Park Eye Center, Highland Park, NJ
• I did taxes on the side professionally for 14 years. Martha Davenport, Safe Vision, Wheatfield, IN

NO: 87%

• We do all our accounting, payroll, and finances other than our annual taxes, which keeps us pretty aware of how things work overall. We pay a local CPA to handle our annual returns, because we find that getting an outside perspective on our books once a year can really help us and keep us up-to-date.  We’re experts in eyecare, they’re experts in money and laws. It’s a no-brainer. Jen Heller, Pend Oreille Vision Care, Sandpoint, ID
• A CPA … Best advice I ever took: “Know what you don’t know.” I’d rather spend my valuable time running my business and leave the tax laws to someone trained in that field. I’m too pretty for jail. Kate Giroux, MacPherson Opticians, Arlington, VA
• Attorney CPA specializing in medical practices. She is a retired CFO of Sutter Medical Group. Texas L. Smith, OD, Dr. Texas L. Smith & Assoc, Citrus Heights, CA
• I pay a CPA that can do monetary math and work with charts and lets me worry about glasses and comic books. Angel Miller, Cynthiana Vision Center, Cynthiana, KY
• My wife. She is the smart one and bookkeeper. Ron Catterson, Clear View Optix, The Villages, FL
• I don’t do my own taxes just like I don’t let my accountant do his/her own eye exam. There are lots of things I do not understand about tax law, deductions, Section 179, and the like. I realize that some may think they are going to save money by doing it themselves; but you could make a lot more money in the time it takes them to figure out how to do the taxes than you would pay the accountant to actually do the taxes. Now if you enjoy that kind of thing and are really good at it, be my guest. It is a lot like me representing myself in a courtroom on trial. If I did, I’d have a fool for a lawyer.  Ted McElroy, OD, Vision Source Tifton, Tifton, GA
• An accountant and frankly I feel like I should be looking for someone who specializes. No way I can do it on my own. Zachary Dirks, OD, St. Peter and Belle Plaine Eyecare Centers, Saint Peter, MN
• I use a CPA. She has saved me a lot of worry and stress, and helps me prioritize what I can use my money for personally and professionally to improve my life and plan for a comfortable life later on. She’s worth every penny. Sarah Jerome, OD, Look+See Eye Care, Minneapolis, MN
• My cousin is an accountant. Even if he wasn’t I wouldn’t do my own. Too stressful! Jennifer Leuzzi, Mill Creek Optical, Dansville, NY
• I have a business of my own and an accountant who can deal with the numbers. Betty Aretz, The Eyecare Boutique, Wexford, PA