M. Bergeron + Co. offers a wide array of professional services to our clients. Following is a listing of some of the services we have performed for our clients and a brief description of what the service entails.

Business Valuation.

Michael D. Bergeron, CPA, CVA is an experienced business valuation expert qualified in Federal and Louisiana district court. He has offered services to numerous businesses and individuals in litigation, business sale/purchase/mergers, shareholder disputes, fairness opinions, business damage claims, etc. What is true, what is fair and what is right, considering all relevant facts and circumstances – that is the cornerstone upon Mr. Bergeron has built his valuation practice. Mr. Bergeron uses techniques that are generally accepted in the business valuation industry. He follows the standards promulgated by the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts in the development of his opinions and calculations and in the development of his written reports. He is an effective witness, communicating in clear, concise answers.

Small Business Accounting Services/the POWERacct Service Line.

This is a unique service we began offering in 2005. What we realized was that many small businesses were using QuickBooks, but not many businesses had the budget to hire a degreed accountant. We came up with a solution whereby we take our client’s QuickBooks file, store it on our server. Our clients have access to their file from their office desktop. We process transactions (some or all of them) – and with degreed accountants handling the data entry – our clients always have accurate financial data. The data is backed up every night, so data security is our problem. We review our clients’ financial performance and condition regularly without the need to scrub the data for mispostings and errors. The clients we have on the service love it.

Think about what the traditional model was. You handle the data entry – usually in QuickBooks or Peachtree or Business Works, etc. You need to produce a financial statement – for whatever reason – for investors, the bank, etc. – so what do you do? You hall the data over to the CPA office. He calls back and asks for back-up on bank accounts, accounts receivable, accounts payable, loan balances, etc. You hall that stuff over in another trip. He works the file for a period of time, then a couple of days/weeks/months later, you have your financial statement. The POWERacct process eliminates the whole lag time. What used to take days/weeks/months now can be accomplished in minutes.

Financial statement preparation.

It is good business practice to engage the services of a certified public accountant to prepare financial statements for your business. As CPAs, our firm can prepare financial statements with a compilation report, review report or audit report thereon. Business and lending needs typically dictate what type of service level is most appropriate for your organization.

Tax return preparation.

Our office prepares tax returns for individuals, businesses, trusts and non-profit entities. Along with the experience garnered from years and years of experience, we use sophisticated software and quality control techniques that assure your returns are prepared in accordance with IRS and other taxing authority rules and regulations. We are an authorized e-file service provider. Upon completion of your return, we return all of your source documents and deliver your copy of the return to you in a professional presentation folder. We also can email you a .pdf file of your return for electronic storage and transmission.

Tax planning.

One of the most valuable services we offer our clients is tax planning services. We get to know all of our clients, their needs and their goals and work with our clients to find business solutions that result in tax minimization. Our goal is to help our clients pay the legal lowest amount of income tax.

Sales tax consulting.

To charge sales tax or not to charge sales tax. That’s a question we get a lot. Because of our proximity to the outer continental shelf, sales taxability of several transactions is a big question. Over the years, we have consulted with our clients (and gone through quite few sales tax audits) on numerous transactions to determine sales or use tax applicability.

Audit representation.

As CPAs, we are authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS (and other taxing authorities). In these cases, we meet and correspond with IRS on your behalf to defend your position.

Prospective financial statements.

Contemplating a new business or expansion? Investing in new equipment or business lines/services? Our office has extensive experience in preparing prospective financial statements that incorporate assumptions regarding revenues, costs and financing options. Businesses fail more often than not because they fail to plan.

Cable television franchise compliance.

Mr. Bergeron has worked for years with local governments in assisting them with determining whether cable TV operators in their jurisdiction have compiled with the terms of their franchise agreements. Our procedures include review of the franchise, testing steps relative to qualitative requirements and financial testing of franchise fee payments. We produce a written report upon completion of our work.