Up For Review Is your accountant helping your business---or upping your tax bill? Take a close look.

With the tax-filing season in full swing, it makes sense to takea good, hard look at your accountant and the work he or she hasdone for you over the past year. Is your accountant helping yousave money? Is your business better off as a result of youraccountant's recommendations? Don't let an old, familiarrelationship lull you into a false sense of security.

Scrutinize all the services your accountant provides. Are yougetting your money's worth? Perhaps your company has grownsignificantly from its start-up days and you now need a largeraccounting firm that can provide more services than a one-ortwo-person shop.

When you're first starting a business, you typically needfinancial guidance with your daily operations. Once established,however, a business needs a tax professional who can perform awider range of services, such as offering assistance in locatingfinancing or upgrading your software programs.