Choosing an advisor

Why it matters that your U.S. advisor is a licensed CPA.

When you hand someone your U.S. finances, it is worth knowing exactly what they are, and what they are accountable for.

The people offering to help Italian companies in the United States fall into very different categories. The differences are easy to miss until something goes wrong, and they matter most precisely when the work is your tax filings, your reporting to headquarters, and your dealings with the IRS.

The categories, side by side

Not everyone advising you is accountable in the same way.

Licensed CPA

Regulated, and accountable to a state board.

The license is not a one-time title. It is an ongoing obligation.

  • Examination, qualifying experience, and continuing professional education every year
  • Bound by a professional code of conduct that a regulator enforces
  • Can represent you directly before the IRS
  • Signs your returns as the responsible preparer
  • The only professional permitted to issue an audit or review opinion
  • If a CPA fails you, a state board can investigate and impose consequences
Consultant / unlicensed advisor

May be capable, but carries no enforced obligations.

You are relying entirely on the individual, with nothing behind them.

  • No mandatory continuing education
  • No professional code enforced by a regulator
  • No authority to represent you before the IRS
  • No body to appeal to if something goes wrong
Business broker / export consultant

Usually coordinates others rather than doing the work.

Convenient at the start, but accountability sits elsewhere.

  • Your tax position rests with whoever they pass you to
  • That person may be someone you never meet or chose
  • The relationship is brokered, not owned
Incorporation service

Files paperwork. That is not advice.

A clerical service, useful but narrow.

  • Files your formation documents
  • Does not assess whether the entity fits your tax situation
  • Gone once the certificate is issued

Why this matters for you specifically

None of this means a non-CPA can never help you. It means you should know which one you are hiring, and what they are on the hook for. When the same person is responsible for your filings, your reporting to your parent company, and your dealings with the IRS, the accountability that comes with a CPA license stops being a formality and becomes the whole point.

For Italian companies there is an added reason to pay attention. In Italy, "commercialista" means a regulated professional with clear obligations. Not everyone advertising in Italian to Italian companies in the United States holds an equivalent U.S. license. It is worth confirming.

Our principal, Valerio Sciutto, is a CPA licensed in the State of New York (License No. 121445), and every engagement is led and supervised by him. You can verify the license independently, at any time.

Verify, then talk

Work with someone who is accountable for the advice.

A free 30-minute call, in English or Italian. No obligation.

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