Services :: What We Do

Seigel & Associates developed the concept of an independent firm, expert in the examination and evaluation of the adequacy of tax reserves, which renders an opinion to company management on that issue.  We employ experts drawn from the accounting and legal professions, but do not provide auditing, legal, or tax advisory or compliance services of any nature to our clients.  Thus, we have no conflict in fulfilling our tax reserve opinion function with any other activity. Nor is our independence clouded by the receipt or the seeking of fees for other services offered to our clients. 

In addition, in no way do we compete with the audit and tax advisory and compliance services offered by audit firms.  When management secures an opinion as to the adequacy and propriety of its tax reserves from an independent, objective, and expert third party, it dissipates the potential bias inherent when the accounting firm performing the certified audit also provides tax services to the client.  Audit committees desiring to retain one accounting firm for both audit and tax work will have a clear path to resolution of the auditor independence question raised by such an arrangement and can, with assurance that the arrangement does not compromise independence, effect the efficiencies realized by use of one accounting firm for these two purposes. 

Moreover, even in the case where the company has retained a separate firm for tax advice, if that firm participates in the determination or review of the company’s tax reserves, the same issues of potential bias outlined above exist – and the integrity and objectivity of the reserves are subject to question.