Tips for hiring an accountant?

One thing to remember is that even if you find an accountant you like, you can't simply rely on what they tell you. You need to check their work, ask them questions and poke holes.

There is an extremely broad range of skills/knowledge in these specialties, and some can talk a great game- but under any scrutiny, turns out they aren't as knowledgeable as they seemed. Especially once you start to learn a bit about accounting and challenge them with basic questions, that'll be the true test if you've found someone worth keeping.

I shortlisted accountants by locality, recommendation and presence then talked to the ones who seemed best fit. Quite a few of them just didn't understand us or our business. I gave a straightforward job to one of them who did. They didn't do well, so I tried another. They did very well so we gave them more jobs. When you choose someone to advise you on financial and handle financial data, you're basically hiring.

It would depend on what country is your business incorporated in.