How should a Korean company choose a US CPA firm? (And what to bring to the first consultation)
What should a Korean company check before choosing a US CPA firm?
Check five things: which state licenses the CPA and whether the license is active, whether the firm also handles the Korea-side work (overseas direct investment reporting and the parent’s reporting package), whether the same team carries the work from setup into monthly books and tax filings, who coordinates between headquarters and the US entity, and whether the scope is agreed in writing before work starts. For the first consultation, bring a short description of the business, the ownership structure, and whatever already exists: formation documents, prior returns, books, or the parent’s reporting template.
Looking for one firm that works with both the US entity and the Korean headquarters?
At SW Accounting & Consulting Corp, Sangwon Youn, CPA (California) and Korean CPA (KICPA), leads every engagement from the first consultation onward. A team of associate CPAs handles the monthly work, while he stays your point of contact. Based in Los Angeles, we work with clients across the United States: remotely, at our Los Angeles office, or on site, including trips to your headquarters in Korea.
A Korean company opening or running a US entity usually needs more than a US tax preparer. Someone has to keep the US books and file federal and state returns, someone has to turn those books into what the parent in Seoul consolidates, and someone has to keep both sides on the same calendar. The questions below are the ones worth asking any firm, including ours.
Which five things should you compare?
Compare license, Korea-side coverage, continuity, coordination and written scope, and ask how each one is checked.
| What to compare | Why it matters | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| State license | A US CPA license is issued by a state, so “US CPA” alone does not tell you whether it is current. | Look the person up by name on CPAverify or the state board of accountancy and confirm the status is Active. For a Korean CPA, use the Korean Institute of CPAs member search. |
| Korea-side work | Overseas direct investment reporting in Korea has to happen in the right order around the capital transfer, and the parent may need a reporting package every month. | Ask whether the firm tracks the Korean reports and the US setup on one schedule, and whether it prepares the parent’s package or expects your team to. |
| Continuity | The structure chosen at setup only holds if the monthly books and tax filings follow it. | Ask whether the same team keeps the books, runs payroll and files the federal and state returns after setup. |
| Coordination | Headquarters, the US manager and the CPA firm work in different languages and time zones. | Ask who your named contact is, which language they work in, and who answers the parent’s finance team. |
| Written scope | “Setup” or “accounting” can mean very different amounts of work. | Ask for the scope and schedule in writing before work starts. |
Who coordinates between headquarters and the US entity?
One named person should own both sides: the US numbers and what the parent receives. When the US CPA and the parent’s finance team only talk through the local manager, questions about the package go back and forth for days. Ask the firm who answers headquarters directly and in which language.
At SW, that person is the founder. He answers the parent’s finance team and the group auditor in Korean or English, and works with your US manager in English.
What should the lead CPA do, and what should the team do?
The lead CPA should own the structure, the judgment calls and the conversation with headquarters; the team should run the monthly close. Ask which decisions the lead CPA signs off on personally and who you will hear from each month.
- Lead CPA: entity and state choice, intercompany arrangements, how US GAAP accounts map to the parent’s chart, review of each package before it goes to Seoul.
- Team: bookkeeping, bank and intercompany reconciliations, payroll, and preparing the schedules for review.
What should you receive every month?
Closed US books with financial statements, and, if the parent consolidates, a reporting package in the parent’s own template. Ask for an example layout before you sign.
- For the US entity: closed monthly books, financial statements, and the federal and state filings on their due dates.
- For the parent: a mapped trial balance, the US GAAP to K-IFRS adjustments, the intercompany reconciliation and the KRW translation schedules, with the workpapers the group auditor will ask for.
How should the US books connect to the parent’s reporting?
Through one mapping from the US chart of accounts to the parent’s chart, kept current every month, with intercompany balances matched before the package goes out. The US GAAP books stay the source; the adjustments to K-IFRS and the KRW translation are layered on top, so every number in the package can be traced back to the US ledger. Ask how the firm handles the parent’s close calendar when it is earlier than the US month-end close. Our guide to the Korean IFRS reporting package walks through each schedule.
What should you bring to the first consultation?
Bring what describes the business today; you do not need finished documents. The first conversation starts with where things stand and what work you need. Detailed records such as bank statements, payroll files and filed returns are shared through a secure channel after the scope is agreed, not by email attachment at the first meeting. What helps most depends on where you are.
- Before forming the US entity: a short description of what the US entity will do, who will own it and in what percentages, where it will operate, whether it will hire or hold inventory in the US, and where the Korean overseas direct investment reporting stands.
- Already formed: the formation documents and EIN letter, any federal and state returns already filed, recent bank statements, the current books or trial balance, payroll records, and a list of transactions with the parent (charges, loans, inventory purchases).
- If the parent requires a reporting package: the parent’s reporting template, your latest US trial balance and the parent’s close calendar. A previous package, if you have one, helps too.
What you should leave with: an agreed list of what the firm will handle, the reporting schedule, and the next steps, confirmed in writing before work starts.
How does SW work with Korean companies and their US entities?
The same lead CPA and team handle the US setup, the monthly books and tax filings, and the parent’s reporting package. You can hand us all of it, or only the part your team does not have time for, such as the parent package while your current US CPA keeps the tax filings.
- US subsidiary setup for Korean companies: entity and state choice, EIN, and the first books, payroll and tax setup.
- Korean IFRS reporting package: account mapping, US GAAP to K-IFRS adjustments, KRW translation and intercompany reconciliation.
- Korean-speaking CPA: what we can handle in Korean and how we work directly with headquarters.
The same lead CPA and team in Seoul and Los Angeles connect the work in both countries. In Korea, SW is registered as 에스더블유 공인회계사 사무소; in the United States, as SW Accounting & Consulting Corp.
Frequently asked questions
Does the CPA firm need to be in the same state as our US entity?
Not for us. We are based in Los Angeles and work with clients across the United States, remotely or on site.
Can our accountant in Korea handle the US filings?
The US federal and state returns follow US rules, and the parent’s package follows K-IFRS. You need someone who covers both, or two teams who coordinate on one schedule. Ask each side which part it owns.
Can we keep our current US CPA and outsource only the parent package?
Yes. Some teams keep their current tax preparer and hand us only the parent reporting package.
We already formed the entity. Is it too late to fix the setup?
No. Bring what you have to the first consultation. The setup guide explains what we review for companies that are already set up.
Talk through your situation with a CPA who works with both the US entity and the headquarters.
