The network has categories that need some realignment. May we suggest along the following lines:
Legal should cover “legal” issues such as real estate conveyancing, leases, intellectual property etc but not tax or cannabis related regulatory compliance.
Tax, Accounting, and Cannabis Related Regulatory Compliance [e.g. BCC, CDPH-MCSB, CDFA-Cal Cannabis and CDTFA can, for the most part, be properly addressed by a group that we are going to call Circular 230 Practitioners which definition is licensed attorneys, Certified Public Accountants ["CPA"s], and Enrolled Agents [EA’s]. Attorneys and CPA’s are licensed by the states and EA’s by the IRS. Within that grouping, criminal investigations and litigation in open court with full rules of evidence are best lead by an attorney who will usually retain a CPA or EA under what is called a Kovel letter.
Heavy duty accounting or any type of attest work [e.g. audit, review or compilation] MUST be done by a CPA.
There are plenty of other people that do this type of work e.g. CTEC, RTRP, generic accountants and bookkeepers that may be quite competent, helpful and a good value for the fees they charge, but they LACK the education and training of an attorney, CPA or EA and they should readily admit so. If you need to learn more about any of these professionals or validate a license, we have a page on our website with those tools [no selling] here.