Taking Advantage of Resources: Accountants & Lawyers for the Arts

On Saturday Mrs. Eaves had the pleasure of meeting with Judy Arfa, CPA, a certified public accountant from Houston who has been assigned by Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts (TALA) to assist Texas Wax with its tax filings and federal non-profit status. TALA is a non-profit organization that assists individual artists and arts-related groups in the state of Texas with tax and legal matters. TALA assists nonprofit arts organizations with an annual budget of less than $250,00 AND individual artists making less than $50,000 annually. TALA can assist with nonprofit incorporation, estate planning, licensing, landlord-tenant disputes, financial review, budgets and federal and state tax filings. TALA has a helpful library of information available to its members. For a nominal cost, you or your organization can have access to professionals like Ms. Arfa whose fees might otherwise drain your piggy bank.

Mrs. Eaves herself previously volunteered her time with a similar organization in Georgia and highly recommends their services. While some of these professionals may not have experience with your specific arts-related issue, generally they come from sophisticated firms and practices with many resources available to help resolve your issue. Mrs. Eaves is wont to remind you that you cannot simply defer all of these matters to someone else. You may still have to roll up your sleeves and read (okay, at least skim) one of those nasty, Texas-sized documents so that you can understand WHY you need to do what is required of you or your entity. But simply having access to an intelligent and reliable resource is easily worth the annual membership fee.