I am in outside sales in Boston and have many deductions. My current accountant upped his rate to $300, is this reasonable? I think he got me a decent return last year but have heard he is high priced.
2007-02-21 09:20:20 · 5 answers · asked by Jeremy P 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
It depends on the going rate in your area. $300 does not seem too high, but then I am in California. If your CPA is doing a good job, then stick with them if you can. It is easier to keep your taxes in one place with the same CPA should you get audited. However, if you feel your CPA is only doing an ok job, get recommendations from others and plan a switch.
2007-02-21 09:25:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That depends upon the complexity of the return and how much bookkeeping work he or she had to do in order to prepare your return.
Any CPA worth his or her salt will happily explain how they arrived at the amount that they charged you. In most cases it's based upon time. The CPA's time will be costlier than time spent by a staffer doing bookkeeping work to get the numbers ready to prepare the return.
Most of them will also tell you what you need to do in the future to keep the bill as low as possible. If you walk in with a shoebox full of receipts, expect to pay more than the person who shows up with a well-kept set of books and all the scut work done in advance.
My brother is a CPA in the Boston area and his lowest fee is $150 for a basic Federal and State return. His biggest individual client is well into 5 figures but he manages this client's finances throughout the year along with the tax prep work.
2007-02-21 19:28:44 · answer #2 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Price will vary based not only on where you are living, but also on the complexity of your return. For what you have $300 is reasonable. FWIW, I charge one of my clients $2,000 a year to do his taxes, but there is a lot involved....stock transactions, Schedule C business, rental properties, estimated tax payment calculations.
2007-02-21 17:58:54 · answer #3 · answered by jseah114 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do all my own taxes, and all my families and friends for free. Why not just go to www.turbotax.com and file it for $60 alltogether. It's really easy and it walks you everything. I own a house, have a child, am self-employed with stocks and can do it. I don't know why people pay others to do it.
2007-02-21 18:35:24 · answer #4 · answered by Melissa 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your return is fairly complex, and it sounds like it is, then that's probably not an unreasonable price.
2007-02-21 17:47:52 · answer #5 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋