Anyone Have Good Accountant Recommendations?

[Truthseeker]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good accountant? My wife and I live in NC, but I don't really need to meet the accountant face to face. I used to file my taxes using TaxAct, but once my wife and I had out of state investment properties, her work from home sales position, and my 1099 contractor position, I started to get a bit intimidated/unsure of my ability to file on my own. My current accountant charges $300 for personal tax returns, another $80 for my out of state tax return, $1,800 for a corporate tax return, and another $250/month to do payroll. It makes sense for me to create an LLC and file as an S Corp to avoid some payroll taxes, but his fees make the tax savings almost negligible (i.e., I have not used him yet for the corporate tax return or monthly payroll).

Further, he charges $200/hour for "advice."

I define good accountant as:
a. Willing to provide creative solutions that save me more in taxes than I pay in accounting fees
b. Gives me the time of day and answers some basic question without charging me by the minute (within reason of course)
c. Bridges the gap between accountant and financial adviser (i.e., at least provides a few solutions on the investment side that might help me save on taxes in future years vs. always saying "I just file what you give me, talk to a financial adviser"). I had to figure out on my own that a solo 401k was the best solution to maximize tax deferred investments.

Thanks so much in advance for anyone who can help.

[Laserjet3051]

Just want t comment on the $1800 fee for preparing corp returns. I shopped around for an accountant to prepare my corp returns and found a HUGE range in pricing. Remember, some of these guys service megacorps where return prep is a long and arduous process and the client can afford to shell out insane amounts of $$. Accountants specializing in tax prep for small businesses have pricing more in line with reality. I get a "special" rate, for certain reasons that brings my cost (biz return prep) down to $350. No bells or whistles, no real tax planning services included, but I do try to extract as much helpful info/advice (on the tax planning front) as I can.  YMMV.

[SeattleCPA]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good accountant? My wife and I live in NC, but I don't really need to meet the accountant face to face. I used to file my taxes using TaxAct, but once my wife and I had out of state investment properties, her work from home sales position, and my 1099 contractor position, I started to get a bit intimidated/unsure of my ability to file on my own. My current accountant charges $300 for personal tax returns, another $80 for my out of state tax return, $1,800 for a corporate tax return, and another $250/month to do payroll. It makes sense for me to create an LLC and file as an S Corp to avoid some payroll taxes, but his fees make the tax savings almost negligible (i.e., I have not used him yet for the corporate tax return or monthly payroll).

Further, he charges $200/hour for "advice."

I define good accountant as:
a. Willing to provide creative solutions that save me more in taxes than I pay in accounting fees
b. Gives me the time of day and answers some basic question without charging me by the minute (within reason of course)
c. Bridges the gap between accountant and financial adviser (i.e., at least provides a few solutions on the investment side that might help me save on taxes in future years vs. always saying "I just file what you give me, talk to a financial adviser"). I had to figure out on my own that a solo 401k was the best solution to maximize tax deferred investments.

Thanks so much in advance for anyone who can help.

Often, you get best arrangement for payroll by outsourcing to ADP, PayChex, Gusto, QuickBooks, etc. The $250 a month sounds expensive. (With an employee or two, you might be at $500 a year... with a handful of employees, maybe $1K a year.)

The $1800 price for the corp return doesn't sound expensive. In fact, I would say that if you can't afford to pay $1K to $2K for an 1120S return (using some of the tax savings) you probably shouldn't be electing to go subchapter S. FYI, if your revenues are over $250K, our standard price is $1595. Note that I'm not angling for your work. With what you've already shared, we're not a good fit. I'm just sharing pricing so you know...

As far as $380 for your individual tax return (including multiple states), that's less expensive than what you'd pay H&R Block, Liberty, etc. I would therefore expect you to  get a lower level of expertise and service than is available from those alternatives.

Hope that helps.

P.S. I would say you're probably really interested not so much in a "good" accountant as an "economical" accountant. That's a fine way to shop. Lots of stuff I buy, I buy on the basis of price. But probably the most economical way to get your taxes done, if economy is the objective, is to keep your finances simple enough that you can use TurboTax.

[CareCPA]

One thing to consider when shopping around: fee structure.

You have already experienced (by the looks of it), the a-la-carte menu structure, and experienced the hourly billing. I have seen this frustrate clients because they never know when they're going to get billed for a conversation, so they are often afraid to call and ask legitimate questions.

The other pricing model is the flat-fee or value-billing model. You pay one price, and there is a list of services it encompasses. This reduces your stress. Some years maybe you end up paying more than the a la carte method, some years maybe less, but you always know what your cost will be.

So in addition to making sure you find a competent accountant, make sure their fee structure lines up with what you are expecting.

On a personal-opinion note: your individual fee seems low given the level of complexity of your finances, but your corp seems a little high. You may be able to shop it around if you're willing to deal with coordinating multiple accountants.

[Midwest]

One thing to consider when shopping around: fee structure.

You have already experienced (by the looks of it), the a-la-carte menu structure, and experienced the hourly billing. I have seen this frustrate clients because they never know when they're going to get billed for a conversation, so they are often afraid to call and ask legitimate questions.

The other pricing model is the flat-fee or value-billing model. You pay one price, and there is a list of services it encompasses. This reduces your stress. Some years maybe you end up paying more than the a la carte method, some years maybe less, but you always know what your cost will be.

So in addition to making sure you find a competent accountant, make sure their fee structure lines up with what you are expecting.

On a personal-opinion note: your individual fee seems low given the level of complexity of your finances, but your corp seems a little high. You may be able to shop it around if you're willing to deal with coordinating multiple accountants.

I would anticipate his individual rate going up if the corporate return is taken away or the accountant lets him go.  $300 for a personal return of any complexity is cheap (see above about HR block and liberty pricing).

[CareCPA]

One thing to consider when shopping around: fee structure.

You have already experienced (by the looks of it), the a-la-carte menu structure, and experienced the hourly billing. I have seen this frustrate clients because they never know when they're going to get billed for a conversation, so they are often afraid to call and ask legitimate questions.

The other pricing model is the flat-fee or value-billing model. You pay one price, and there is a list of services it encompasses. This reduces your stress. Some years maybe you end up paying more than the a la carte method, some years maybe less, but you always know what your cost will be.

So in addition to making sure you find a competent accountant, make sure their fee structure lines up with what you are expecting.

On a personal-opinion note: your individual fee seems low given the level of complexity of your finances, but your corp seems a little high. You may be able to shop it around if you're willing to deal with coordinating multiple accountants.

I would anticipate his individual rate going up if the corporate return is taken away or the accountant lets him go.  $300 for a personal return of any complexity is cheap (see above about HR block and liberty pricing).

It is cheap for any individual return, but he states that he is not currently using his accountant for a Corp return, as a company has not been setup yet. So I assumed the rate would stay the same even if he took the Corp work somewhere else.

The ideal course of action would be to have one person do it all. With a look at his entire finances, they should be able to provide better financial/tax planning if they can see the entire picture. This seems to be the service he is not currently getting that he's looking for.
Piecing it out isn't ideal in this sense, but could save some money. It all depends on which is more important to the OP.

[Midwest]

One thing to consider when shopping around: fee structure.

You have already experienced (by the looks of it), the a-la-carte menu structure, and experienced the hourly billing. I have seen this frustrate clients because they never know when they're going to get billed for a conversation, so they are often afraid to call and ask legitimate questions.

The other pricing model is the flat-fee or value-billing model. You pay one price, and there is a list of services it encompasses. This reduces your stress. Some years maybe you end up paying more than the a la carte method, some years maybe less, but you always know what your cost will be.

So in addition to making sure you find a competent accountant, make sure their fee structure lines up with what you are expecting.

On a personal-opinion note: your individual fee seems low given the level of complexity of your finances, but your corp seems a little high. You may be able to shop it around if you're willing to deal with coordinating multiple accountants.

I would anticipate his individual rate going up if the corporate return is taken away or the accountant lets him go.  $300 for a personal return of any complexity is cheap (see above about HR block and liberty pricing).

It is cheap for any individual return, but he states that he is not currently using his accountant for a Corp return, as a company has not been setup yet. So I assumed the rate would stay the same even if he took the Corp work somewhere else.

The ideal course of action would be to have one person do it all. With a look at his entire finances, they should be able to provide better financial/tax planning if they can see the entire picture. This seems to be the service he is not currently getting that he's looking for.
Piecing it out isn't ideal in this sense, but could save some money. It all depends on which is more important to the OP.

You are correct, I misread that.