Our Approach to Preparation Fees

Minimum fee

  1. Overhead Coverage: Every return—no matter how simple—requires a fixed costs like licenses, baseline of time, operational overhead, and professional liability.
  2. Reimburse Expertise: We are tax professionals with years of experience. A minimum fee validates this knowledge, regardless of the forms submitted.  We are looking for clients who can value our time, expertise, and accuracy. We expect to establish a long term relationship and partnership in their tax lives.
  3. Practice Management: A minimum fee ensures enough time is spent on complex situations to really understand client’s needs, to accurately apply deductions and credits, and to reduce the risk of costly errors.

Fixed Flat Fees for Forms and Schedules

The number of tax forms you need to file also influences the total cost—the more forms, the higher the cost. A filing may begin with Form 1040 but also include Schedule C, Schedule E, Form 940, partnership returns, corporate forms, or trust reporting. As the number of schedules grows, so does the time needed to prepare and review the return, increasing tax preparation fees.

What it includes:

  • Return preparation and e-filing
  • State returns (quoted separately based on your states)
  • basic consultation about tax implications
  • Reasonable questions throughout the year
  • Planning recommendations with every return

What it does not include:

  • Undisclosed tax situations
  • Estimated payment calculation
  • Prior year amendment
  • Multi-year back taxes
  • Representation you in IRS audit

Hourly Rate

An hourly rate may apply to the following items:

  • Bookkeeping and cleanup
  • Prior-year corrections
  • Record cleanup
  • IRS letter response
  • IRS audit support

In these cases, the final fee often depends on how much time is generally required to resolve the issues in the file.

Value-Based Pricing

  • Advisory services
  • Tax planning beyond a return
  • Business structure selection
  • More detailed tax advice

Early Birds Discount & Expedite Fees

  • 10% Early bird discount before March
  • 20% Expedited service premiums within 15 days to due date