am i getting ripped off...accounting

You do know that business financial planning costs are a deductibe expense for your business, don't you? So on your 2010 year tax form you can deduct whatever you paid your guy this year to help you with this stuff. Helps bring down your earned income amount and makes it pretty digestible to absorb any necessary business planning costs.

I pay $300 in New Jersey and I give the guy the final tallies of all my relevant earnings and expenses, pretty painless and fast. And if I have a quick question or two throughout the year, like trying to figure out the updated amount for my quarterly estimated taxes (since my income fluctuates a lot quarter to quarter), he doesn't charge me anything for just a quick call like that.
 


The first year using my accountant I did my own taxes with turbo tax, and also had the accountant do them. With turbo tax I was going to owe close to 8K. With the accountant I was able to get a return back. A good CPA beats the hell out of the software out there.
 
maybe i'll say something about never agreeing on a price, but he has all my tax forms .. do i just ask for them back?

although i was expecting to pay about 5gs in taxes and now i'm only paying like $2500, so is it because he did them? I dunno, but i may just tell him i wasn't expecting to pay that much, but will do it anyway .. i can write it off, plus it'll teach me a lesson that i shoulda asked the price first
 
Couple of things with taxes and accounting.

1. "circling" the transaction doesnt mean shit, it still has to be 10keyed or entered into some sort of accounting system. Go to qb.com and search their forums for what is charged either for monthly bookeepping or quarterly taxes. If he did your taxes for $350 and saved you close to $2500, seems to me you got a pretty nice deal.

2. At qb.com many many bookeepers and cpa's charge by the line item in the statement or similar. Typically it's around $1.00/line/month. So, if you have 1000 transactions of banking records, guess what, it's $1000

3. Although turbo tax is great for those doing the 1040ex with very little to write off,it's not too good for those of us that own business and have mulitple sources of revenue, as well as many different write offs. I tried to be cheap one year and use turbo tax and it had me paying in close to $5k. After my CPA was done, I only paid in just over $1200 and she charged me close to $500. Net savings over $3K. Was it worth it? Do the math. Also, she gets to handle all the audit shit if it ever happens.

One last thing, get an accounting program, even if it's as simple as Quicken. I personally used QBOE b/c I don't want to worry about data etc. (also helps I got a great discount).

As far as tax forms, yes, he is legally obliged to give you a copy.
 
Eh, Accounting is one thing I don't mind paying for. They take care of corporation taxes, quarterly payments and everything else for me. They remind me of so many things I deduct through my company with the home office etc. I give them my quickbooks file and other documents like w2's, 1099's etc and wait a week or so to hear the news. Well worth the $750 I spend.
 
leadsupplier said:
He never informed me. I never asked either. He just told me he needed some moere paperwork. So I gave it go him in a voicemail. Next thing I know he has them done and that's what he charged me

I just called liberty down here and they quoted me 75.
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You need to quit your fuckin' bitchin'. $350 isn't bad for taxes. Or you can run down to H&R Block/Liberty and let them fuck your taxes up.

Reminds me of one of my favorite lines from Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.

That's gon' run you about $13.

Thirteen dollars?

Come on, man. The Spanish dude down the block only charges six.

Well, take your ass to him and let him fuck your head up.
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Just paid $350 to get mine done. Very well worth it and the guy knows his shit. Definitely not something I want to fuck around with, ESPECIALLY if I'm going to pay less in the long run anyways. Simple maths hurr durr
 
A good accountant is totally worth his weight in gold. I pay around 2200 USD a year to my accountant to manage my corporate and personal taxes. His company also manages my company legal documents (like board resolutions for everything and all other financial matters).

The value I get back from him is 100x what I pay him. Not just in saved taxes (which were much much much more than what I pay him) but also in being sure that all the stuff is right and all formalities completed. I am too busy making (and spending money) to have time and patience for all this shit - I leave all the paperwork for him to manage.

And com'on, IIRC, you were planning to buy a BMW 335i... and you are worrying about $350 for one of the most critical aspects of your business.
 
$350 is more than reasonable for a good accountant, you're not getting ripped. I'd say go with it and move on. If you really question it, take the docs he prepared, run the same shit through TurboTax and see if it does better. My guess is probably not if he knows how to be creative with deductions like any good CPA should be.
 
If you went through a circled all your expenses anyway why not just do it yourself like others say

Sounds like you did his job and paid him for it
 
god you're a cheap motherfucker

yeah run down to HR Block and end up paying a ton more or have them fuck up which gets your business looked into. That's okay- not like you ran flogs or anything...

Jesus- the stupidity over peanuts amazes me, but I'm glad you guys are my competition.
 
I pay around 350-600 depending on how much crazy shit I have going on.

$350 is very reasonable for a CPA
 
If you were thinking you had to pay 4-5K and your accountant got you down to $2500, I'd consider the extra $200 you had to pay (from $150 at H&R to $350 for him) trivial, no?

e.g. spending $200 to save $2500?

And the problem is what again?
 
leadsupplier said:
I'm not ballin outta control with my revenue. But it was enough to get an accountant. He did seems to save me money unless I really fucked up my estimate. I was plannin on paying 4 or 5 gs and it only came go like 2500 so I can't complain. And hour block is garbage which is why I went private. So after hearing some of your shit maybe its not that bad
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Hour Block? English that doesn't quite make sense? Complaining about $350? Go for tax software. If your shit is as simple as you portray it, tax software will handle it.
 
Roundabout said:
If you were thinking you had to pay 4-5K and your accountant got you down to $2500, I'd consider the extra $200 you had to pay (from $150 at H&R to $350 for him) trivial, no?

e.g. spending $200 to save $2500?

And the problem is what again?
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He loses $200 that he could buy his 335i with. ;)
 
i paid $250 for my accountant last financial year... all i gave him was a 1 page summary of my expenses and my income and that was it. I run an online store, do affiliate marketing and I also work as a sub contractor.. shit's too messy for me to do myself.
 
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