We realize that every circumstance is different.  Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have, we’ll be happy to help.  Hopefully the following can help answer some basic questions.

What services do you offer?
We specialize in income taxes and bookkeeping for individuals and small businesses.  If it’s related to taxes or accounting we’ll be able to help you or at least point you in the right direction.  If your request is outside our normal scope of business, we’ll let you know and tell you what type of expert you need.

How much do you charge?
Our fees for tax return preparation are based on the amount of time required and the forms required for your return.  We could list the base price for each form, but that would just get confusing.  We can generally give a pretty good idea of what our fee will be with about a five minute phone call, so please give us a call.

Are you taking new clients?
The answer to this is updated on our main page, and does change.  We love new clients and are always happy when a current client refers someone new to our office.  We do not advertise, and have remained strong solely from referrals from our wonderful clients.

I’m still missing a form or two, should I wait to come in?
No.  The forms are the easy part.  The important thing is to go through all of your other income, expenses, deductions, talk about what happened during the year and see where we can save you some money.  We don’t necessarily need your W-2, your 1099s or your K-1s to do that.  Sure, we ask that you bring everything you can with you, but there’s usually no reason to wait.  Did congress do something at the last minute that is delaying filing of returns again this year?  That doesn’t stop us from getting your return done and ready to go the second the IRS starts accepting filings.  The number one reason to come in now is to have time to plan.  If there are any surprises, it’s best to know as soon as possible.  We don’t like surprises when it comes to taxes, but they happen.  If you have two months to plan for the deadline, you’ll be better off than if you have two days.

I live far away, somewhere warm and sunny and can’t come in for an appointment, what do I do?
First, send us a picture to put on our desks to remind us what sunlight looks like.  Second, mail, email or fax in your information.  Or, call us and get an extension.  We have clients that live all over the country and even a few that live outside the country, so we have lots of experience with preparing returns for people we haven’t even seen in years (if ever).  Whether you’re just across town or you live in Australia, we’ll be able to help you.  Once we get your information, we’ll send you an email or give you a call to discuss the questions we have for you.  We do prefer to actually sit down and talk with you the first year you see us, but we’ll make accommodations for any situation.

What should I bring in with me?
If it’s your first year, we will send you out some new client paperwork to fill out and bring in with you when we first meet.  We also ask that you bring in your prior year tax return and pretty much everything that you would normally have to prepare your taxes.  You know the basics of what you should bring with you (W-2s, 1099s, 1098s, expenses, etc.)  and anything that isn’t there, we’ll just ask you to send over after your appointment.  If this is your second year with us, you’ll receive a tax organizer from us that lists everything that you had the year before and gives you reminders for what to bring with you.  We don’t require that you fill out this organizer, but it’s a good resource for gathering and organizing your information.

Can you guarantee that I’ll receive a bigger refund than if I do my return myself?
No, we can’t.  We wish we could, but we can’t.  We can guarantee that your return will be correct.  Our two top goals are to A.) keep your tax low and your refunds high, and B.) keep you protected from the IRS and other governmental agencies.  To promise you a bigger refund than someone else would be irresponsible.  We do, however, stand behind our work and guarantee its accuracy.

Does that mean that I am not held responsible for the information on my return?
No.  We do not audit your information, though we will ask for clarification of information from time to time.  You’re responsible for giving us correct information, we’re responsible for making sure it goes in the right places.  We ask that you review your return once we give it to you to make sure everything looks accurate.  We’re not perfect, though our error rate is very, very low, plus misunderstandings happen.  We also ask that you review the engagement letter that you receive with your new client paperwork or with the organizer that we send out to you at the beginning of January.  The engagement letter does a good job of outlining our responsibilities and your responsibilities.

There are more questions to be answered that will be posted as we update our website and even more questions that can’t be answered here.  Please call or email us to answer any other questions you may have.