How It Went with My New CPA

A few months ago I told you that I had hired a new CPA to do my taxes. Now that the tax season is over and the dust has settled, I thought I'd list the pros and cons of working with the new firm. Let's start with the pros:

• They were much more involved in tax planning. While I hired them officially in late 2011, I had met with them earlier in the year and they had given me some tax-saving tips. Some I took and some I didn't, but they were pro-active on their advice -- which is something the other firm never was. In addition, the new firm has continued offering suggestions well into 2012.


• The process was initially smoother. I was able to drop off my information and meet with the owner personally to go through my records. This is because they are located much closer to my work, so I was able to pop over there during lunch to get things going.


• They were cheaper while doing more. The cost was 20% less than the other firm plus the new company included returns (very simple ones) for my kids. So they delivered more work for less cost -- that's what I was looking for!

But there were some cons. For instance:

• The process had a few bumps to it. I knew there would be some since this was our first year with them. But they complicated the effort. There wasn't clear communication between the owner (who I had all my previous dealings with) and the person who actually did my taxes. This caused some confusion and re-work on both sides.


• There was a big delay. I got them my information in late February and the owner told me they'd have the return done "in a week or so." Three weeks later I got and email saying they were just starting the return. It was finished and approved the first week in April.

Overall, I was happy with their performance and I'm looking forward to next year. I think the process will be better since they will be more familiar with my finances and I'll know what to expect from them. In particular, here's what I plan to do next year to help things go a bit smoother:

• I will meet with both the owner and the person doing my taxes when I drop off my information. This way there will be no miscommunication between them (or at least it will be minimized.)


• I plan to meet with the owner a couple times during the year to talk about basic tax issues. I'm at the point where there's not much I can do to save on taxes without jumping through hoops, and many of the hoops are not worth jumping through from time and cost perspectives. However, you never know what's looming around the corner, so I'll keep in touch with him just to make sure I'm on top of the situation.

How about you? How did your tax season go this year?

Comments

[Lance@MoneyLife&more]

As a previous public accountant I can tell you that meeting with both the owner and the preparer should speed things up and leave less room for confusion. Also, having the previous year data in the system should make things go faster too as there is a precedent for what they'll likely be doing. The more organized and earlier you get your information in the faster it will likely get done, speaking from experience.

[JM]

Sounds about par for the course for a CPA firm. I agree that there needs to be more upfront communication between you and the preparer; it's something CPA firms don't do enough of. I am also a previous public accountant like Lance (I'm still a CPA, but work in industry) and I concur with everything he said.