This question came up recently. There seems to be some misguided impression that a preparer who does not charge a lot of money doesn’t know what he/she is doing? Really? What about the bozo who cost you a fortune last year but bungled your return?
As stated in a previous post, price is no indicator of competency of the professional. Each preparer must make up his/her mind as to the value of service provided to the public. This amount is based on preparer’s time, supplies, staff, taxes, commercial space, etc..etc….myriad details that go on “behind the scenes” about which the public doesn’t necessarily have to think.
I’ve been told that I don’t charge clients enough for the returns. Well….I suppose I agree. But let’s face it, I’m not operating out of a commercial space and don’t have staff. If you operate in the state of California, there isn’t much that’s “cheap”.
One of the issues we have in California is Registered Domestic Partnership. The time and labor going into these returns is ponderous to say the least. Many RDPs find the cost of getting their returns done unbearable/outrageous. I can certainly sympathize and have tried to be as sensitive to this issue as possible – as it isn’t RDPs’ fault that the IRS requires us to construct the returns in the particular manner designated. We have no choice but to charge the amounts we are charging just because of the time factor involved. Not to talk for anyone else, but as far as I’m concerned one simple RDP case is like doing two complex married filing joint cases.
We have no choice but to charge “a lot of money”. If I were operating out of a downtown office space I’d perhaps charge even MORE than what a lot of other preparers are charging. I’m fortunate in that I’m able to keep my overhead fairly low.
That being said, don’t go off miserable and resigned to pay thousands of dollars just because someone told you anyone who doesn’t charge “a lot” doesn’t know what he or she is doing. There are “quack preparers” at both ends of the pay scale. If I need to charge you “thousands” I’ll let you know why. If you’re an RDP/SSMC, depending on the difficulty/length of case, you may actually go into that price range. As of yet, I don’t have anyone like that.
Shop around for a competent professional. Not everyone will meet your needs financially or knowledge-wise. Just don’t expect to pay $25/hour. If you need that, take your chances with commercially available software.
