John M. Hoffman & Associates CPAs

Info about the Firm

What We Charge

Our time is the only product that we sell. Therefore we ask that clients be cognizant of how their materials are completed and organized. We also ask that clients be reasonable with their requests for explanations (why do I owe more taxes.....do you think it has anything to do with the fact that I made more money?).

Current fee structure (hourly rates):

Your fee ends up being a blend of these different rates. We attempt to assign (time permitting) the tasks appropriately to balance the fees involved with the complexity of the work at hand.

Typical fees:

Individual income tax return - married couple, both work, children in day care, several mutual funds, own a home, live in one state, typical fee for tax preparation - $450.

Fees go up with the complexities of the material. Hedge funds with 50 page K-1's, overly active stock trading, stock options, multiple state filings, are examples of things that make the fees go up. Our largest fee for a 2006 income tax return preparation was $7,000.

Corporation - assume an "S" corporation with one shareholder, that shareholder fitting the individual described above. To help tweak the QuickBooks during the year and at year-end, a little tax planning and a few questions, the whole package to do the corporate and individual work would typically amount to $2,000.

ERISA (retirement plan) audits - with all of the Department of Labor mandates and other audit requirements, we have raised our minimum fee for new ERISA audits to $10,000.

Consultations and special projects are simply billed on an hourly basis.

Certain projects (multiple past year tax filings for example) require a retainer.

Fees are expected to be paid upon presentation of invoice.

Fees outstanding over 30 days are subject to a finance charge calculated at an 18% annual rate.