OT: CPA

[carlsbadworker]

Since quite a few loyal piggs have bought homes recently, I think this question will come up one day or another: do you really need a CPA to do your tax return as an homeowner? As a renter, my tax return used to be super-easy, W2 income minus standard deduction, and that’s it. So I never used a CPA before, is the service worthwhile or I should just continue use my tax software?

The other obvious question is: where do you get qualified and competent CPA? In the bubble years, there are many stories (even here) about CPAs faking up tax returns for lenders, so that occupation is full of crooks and liars as well (maybe ranked just after realtors and mortgage brokers). I phone interviewed some CPA before, all of them seem to be more interested in their fee schedules than helping me to optimize my tax savings.

I’m willing to pay much higher price than what tax software charges for a good CPA (preferably has expertise in small business as well), but I’m worried that I’d just hire someone who would simply copy my W2 income in, and minus the standard deduction (since for 2008, I wouldn’t have enough mortgage interests to go to itemized deduction). But I have been doing that for years, so I am very efficient at it myself.

[TemekuT]

Carlsbadworker, I am a CPA and a Real Estate Broker. I am not currently in practice in either field. I am baffled by your characterization of crooked CPA’s. I believe you are referring to crooked tax preparers, and there are lots of those out there. A tax preparer takes a “Mickey Mouse” course and another “Mickey Mouse” state exam and, voila, can hang up his/her shingle. My apologies to any tax preparer on this board, but it is what it is. I know, I took the qualifying tax preparer course online a couple of years ago just as a refresher and I was shocked at the lack of depth of the coursework. From what I know of CPA’s, the crooks are few and far between. Believe me, no CPA in their right mind would risk that license and I personally have never encountered any CPA that would fake tax returns. It’s just not worth it after what you go through to get the license, which consists of a Bachelor’s degree, many units of accounting and other business classes, a 2 year internship or the equivalent via a 5th year of accounting classes, a 3 day exam equivalent to the Bar exam, and the oversight of the State Board of Accountancy, which does police its members and responds swiftly and harshly to complaints, unlike the DRE. I was involved in a State Board of Accountancy investigation several years ago as a witness because I had prepared a portion of a tax return in which the principals had accused my boss of malpractice and I saw firsthand how promptly the complaint was responded to and how rigorous the investigation was. In fact, if you go to the State Board website and look up a licensee, you can see if there has been any action against that person.

Now that I’ve defended the CPA profession (I never defend the real estate profession, it is overrun with crooks!), let’s move on to your situation. I don’t give tax advice as my license is in inactive status, but your description leads me to believe that a good mass marketed tax prep program such as TurboTax would work quite well for you. It appears that you do not need more than the most basic $49 TurboTax package.

I hope you are enjoying Temeku Hills. I lived there for a year and own rental property there. It is a beautiful community and has the benefit of a vigilant HOA.

[TemekuT]

Carlsbadworker, I am a CPA and a Real Estate Broker. I am not currently in practice in either field. I am baffled by your characterization of crooked CPA’s. I believe you are referring to crooked tax preparers, and there are lots of those out there. A tax preparer takes a “Mickey Mouse” course and another “Mickey Mouse” state exam and, voila, can hang up his/her shingle. My apologies to any tax preparer on this board, but it is what it is. I know, I took the qualifying tax preparer course online a couple of years ago just as a refresher and I was shocked at the lack of depth of the coursework. From what I know of CPA’s, the crooks are few and far between. Believe me, no CPA in their right mind would risk that license and I personally have never encountered any CPA that would fake tax returns. It’s just not worth it after what you go through to get the license, which consists of a Bachelor’s degree, many units of accounting and other business classes, a 2 year internship or the equivalent via a 5th year of accounting classes, a 3 day exam equivalent to the Bar exam, and the oversight of the State Board of Accountancy, which does police its members and responds swiftly and harshly to complaints, unlike the DRE. I was involved in a State Board of Accountancy investigation several years ago as a witness because I had prepared a portion of a tax return in which the principals had accused my boss of malpractice and I saw firsthand how promptly the complaint was responded to and how rigorous the investigation was. In fact, if you go to the State Board website and look up a licensee, you can see if there has been any action against that person.

Now that I’ve defended the CPA profession (I never defend the real estate profession, it is overrun with crooks!), let’s move on to your situation. I don’t give tax advice as my license is in inactive status, but your description leads me to believe that a good mass marketed tax prep program such as TurboTax would work quite well for you. It appears that you do not need more than the most basic $49 TurboTax package.

I hope you are enjoying Temeku Hills. I lived there for a year and own rental property there. It is a beautiful community and has the benefit of a vigilant HOA.

[TemekuT]

Carlsbadworker, I am a CPA and a Real Estate Broker. I am not currently in practice in either field. I am baffled by your characterization of crooked CPA’s. I believe you are referring to crooked tax preparers, and there are lots of those out there. A tax preparer takes a “Mickey Mouse” course and another “Mickey Mouse” state exam and, voila, can hang up his/her shingle. My apologies to any tax preparer on this board, but it is what it is. I know, I took the qualifying tax preparer course online a couple of years ago just as a refresher and I was shocked at the lack of depth of the coursework. From what I know of CPA’s, the crooks are few and far between. Believe me, no CPA in their right mind would risk that license and I personally have never encountered any CPA that would fake tax returns. It’s just not worth it after what you go through to get the license, which consists of a Bachelor’s degree, many units of accounting and other business classes, a 2 year internship or the equivalent via a 5th year of accounting classes, a 3 day exam equivalent to the Bar exam, and the oversight of the State Board of Accountancy, which does police its members and responds swiftly and harshly to complaints, unlike the DRE. I was involved in a State Board of Accountancy investigation several years ago as a witness because I had prepared a portion of a tax return in which the principals had accused my boss of malpractice and I saw firsthand how promptly the complaint was responded to and how rigorous the investigation was. In fact, if you go to the State Board website and look up a licensee, you can see if there has been any action against that person.

Now that I’ve defended the CPA profession (I never defend the real estate profession, it is overrun with crooks!), let’s move on to your situation. I don’t give tax advice as my license is in inactive status, but your description leads me to believe that a good mass marketed tax prep program such as TurboTax would work quite well for you. It appears that you do not need more than the most basic $49 TurboTax package.

I hope you are enjoying Temeku Hills. I lived there for a year and own rental property there. It is a beautiful community and has the benefit of a vigilant HOA.

[TemekuT]

Carlsbadworker, I am a CPA and a Real Estate Broker. I am not currently in practice in either field. I am baffled by your characterization of crooked CPA’s. I believe you are referring to crooked tax preparers, and there are lots of those out there. A tax preparer takes a “Mickey Mouse” course and another “Mickey Mouse” state exam and, voila, can hang up his/her shingle. My apologies to any tax preparer on this board, but it is what it is. I know, I took the qualifying tax preparer course online a couple of years ago just as a refresher and I was shocked at the lack of depth of the coursework. From what I know of CPA’s, the crooks are few and far between. Believe me, no CPA in their right mind would risk that license and I personally have never encountered any CPA that would fake tax returns. It’s just not worth it after what you go through to get the license, which consists of a Bachelor’s degree, many units of accounting and other business classes, a 2 year internship or the equivalent via a 5th year of accounting classes, a 3 day exam equivalent to the Bar exam, and the oversight of the State Board of Accountancy, which does police its members and responds swiftly and harshly to complaints, unlike the DRE. I was involved in a State Board of Accountancy investigation several years ago as a witness because I had prepared a portion of a tax return in which the principals had accused my boss of malpractice and I saw firsthand how promptly the complaint was responded to and how rigorous the investigation was. In fact, if you go to the State Board website and look up a licensee, you can see if there has been any action against that person.

Now that I’ve defended the CPA profession (I never defend the real estate profession, it is overrun with crooks!), let’s move on to your situation. I don’t give tax advice as my license is in inactive status, but your description leads me to believe that a good mass marketed tax prep program such as TurboTax would work quite well for you. It appears that you do not need more than the most basic $49 TurboTax package.

I hope you are enjoying Temeku Hills. I lived there for a year and own rental property there. It is a beautiful community and has the benefit of a vigilant HOA.

[TemekuT]

Carlsbadworker, I am a CPA and a Real Estate Broker. I am not currently in practice in either field. I am baffled by your characterization of crooked CPA’s. I believe you are referring to crooked tax preparers, and there are lots of those out there. A tax preparer takes a “Mickey Mouse” course and another “Mickey Mouse” state exam and, voila, can hang up his/her shingle. My apologies to any tax preparer on this board, but it is what it is. I know, I took the qualifying tax preparer course online a couple of years ago just as a refresher and I was shocked at the lack of depth of the coursework. From what I know of CPA’s, the crooks are few and far between. Believe me, no CPA in their right mind would risk that license and I personally have never encountered any CPA that would fake tax returns. It’s just not worth it after what you go through to get the license, which consists of a Bachelor’s degree, many units of accounting and other business classes, a 2 year internship or the equivalent via a 5th year of accounting classes, a 3 day exam equivalent to the Bar exam, and the oversight of the State Board of Accountancy, which does police its members and responds swiftly and harshly to complaints, unlike the DRE. I was involved in a State Board of Accountancy investigation several years ago as a witness because I had prepared a portion of a tax return in which the principals had accused my boss of malpractice and I saw firsthand how promptly the complaint was responded to and how rigorous the investigation was. In fact, if you go to the State Board website and look up a licensee, you can see if there has been any action against that person.

Now that I’ve defended the CPA profession (I never defend the real estate profession, it is overrun with crooks!), let’s move on to your situation. I don’t give tax advice as my license is in inactive status, but your description leads me to believe that a good mass marketed tax prep program such as TurboTax would work quite well for you. It appears that you do not need more than the most basic $49 TurboTax package.

I hope you are enjoying Temeku Hills. I lived there for a year and own rental property there. It is a beautiful community and has the benefit of a vigilant HOA.

[meadandale]

I think so. I’d much rather pay a professional to do my return and save me the hassle. By the time you buy tax software or pay the fees to file online (e.g. via turbo tax online) you’ve paid at least 1/3 of the amount you’d have to pay a pro and you’ve done all the work yourself. Taxes are complicated and change every year. I’d just as soon pay someone and know it is done correctly.

I’ll give some plugs here. No affiliation just a happy client..

When I bought my house and started paying a CPA to do my taxes, I used Jim Glanz (Glanz Professional Services) in La Mesa; my sister had used him for years and I thought he was honest, straightforward and best of all, fast. He’d have me in and out in less than a half hour and then back in a week to sign returns and pick up copies.

When I incorporated I had to find another CPA since Jim won’t do corporate returns. I ended up using Chris Cundari at Abbas, Jensen and Cundari in Hillcrest. Again, Chris was great helping me get my business off the ground and he and his firm are highly recommended.

Expect to pay between $150-200 for a personal return. A corporate return is about 4x that.

http://ajccpa.com/

[meadandale]

I think so. I’d much rather pay a professional to do my return and save me the hassle. By the time you buy tax software or pay the fees to file online (e.g. via turbo tax online) you’ve paid at least 1/3 of the amount you’d have to pay a pro and you’ve done all the work yourself. Taxes are complicated and change every year. I’d just as soon pay someone and know it is done correctly.

I’ll give some plugs here. No affiliation just a happy client..

When I bought my house and started paying a CPA to do my taxes, I used Jim Glanz (Glanz Professional Services) in La Mesa; my sister had used him for years and I thought he was honest, straightforward and best of all, fast. He’d have me in and out in less than a half hour and then back in a week to sign returns and pick up copies.

When I incorporated I had to find another CPA since Jim won’t do corporate returns. I ended up using Chris Cundari at Abbas, Jensen and Cundari in Hillcrest. Again, Chris was great helping me get my business off the ground and he and his firm are highly recommended.

Expect to pay between $150-200 for a personal return. A corporate return is about 4x that.

http://ajccpa.com/

[meadandale]

I think so. I’d much rather pay a professional to do my return and save me the hassle. By the time you buy tax software or pay the fees to file online (e.g. via turbo tax online) you’ve paid at least 1/3 of the amount you’d have to pay a pro and you’ve done all the work yourself. Taxes are complicated and change every year. I’d just as soon pay someone and know it is done correctly.

I’ll give some plugs here. No affiliation just a happy client..

When I bought my house and started paying a CPA to do my taxes, I used Jim Glanz (Glanz Professional Services) in La Mesa; my sister had used him for years and I thought he was honest, straightforward and best of all, fast. He’d have me in and out in less than a half hour and then back in a week to sign returns and pick up copies.

When I incorporated I had to find another CPA since Jim won’t do corporate returns. I ended up using Chris Cundari at Abbas, Jensen and Cundari in Hillcrest. Again, Chris was great helping me get my business off the ground and he and his firm are highly recommended.

Expect to pay between $150-200 for a personal return. A corporate return is about 4x that.

http://ajccpa.com/

[meadandale]

I think so. I’d much rather pay a professional to do my return and save me the hassle. By the time you buy tax software or pay the fees to file online (e.g. via turbo tax online) you’ve paid at least 1/3 of the amount you’d have to pay a pro and you’ve done all the work yourself. Taxes are complicated and change every year. I’d just as soon pay someone and know it is done correctly.

I’ll give some plugs here. No affiliation just a happy client..

When I bought my house and started paying a CPA to do my taxes, I used Jim Glanz (Glanz Professional Services) in La Mesa; my sister had used him for years and I thought he was honest, straightforward and best of all, fast. He’d have me in and out in less than a half hour and then back in a week to sign returns and pick up copies.

When I incorporated I had to find another CPA since Jim won’t do corporate returns. I ended up using Chris Cundari at Abbas, Jensen and Cundari in Hillcrest. Again, Chris was great helping me get my business off the ground and he and his firm are highly recommended.

Expect to pay between $150-200 for a personal return. A corporate return is about 4x that.

http://ajccpa.com/

[meadandale]

I think so. I’d much rather pay a professional to do my return and save me the hassle. By the time you buy tax software or pay the fees to file online (e.g. via turbo tax online) you’ve paid at least 1/3 of the amount you’d have to pay a pro and you’ve done all the work yourself. Taxes are complicated and change every year. I’d just as soon pay someone and know it is done correctly.

I’ll give some plugs here. No affiliation just a happy client..

When I bought my house and started paying a CPA to do my taxes, I used Jim Glanz (Glanz Professional Services) in La Mesa; my sister had used him for years and I thought he was honest, straightforward and best of all, fast. He’d have me in and out in less than a half hour and then back in a week to sign returns and pick up copies.

When I incorporated I had to find another CPA since Jim won’t do corporate returns. I ended up using Chris Cundari at Abbas, Jensen and Cundari in Hillcrest. Again, Chris was great helping me get my business off the ground and he and his firm are highly recommended.

Expect to pay between $150-200 for a personal return. A corporate return is about 4x that.

http://ajccpa.com/

[TemekuT]

I can’t think of a single CPA I know that charges $150-$200 for a 1040/540. A charge of $150 would only cover the cost of the clerical staff time plus burden, the computer charge (this is not TurboTax, folks, and the software costs are significant), the packaging and mailing fees, plus the exhaustive disclaimers and documentation that are necessary compliances now. I can attest (pun intended) to this , I was crazy enough to run my own sole proprietorship in the early 90’s and know well what it costs to run the business.

I can’t find Jim Glanz nor Glanz Professional Services on the CA State Board of Accountancy website. Are you sure he is a CPA?

The last tax return I had prepared by someone other than myself was in 2006 and it cost north of $1000 due to the complexity of the return and the schedules needed. This was a non-corporate return prepared by a CPA friend of mine who used to be a tax manager at Arthur Anderson and whose time charges were in line with the complexity of the situation. My point here is that time charges vary based on the return and it can cost considerably more for a 1040 and 540 than $150-$200.

I really believe most Piggingtonians with schedules A, B, and D, and misc. credits can use TurboTax. The software walks you through the decision points and “logics” you in the correct direction. I give Piggintonians accolades for being smarter than the average housing bear and I know they can follow the TurboTax prompts.

[TemekuT]

I can’t think of a single CPA I know that charges $150-$200 for a 1040/540. A charge of $150 would only cover the cost of the clerical staff time plus burden, the computer charge (this is not TurboTax, folks, and the software costs are significant), the packaging and mailing fees, plus the exhaustive disclaimers and documentation that are necessary compliances now. I can attest (pun intended) to this , I was crazy enough to run my own sole proprietorship in the early 90’s and know well what it costs to run the business.

I can’t find Jim Glanz nor Glanz Professional Services on the CA State Board of Accountancy website. Are you sure he is a CPA?

The last tax return I had prepared by someone other than myself was in 2006 and it cost north of $1000 due to the complexity of the return and the schedules needed. This was a non-corporate return prepared by a CPA friend of mine who used to be a tax manager at Arthur Anderson and whose time charges were in line with the complexity of the situation. My point here is that time charges vary based on the return and it can cost considerably more for a 1040 and 540 than $150-$200.

I really believe most Piggingtonians with schedules A, B, and D, and misc. credits can use TurboTax. The software walks you through the decision points and “logics” you in the correct direction. I give Piggintonians accolades for being smarter than the average housing bear and I know they can follow the TurboTax prompts.

[TemekuT]

I can’t think of a single CPA I know that charges $150-$200 for a 1040/540. A charge of $150 would only cover the cost of the clerical staff time plus burden, the computer charge (this is not TurboTax, folks, and the software costs are significant), the packaging and mailing fees, plus the exhaustive disclaimers and documentation that are necessary compliances now. I can attest (pun intended) to this , I was crazy enough to run my own sole proprietorship in the early 90’s and know well what it costs to run the business.

I can’t find Jim Glanz nor Glanz Professional Services on the CA State Board of Accountancy website. Are you sure he is a CPA?

The last tax return I had prepared by someone other than myself was in 2006 and it cost north of $1000 due to the complexity of the return and the schedules needed. This was a non-corporate return prepared by a CPA friend of mine who used to be a tax manager at Arthur Anderson and whose time charges were in line with the complexity of the situation. My point here is that time charges vary based on the return and it can cost considerably more for a 1040 and 540 than $150-$200.

I really believe most Piggingtonians with schedules A, B, and D, and misc. credits can use TurboTax. The software walks you through the decision points and “logics” you in the correct direction. I give Piggintonians accolades for being smarter than the average housing bear and I know they can follow the TurboTax prompts.

[TemekuT]

I can’t think of a single CPA I know that charges $150-$200 for a 1040/540. A charge of $150 would only cover the cost of the clerical staff time plus burden, the computer charge (this is not TurboTax, folks, and the software costs are significant), the packaging and mailing fees, plus the exhaustive disclaimers and documentation that are necessary compliances now. I can attest (pun intended) to this , I was crazy enough to run my own sole proprietorship in the early 90’s and know well what it costs to run the business.

I can’t find Jim Glanz nor Glanz Professional Services on the CA State Board of Accountancy website. Are you sure he is a CPA?

The last tax return I had prepared by someone other than myself was in 2006 and it cost north of $1000 due to the complexity of the return and the schedules needed. This was a non-corporate return prepared by a CPA friend of mine who used to be a tax manager at Arthur Anderson and whose time charges were in line with the complexity of the situation. My point here is that time charges vary based on the return and it can cost considerably more for a 1040 and 540 than $150-$200.

I really believe most Piggingtonians with schedules A, B, and D, and misc. credits can use TurboTax. The software walks you through the decision points and “logics” you in the correct direction. I give Piggintonians accolades for being smarter than the average housing bear and I know they can follow the TurboTax prompts.

[Author]

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