the Cost of Temporary Tax Accounting Services

We owned a small family business that supplied a packing service for local artists. Due to an illness by one of the owners we were unable to prepare our tax return for the year 2007. We contacted a few local tax agencies and selected one with a good staff and reputation. The individual who was to do the tax work met with us at the business location. Our records were all available as well as prior tax returns. He took the records and receipts and completed the tax returns in about four weeks. The total cost of $1,700 was for the labor and copies of all returns.

I feel that under the circumstances the quality was good. The amount of tax due was in line with prior returns and there were no obvious mistakes. It was completed in a timely manner. ONe concern I had was that the preparer called us only one time with a few questions. I was concerned that he was not looking "deeply" into the return. The results were a good value.

When using a temporary tax service be sure to check their references and their office location. If the office is a mess of papers with few employees, look for another service. Also, based on our situation, have more than one person knowledgable about the financial end of a business, and keep notes on the procedures.