Fees

[S T]

Okay, revisit if anyone would like to share

I know there are posts within the board, but so far haven't found the info

Anyone like to share with the fees charged for a Partnership Return - 2 partners, but complex in loans, distributions and liabilities - and over the years there has been a change of partnership percentage each year - QB accounting is never accurate. Also keeping Partner basis and At Risk Basis calculations current year to year

Seems like I saw some posts that a minimum is around $ 600 to $ 750 - but how do you determine a higher amount - based on hours - additional forms if there is a sale of asset, etc.

Just wondering if anyone wanted to share

Thanks

Sandy

[taxmandan]

If this is a new client, based on your description of the tax information, my fee would be double what you posted, half up front when they bring in the paperwork. That's based on the workload that is needed to prepare an accurate tax return with inaccurate QB records and management that will likely be high maintenance clients, indicated by poor QB recordkeeping being OK with them.

[JohnH]

Why lock yourself into a fixed fee on something like this? Charge your hourly rate, so they can begin to appreciate the cost savings for doing it right at some point. If you can't do that, then any fee you give them is just an encouragement for them to keep bringing you a mess.

[S T]

So hourly rate

I am not trying to lock myself in, I am trying to find something that is feasible for both sides.

Would anyone like to share an high/low hourly rate for a not so easy Partnership Return?

I am really asking for some guidance - I know what I think my hours are worth, but that doesn't always equate to what the client thinks he can obtain service for.

Thanks

Sandy

[JohnH]

How about your hourly rate, with an 8 hour minimum? If your hourlly rate is $80, then the minimum would be $640. If your hourly rate is $120, the minimum is $960. 2/3 is paid up front, with the balance due upon completion, and progress billings if the project runs into extra weeks. That way the client knows what their basic cost will be, and they can bite off as much extra expense for your services as they wish, based on how well they want to keep their records vs how much they want to pay you to do cleanup for them.

[BHoffman]

Low fee / high maintenance clients - I can afford these clients only if their business operations are small and simple, their reporting needs are uncomplicated, and they must report everything on the cash basis.

The high maintenance part for these low fee clients would be perhaps fixing past problems, getting and keeping them in compliance, giving them Excel spreadsheets with locked calculation cells that figure their 941 deposits and sales taxes, simplifying and streamlining....stuff that can be resolved and won't be constantly occuring in the future.



High fee / high maintenance clients - These are larger clients who need inhouse bookkeeping but are too cheap to hire one. Why should they hire a bookkeeper for $30k min. a year when they get some sucker to do everything for a lousy flat rate per month? This happened last year. I was billing the client $1,500 per month for 3 locations. Sounds like a lot? I thought so. But, every single day I spent between 3 - 5 hours dealing with his stuff. That works out to between $10 - $17 per hour. Not a good deal. I found a good inhouse bookkeeper for him, waited until she got past the learning curve, and resigned. The difference in my life is priceless .

Regarding fees for tax prep - if you have a long time client who complains about the tax prep fees, then perhaps just ask him what he thinks the service is worth and then decide if you are willing to prepare the return for that fee. Everybody can get their tax returns prepared for less than we charge. There is and always will be somebody out there who will do it for less. I'm not trying to compete with the cheapest preparer in town. I'm trying to be the best value preparer in town.

[dsi]

I charge $75/hr for bookkeeping work. For a P/S or a Corp tax return my minimum fee is $500. My fees are .5% of the gross income, plus $200/hr for tax research, I have an extra fee per partner/shareholder if more than two are involved. I know it sounds complicated, but it really is basic.

[AJsTax]

In our area

plumbers and car technicians are charging $95 to $98 per hour. Why should we as educated, licensed, specialized trades persons charge any less?
After saying that I will admit that we do charge less for some recurring good clients for special things. But we shoot for a minimum of $100 per hour during tax season.
It just costs too much today for software, CEUs, licenses besides overhead.

[Jiggers]

Fees.....

For 1040/1040A/1040EZ I bill by the form/schedule and what is on them.

For 1065/1120/1120S I bill by the hour at $130 per hour. Plus the cost of the CPE for those specific returns. And then I round it up to the next $25.

This is for doing the tax return.

For doing the work papers, AJE, etc., I charge by the hour at $110 per hour.

The reason for the CPE charge is that I have to travel out of my area to attend, usually 2 - 3 nights, hotel, meals, mileage, and CPE cost.

[kpangelinan]

I am not trying to lock myself in, I am trying to find something that is feasible for both sides.

Would anyone like to share an high/low hourly rate for a not so easy Partnership Return?

I am really asking for some guidance - I know what I think my hours are worth, but that doesn't always equate to what the client thinks he can obtain service for.

Thanks

Sandy

Feasible for both sides? I'm all for helping out the client if I can, but my ultimate goal is to make a profit and feed my family while running a profitable practice.

If you know what your hours are worth, then charge that. If it doesn't equate to what the client thinks he can obtain service for then let him go unless you're willing to accept less....and if that's the case, as someone already pointed out, find out what he's willing to pay and either accept it or not.

Regarding fees for tax prep - if you have a long time client who complains about the tax prep fees, then perhaps just ask him what he thinks the service is worth and then decide if you are willing to prepare the return for that fee. Everybody can get their tax returns prepared for less than we charge. There is and always will be somebody out there who will do it for less. I'm not trying to compete with the cheapest preparer in town. I'm trying to be the best value preparer in town.

I agree 100% here. If you're competing for price, you'll lose.