How much should I be paying for an accountant to lodge my return?

I would consider my tax to be fairly straight forward:

• I work a PAYG job.
• I have a salary sacrifice car (no deduction claimable)
• I have one IP - with a PM that send me a complete summary of income/expenses
• I purchased a second IP in May
• I am extremely organised and scan/file all of my invoices/receipts/statements

The reason that I'm wanting to go to an accountant rather than lodge it myself is that I'm developing a splitter next financial year and could use tax advice going forward. I really don't know what I should be expecting to pay for someone that I can go to for ongoing advice and future tax issues/returns?

 

Do you want to send your receipts for the accountant to go through or will you tally it up yourself?

 

I actually have it all on a spreadsheet and then I have the receipts in a folder to validate the spreadsheet.

 

I am not an accountant myself or a tax agent, but I would think you would pay around $880

 

Without knowing your specifics, I would suggest you meet with a couple of accountants and get a quote. It's good to start building a relationship. But their role should be more than lodging a return. You should look for someone who can guide you; timing to buy/ sale,what kind of structure, transition to retirement, family trust, depreciation, 5-10 year planning, spouse, will and so on and so forth.... A lot of them also give free 30-minute free consultation.
And pick a Chartered Accountant !

 

$200 to prepare and lodge your tax returns from a CPA & registered tax agent.
Consultation is $200 per hour

 

I pay A LOT more than that.

Each of my ASIC returns cost about that.

 

Anywhere from $66 for that guy in the shopping centre stall to $3000 depending on what level of advice and competence you are wanting

I pay around a grand but thats with personal and trusts

 

Its not appropriate for me to post to a discussion about fees on a public forum as collusion and other allegations of price fixing could be made. For example I have no idea what my competitors charge. . DaveM's post says it all.......Depends what services, level of advice and competence you want.

The best way to determine a competitive fee quote may be
1. Determine who you want to engage (If you call me expecting H&R Block $89 tax return pricing you would be wasting both our times)
2. What are you after ? Do you want to meet (face to face, video, phone ? Email OK ?
3. What other services are available (eg secured digital signing, client portal for upload, download etc)... Could you need financial / tax advice at some time ?
4. Who will do the work ? Thats really important. Many firms employer junior staff and rely on reviews. We dont. All staff here are well qualified and experienced.
5. Then call the person and discuss. I provide a fee estimate and stand by it as a quote. We avoid quoting a hourly rate as its a little misleading if you dont know what a hour of MY time buys.

Then there are all the little things - Ask Keirkank says ASIC compliance. We now use fantastic software to manage it and dropped our ASIC agent costs to $140 and have facilities now to prompt client with late ASIC fees so they can avoid penalties. A $379 late fee on top of a $200 fee is not cheap if it happens.

 

Service first.
If you are going down the road of developing you need to get accounting and structure right.

Savvy accountant and right structure will save you $. When you get this right then you can plan 12 months ahead to strategize.

Also, some accountants can charge big $ and does not mean they are going to be the best.

Homework, homework, homework..... I am up to my third accountant, I think I have got it right now.

Also, you learn along the way, important that you understand what the accountant is doing and why

MTR

 

I find myself reading so much on forums and other places that there are times when I engage a professional and think "wow, I could do a better job just by using Google!". I really don't mind paying any price as long as I get value for money.

 

Good on you! It's about time Accountants be brave enough to charge for their service, instead of price-cutting and doing a dis-service to themselves. Always thought the Lawyers are good, they are never afraid to charge. You can come or go as you please.....

 

But then franchise firms dont do investor returns for their advertised base price either. They are like jetstar and then add on for anything. And quite often use unqualified staff who do a short "course" in tax to deliver on the price ...That horrifies me to be honest.
If you pay $3kg for beef dont complain if its not fresh or its really beef

Imagine walking into see Dr X for surgery to learn Dr X isnt actually qualified in fractures - He is a general GP and is being supervised. Now imagine if the "Doctor" you see is an accountant (anyone can be called an accountant I'm sorry to say) without qualifications and experience in tax. That how many (not all!!) franchise practices work. I dont think its right. The tax practitioners board says they must be reviewed and supervised etc but I have had to fix way too many issues and seen some tragic mistakes.