we're looking into an account, haven't had one to date. how much time you end up in an accountant every quarter? for them to do your tax work is it a couple hours a week? couple hours a month? couple hours a quarter? just trying to get an idea? and secondly. what's the going rate in your areas for accountants?

That depends on how organized you are.

Example one:
A friend of mine is in the house flipping business, we use the same accountant. He does nothing but keep reciepts, and sends them to the accountant every month. The accountant has to sort through them all, do all the paper work, ect... He gets billed for all the time, and thats' the way he likes it.

Me, I use Quick books, I do everything and put everything in the proper accounts. I email the accountant the file at the end of every quarter, he sends me the forms and a bill for one hours work.

I will tell you this, some accountants are like attorneys, they will not tell you every thing you can do to help yourself. They want to bill you to make money, and they want to keep billing you. Find one who will work with your needs. Don't be afraid to change accountants if one doesn't feel right.

Dnk.....

$150 / mo. For this they calculate payrole, monthly reports, and takes care of what ever tax forms & letters. I give them a bank statements, check stubs, and personal paid recepts with notations what the item was for (like fuel, electrical supplies, bond, etc.). I hate book keeping and tax forms so it's fine for me. I spent far too much time on Quick books when I used it before partly because of my lack of experiance with it.

Tom