How we price
Three rules, and we have not found a reason to break them.
Quoted before, not after
You get an engagement letter with the fee on it before we open the file. If something in your situation changes the scope, you hear about it and agree the change before it happens.
Fixed, not metered
Almost everything here is a fixed fee. You should be able to ask your accountant a question without watching a clock, which is the whole point.
The follow-up is included
A letter about a return we filed is part of that engagement. We do not invoice you for answering for our own work.
Personal
Personal Tax Returns
Business
Business Tax Returns
Business
Bookkeeping
Business
Payroll
Business
Small Business Accounting
Personal
IRS Representation
Everything else
Fee tables for the remaining services sit on their own pages.
General information, current for the 2026 filing season and not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Tax law changes, and the answer for your situation may differ. Speak to us before acting on anything you read here.
Questions about fees
What people ask before they call
How much does a CPA charge for a tax return?
At this office an individual federal, New York State and New York City return starts at $175 for a straightforward W-2 filing, and most individual returns fall between $295 and $650. Business returns start at $1,150 for an S corporation. Every fee is quoted in writing before work starts.
Do you charge for the first meeting?
No. The first consultation is free and runs about twenty minutes, in person or by phone. Reading an IRS notice and telling you what it is also costs nothing.
Are your fees hourly or fixed?
Fixed for almost everything. Tax returns, bookkeeping, payroll and formation work are all quoted as a fixed fee. Only audit representation and one-off consultation are billed hourly, and those are estimated in writing first.
What makes a return cost more than the base fee?
Rental properties, a business schedule, investment reporting, additional states, foreign income and prior-year cleanup. Each one is priced separately and shown on the engagement letter, so you can see what is driving the number.
No charge for the first conversation
Get a fixed quote before you commit
Bring or send last year's return. In most cases that is all we need in order to give you a firm number for this year, and the conversation costs nothing either way.