LLC Tax Forms (K-1, 1065, 8825, etc)

[Amy E.]

This is my first year doing taxes for my rental business. I have three properties in an LLC with a partner. I do my personal taxes myself with TurboTax, but I don't have anything quirky going on with my personal finances. I rarely even sell stocks that I have to account for.

Anyway, it seems that TurboTax Business (not Home and Business, just Business) would be ideal but it costs about $150.  TaxAct has a product that is similar but is only $50.  However, I found it to be a lot less explanatory than TurboTax.  It did not have links to the relevant tax code if I had a question on a line item, some of the questions it asked were ambiguous, etc.

Does anyone do their own LLC taxes by hand or via software? If you do it by software, what do you recommend? If you do it by hand, do you have any links to guides that can help? The IRS guides are fine, but I do tend to get a bit overwhelmed when I do my taxes by hand. I never feel like I'm doing something wrong where I'll owe, but frequently feel like I may be missing a deduction. I like TurboTax for the prompts that remind me I may have additional money to deduct.

I know CPA's can charge anywhere from $50-$150/hour, but with TurboTax Business being so pricey I may come out ahead by just hiring a CPA vs. buying software, especially if I try to fill all the forms out myself first and just ask the CPA to review them for errors.

Thoughts?