Year end tax preparation cost

[Salvador G.]

My CPA is charging me $750 for my 1120s, form 8825 $1500, and form 4562 $3000. A total of $5250 for 12 properties. Is this what most of you guys pay? Right around $500 per property. At the end of the year I send him a spread sheet with the income and expences broken per property. Please advice. 

[Brandon Hall]

Salvador G. It's difficult to say without knowing anything about you or your investments. 12 properties tells me nothing. Are these SFH? Are these apartment buildings? Are they $100k each or millions each?

The 1120s is at price is at the bottom of the range for CPAs. Most CPAs charge $800-1,200.

I'd look to charge form 8825 like I do schedule E. And without knowing anything about your properties, I can't say whether or not it's fair.

Fork 4562 seems steep, but again without knowing your information, I can say with certainty.

What a lot of people need to understand is that you will pay premium prices when using a CPA, but you should expect premium service all year long. A CPA is not just a tax prep guy but should be your year round trusted advisor. If they aren't a year round advisor, then go with someone else.