Turbo Tax Premier or an Account?

[Shane Moss]

I'd like to know what the general consensus is on using tax software such as Turbo Tax Premier vs an accountant.

I searched for a question like this already and found someone asked it a few years ago; however, the responses I thought were pretty limited.

I take possesion of my first property in couple of days and will have my work cut out for me this summer getting it up to par. I've been spending this past month learning as much as I can about the admin side of the business so I can focus my attention on the physical side (sweat equity) for the next few months.

Since taxes are so important, I'd like to know if you guys think Turbo Tax is really adequate at getting the job done. Assuming it can get the job done, perhaps my question should be, can a layman who has done what he can to learn some tax basics understand the questions well enough that Turbo Tax asks to provide the correct data?

Please help! Turbo Tax vs a pro is a huge conflict for me right now. My parents own a few properties and swear by it, but honestly, they don't spend the time I do learning the paperwork side of things.

[Shanti S.]

Don't try to save money on your accounting - save it on your property offers, rehab materials, groceries, etc :-)

A good accountant will see the big picture of your financial life and where you want to go with your business in a way that software cannot. He/she will be worth their weight in gold over the years and if your finances are currently very simple, you will not be paying them for very much of their time to actually DO your taxes when it comes down to filling out the paperwork.

Get some word-of-mouth recommendations from local real estate investors on who's good, then drop by their office to see if you like each other in a quick interview/intro.

Spend your time on the basics of managing your general business and finding deals and don't try to play catchup with accountants and attorneys so you can go around them with pieces of software....the pros may bill three figures an hour but they should find you much more than that in savings and business advice - so in the end, their hourly rate doesn't really matter much at all. Just their competence, creativity, and chemistry with you.