What do year-round accountant services actually include?
Most accountants only handle year-end return preparation rather than providing proactive withholding adjustments or ongoing tax planning. Paying high annual retainers before seeing clear value stops people from getting guidance through major life changes.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using tax preparation software like TurboTax
- 2Dropping off materials annually without expecting proactive consultation
- 3Paying for separate tax planning services apart from year-end preparation
- 4Setting up as a single-member LLC instead of an S-Corp to keep things simple
- 5Handling basic bookkeeping independently and hiring a CPA only for year-end or quarterly reviews
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Each year we tend to have significant federal and state payment due, yet we don't receive any guidance on withholding adjustments or ways to better manage our decisions through the year to optimize tax impacts at year-end.”source ↗
“Costs for tax prep were over $900 last year, and these have risen considerably over the past decade or so”source ↗
“This year is a year of significant life changes for us, and I expect our year-end tax situation is going to be messy. I have yet to reach out to my accountant about it because I'm not sure what I should expect.”source ↗
“paying $1,800–$3,000 a year right from the start seems like a lot when I don’t expect to be making much initially.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4How to find a responsive accountant for a small nonprofit
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- 2Are there travel accountant jobs like travel nursing?