Billing Policy

Below we’ve summarized how we charge and what we expect from a mutually beneficial and long-lasting professional relationship.

We strive to add value within the constraints of cost versus benefit

Gillingham CPA charges based on time and staffing experience levels. We are a variable fee practice, although at times we will estimate a total scope and budget when possible. There are important reasons that we are not a fixed fee practice, which we are happy to explain. As a general guide, we have provided average costs here. When clients request things such as a projection, tax question, withholding issue analysis, estimated payment issue, tax letters, etc, this all rolls up into time tracked and then billing. Some parts of initial client calls may be billable and rolled generally into new client onboarding and documentation. It is imperative that this is understood on the first engagement so we can avoid any surprises and get right to work. 

Standard CPA Rates 2024 tax & accounting

Hourly Billing Rates

Owner CPA Rates:

General Tax and Cost Accounting

$225

Owner CPA Advisory:

General, equity planning, entity formation, M&A

$360

Owner CPA Bookkeeping

$175

Staff rates

$75 to $180

Staff and administrative rates are less and based upon experience

In rare instances where there is an inefficiency on our side or we knowingly exceed a budget on larger projects, we may reduce billing. At no time is billing reduced more than 30%. In even rarer instances where there is a billing disagreement, we shall resolve and amicably part professional ways. If your CPA cannot be trusted to bill properly for services, it is best to find another service provider as soon as possible. We track time and effort for everything, so it is mutually critical that our workflow is batched and efficient. The vast majority of clients understand this and do not want to pay us to do basic tasks or explain things that could possibly be found if correspondence is carefully read.

The following are key items that keep billing down and allow us more time for tax advisory instead of tax cleanup

  • Understanding that calls, texts, and emails are documented and incorporated into tax work. More volume means more coordination effort (think billable hours), so it's crucial to keep correspondence to only what is necessary
  • The volume of information on tax papers should be concise since it goes into tax work and is often shared among staff
  • Flexibility in extension filing
  • Using email to concisely and completely answer multiple questions after reviewing all documents
  • Understanding the mechanics of estimated payments and extension payments after we have explained and documented your unique situation
  • Saving text for urgent situations only
  • Batch processing of documents
  • Careful tracking of tax payments made in PDF and excel
  • Having phone calls when appropriate