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Plus an extra "Because you waited till the last minute to check on your employee and want me to rework all this in an unreasonably short amount of time" charge. This should be significant!!!

With tax season just around the corner, the National Society of Accountants has surveyed its members to determine average tax-return preparation fees by form and by region. The group has 11,000 members, most of whom are sole practitioners or work at smaller firms. They have various credentials, including CPA, IRS enrolled agent and accredited tax preparer. According to the survey, the average cost to prepare an itemized Form 1040 with a Schedule A (for itemized deductions) and a state tax return is $246. The average rate for a return without itemized deductions is lower: $143. “I think most people would say this is worth the money,” says NSA official John Ams. “Just reading the return instructions can take hours.” The survey also reported the average fees for preparing other IRS forms, including the following: $205 for a Form 1040 Schedule C (business) $556 for a Form 1065 (partnership) $759 for a Form 1120 (corporation) $717 for a Form 1120S (S corporation) $468 for a Form 1041 (fiduciary) $628 for a Form 990 (tax exempt) $59 for a Form 940 (Federal unemployment) $134 for Schedule D (gains and losses) $155 for Schedule E (rental) $185 for Schedule F (farm) The survey also found that tax-preparation fees varied by region, firm size, population, and an area’s economic strength. Here is the average fee for an itemized Form 1040 with Schedule A and a state tax return in different U.S. census districts: New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) – $237 Middle Atlantic (NJ, NY, PA) – $258 South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) – $253 East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) – $279 West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) – $226 East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) – $225 West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) – $196 Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) – $233 Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) – $288 All fees assume that a taxpayer has gathered and organized necessary information and provides it to the preparer on time. The average fee to file an extension is $41, though that figure rises to $80 if information isn’t submitted at least 15 days ahead of a filing deadline. A spokesman for the group adds that nearly all its members offer free consultations. Tax preparation

You have a unique situation. Only you can decide what your time and effort was (is) worth. I think your pricing was very fair if you are satisfied. Do you have any assurance that ElCheapo is even going to pay you? When you confront her with the bill, you will know whether you want to keep her or not and/or whether she wants to keep you. She would be crazy not to. I had a similar situation several years ago which also involved a tax return in addition to 65 W2s the night before the deadline and I had a day job at the time. I got left holding the bag for a $500 bill. However, I never look back. They only get to sting me once and it seldom happens. Good Luck with your situation. You didn't charge too much. We know you need the money and you earned it. Keep thinking "paper cuts".

Thanks for reminding me. It is getting close to asparagus season and bacon wrapped asparagus is one of the greatest dishes ever created. Tom Hollister, CA

Let me know if you find a good "Where's my Bacon?" site. mmmmmmmmmmm bacon

This is an upgrade over last year? I am counting myself foryunate that I am even able to open the program on my server and workstation, but this year's program is taking about 10-20 times the amount of time to rollover or simply open a return. Rollover is slow. But opening a return, even after opening it multiple times, is way too slow. I timed how long a simple 1040 return took to open and it was around 1 minute and 12 seconds. And when it's about to open it the entire program (as in I can see my desktop or other program running behind it) oddly disappears for about 5 seconds and then the return displays on the screen within the program. Plus everything just seems sluggish. The list of returns to rollovers sometimes take a few seconds to appear. And all of this is on the server. The workstation is 10-20% slower. When I open up ATX 2011 I'm almost shocked at the speed compared to this year. Returns in 2011 open almost instantly. I have a Dell Vostro 260 3.3Ghz with 3 GB of RAM so although it might not be the fastest PC out there it's plenty enough to run all my other apps very quickly. ATXX 2012 stills seems like it's in testing phase.

I just tried a return and it opened fine. I'm glad to see the 1040 is finally in there without 'reserved' lines.

OK........I opened one return that I have been opening every day. I left it open and rolled over a new return that had just come in. The rollover went fine. I opened the second return. Had two returns open and both were OK. This is the first time I tried that. I have to admit that I held my breath the entire time. This is the machine that I maxed to 16G Ram night before last. Tell me that I am still alive.

You are making me afraid to even go and check. I have two machines with Win 7 64 bit and one with Win XP, all stand alone. So far I have never had a crash on any of them. I have been updating all day and it's been smooth so far. However I don't want to be like Rita and die.........twice.

Am sure wondering how well this is going to work and how many times it will crash with millions of people trying to access it. I have the highest hopes that it works well. Something has to. I am wondering if I have to remake letterheads, business cards and labels and remove the RTRP from after my name. What a pitiful scenario that has turned out to be, although I doubt that it is over yet.

Don't look back. What you charged seems pretty low to me. I don't know how long it took you,but I'll bet the time involved would have been more than your hourly rate, expecially at this time of year. My rates here in rural Alabama are low, but it probably would have been more than the $370 you charged. I try to base my fees at $100 per hour for ACTUAL work done.

Taxed, Doug did not admit that he did a poor job on the software, he admitted he did a poor job on the proforma part of it and you jumped right on it. Have you never done a poor job on a particular part of your job? I have. If you aren't happy with the software, you have the option to move on. Why do you feel that you need to keep bashing it over and over and over? Yes, there are problems with the software but I have confidence that it will be fixed. If it isn't, then I will have to do something else. Look at the problems ATX is having. My understanding is that the other companies are having problems too. Enough is enough.

My practice is somewhat small and I do not have the pressure of getting any returns out yet. At first I was leery of the new program, but from my observation Doug and his staff are working hard to get the problems resolved. From my perspective I just want to say "Thanks" for all your efforts. I am looking forward to the tax season.

I probably would round it up to $500, using a set-up fee as the plug. (I'm in Fairfield County, CT, and don't do anything for less than $500.) And, I'd include an advance for January or even 1Q13 in my bill.

I'm sorry, this is so serious, but I love that last line. I died. Twice.

I agree with all of the above. When you make a mess, you have to pay to clean it up.

I wasn't clear. I know what I charged her. $300 for the W-2's, $10 for the W-3. Plus $60 for the reports. I think that was merciful. I was asking what YOU charged for comparison purposes. If she flips out, I can say, "Well, my virtual office buddies would charge you $XXX." Now, if $XXX turns out to be less than I charged, I'm outta luck. (And that XXX just looks wrong, doesn't it?)

+ cost of forms and postage and e-file fees and aspirin...

http://www.today.com/moms/waiter-hailed-hero-after-standing-boy-down-syndrome-1B8038223

Shut up! Who invited Lloyd to this "poor me" session?

It's pretty darn cold here, even colder in Ohio, maybe you could just go outside for a few minutes? LOL

So all you preparers ready to jump ship... Are you ready to deal with the conversion errors and the learning curve of a new program? Tell me how I justify that for the firm I work for with 8 preparers and 2,900+ returns? How do I justify that for my private practice with 160 clients and 200 returns? It is middle of January... I'm not willing to enter all returns totally into a new program. Getting conversions takes at least 14 days or so. Just my thinking.....