cientax Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 What do you charge for prep and filing of W2/1099s? Just wondering if I'm in the same ballpark as all others. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 Glad you asked, and I hope others answer. If I do the quarterly reports, I charge $5 each for the W-2, $10 for the W-3. Generally, $5 per 1099 and $10 for the 1096. If I don't do any other bookkeeping, I charge a minimum of $25. I use Peachtree, and I still mail the government copies. I am in TN. I find that W-2, 1099 prep is my least profitable endeavor. Well, aside from trying to educate irresponsible clients, which is, of course, the biggest drain on my energy, I think. A little of that goes a long way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail in Virginia Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 We usually charge a minimum fee of $25, for up to 5 employees or contractors. Everyone over 5 is charged at $1.50 each. If we do payrolls we will do the 941 and Virginia Unemployment filing for $40, but if we don't do the payroll the quarterly reports are $75. The 940 is an additional $25. Other charges may apply if the data is not in good, usable format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I charge $15 per 1099. For W-2s I charge an hourly fee and it varies significantly. Did I do the 941s so I know they're in order? Or did the client do them (one set, last year, cost the client a couple hundred bucks for me to amend four quarters before I could touch the W-2s)? There is a minimum fee of $30 or so as it takes a half hour to set up the printer, collate everything, stuff envelopes, go through the Accu-Wage rigamarole, put it all back at the end, et cetera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 So, here's a current situation I have, how would y'all charge? Restaurant fires bookkeeper in December, brings info for me to do 60 W-2's. I get EE names and addresses off one set of documents, SSN's and quarterly wage totals off another. No particular order for anything. Fired bookkeepers' 4th qtr reports are all incorrect, but haven't been mailed. So, I am starting at ground zero, entering quarterly totals, and preparing 60 W-2's and 4th qtr 941, State Unemployment, and annual 940. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcjenkins Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Your hourly rate? Plus a one time 'set-up fee'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 + cost of forms and postage and e-file fees and aspirin... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 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!!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 So, here's a current situation I have, how would y'all charge? Restaurant fires bookkeeper in December, brings info for me to do 60 W-2's. I get EE names and addresses off one set of documents, SSN's and quarterly wage totals off another. No particular order for anything. Fired bookkeepers' 4th qtr reports are all incorrect, but haven't been mailed. So, I am starting at ground zero, entering quarterly totals, and preparing 60 W-2's and 4th qtr 941, State Unemployment, and annual 940. 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?) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail in Virginia Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I agree with all of the above. When you make a mess, you have to pay to clean it up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I agree with all of the above. When you make a mess, you have to pay to clean it up. I gotta say, your $1.50 per W-2 almost made me cry. I felt like a total thief for about five seconds, then I remembered ordering perforated forms, envelopes, ink, band-aids for the paper cuts, etc. LOL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 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?) My dilemma, and you know I have one, is that I want her business, but I don't want a PITA. There is a balance there somewhere, and I want to hit it. I am the sole provider for myself and two college students. The business owner is the original El Cheapo. The bookkeeper she just fired wasn't charging much at all. She wasn't doing a good job, but El Cheapos just look at the fee, not the quality of work. "You don't need her," you say. Well, I kinda DO need her until things pick up and people start opening businesses again. I've lost some people due to retirement and business closings. Tennessee Tech does not care about that. Sorry to hijack your thread, cientax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneInAlabama Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cientax Posted January 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I usually charge $5 - $7 for 1099/W2 for those over 25 forms unless they don't bring their check book or cash, then I charge $10 each for all forms. If 25 or less forms, I charge $10 each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 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". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 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". She'll pay. She is just used to paying next to nothing, and that's what she was getting, too. And, some clients really don't know the difference. I don't love my hourly rate on this first job for her, but I can see doing fine once I get her books under control. I don't know but what she would find another bad but cheap bookkeeper if I charged what I really felt like. So, I'm ok with it. Her husband picked up the W-2's today and said, "We are so happy. Last year the accountant got them done in March." (Handwritten). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILLMAS Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Sometimes clients don't understand that their problems, becomes our problems and they need to fixed inorder to prepare acurate returns and there is a cost to that too Everyone here has probably had a client say, I bougth quickbooks, set it up myself and did my own accounting, it was pretty easy, well entering most of the revenue and expense to uncategorized is not accounting. I have learned my lesson from past experience and now I tell them it's going to take a approx. # hours to clean up the file and my fee is going to be between this and that, do you want for me to proceed. Now there is no confusion when I give them a bill for cleaning the file and for preparing the returns. MAS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 I have one of those, but since I don't (won't) use Quickbooks and he is a Dentist and not too savvy with the bookkeeping; I tell him to print me out a cash flow report and a balance sheet and we take it from there. This is not his dental practice, but a Partnership he has on the side with two brothers. Since I work for him part-time in Reception, I declined to do his personal return. Somehow over the course of a few years we have gotten it pretty nicely ironed out. He already anticipates what I am going to ask for and has it at hand. He has his categories pretty well figured out, but I charge them accordingly. All they have to do in the end is take their K-1s to their personal accountants. It can work and I'll bet that Rita just got herself a new long term client. You can't miss something that you never had so they are already finding out how it is to have things done the right way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfassett Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 I think some of the discussion needs to be qualified. Where I work and play, doing quarterly payroll reports mean a 941, state w/h report, local w/h report, unemployment report and 940 calculation. We do the Eftps and state withholding filings mostly in house because I don't trust my clients to do them right and I have learned it is cheaper to do it ourselves than fix their mistakes. The local return requires a complete listing of every employee complete with address, gross pay and withholding and should the employee move during the quarter, that requires a double entry and an allocation. Oh yeah, and then there is the Local Services Tax (different from the local withholding). I know some of you have more complex filings, but not many. But just for W-2s and 1099's as an add on to our monthly write up clients? $10 each. The rest are by the hour. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfassett Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 As far as being paid, new clients pay before the reports leave our office. Once I am comfortable that I won't be abused, we bill them at the of the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 RIta, if your new client complains, don't put too much of the blame on cleaning up the last bookkeeper's work and setting her up as a payroll client or she'll expect MUCH cheaper bills from now on since she's no longer new but a continuing client that you've already "fixed" all her bookkeeping problems from before. If she's an El Cheapo, then give her some prices to expect going forward so she doesn't get too low of a number in her head. Be clear that you didn't charge any new client set-up fees or other start-up charges (as your once in a lifetime favor to her!) and that her continuing fees will NOT be lower. I will often list things on an invoice with $ amounts, maybe set-up fee and 4Q corrections and on and on, and then list a discount to get her back down to your $360 total, so it's on paper that they already got a discount so don't you dare ask for any more.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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