Thank you for considering Crabtree & Associates to service your accounting & tax needs.
We always welcome new clients to our practice, and wish to explain fully the nature of our services & fees. Our goal is to provide only those services that are needed. We work with our clients to enable them to do as much of the bookkeeping and accounting that they wish to do to keep their fees at the lowest possible amount.
Our services are explained in greater detail in our engagements letters; however, generally, our fees for services provided are done in either of two methods: retainer, including fixed and non-fixed fees, or time and expense.
Retainer Billing – Estimated amounts are charged monthly and due monthly and are either a fixed fee or non- fixed fee (see below for descriptions). All retainer billings are at discounted hourly rates of approximately 25% due to firm efficiencies created by allowing the firm to schedule staff at standard rates and not overtime rates. All retainer billings are due monthly irrespective of when work is submitted or completed.
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Fixed Fee Retainer Billing is offered only to clients using Creative Solutions products, which is a true double-entry system. Working together with Creative Solutions software we both gain a more complete and accurate picture of your business –so you can run it more effectively.
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Non-Fixed Fee Retainer Billing pertains to any other engagement not using Creative Solutions products, including QuickBooks. Any time and expense incurred exceeding the monthly retainer is billed in addition to your monthly retainer. If the time and expense is less than the monthly retainer, it is rolled forward and used to offset future excess time and expense.
Time and Expense –Clients are billed monthly for time and expense incurred at the firm’s established hourly rates. All clients who opt for the time and expense billing method are required to pre-pay a retainer amount before work can be started.
For new clients, the retainer amounts are generally as follows:
1040s - $200/ year
Entity Tax Returns - $500/ year
Accounting Write-up and other projects - $1,000.00
For existing clients, retainer amounts required are based on the estimated time and expense to complete the work required and are generally based upon the prior year’s engagements and related fees.
It’s been our experience that those clients opting the time and expense method, generally, pay a higher fee and lose the many benefits listed below.
We strongly encourage our clients to opt for Retainer Billing for the following reasons:
- More cost effective as retainer billing rates are at discounted hourly rates of approximately 25%
- Provides for proper cash flow management
- Allows for year-end tax planning
- Maintenance of current data enables quicker and more reliable response to client questions and information needed for third parties
- Distributes the work load throughout the year which provides for
- Increased reliability of accounting data
- Timely financial reporting
- Proper budgeting, and
- The ability to analyze financial activity and enhance recommendations to management.
National Average of
Estimated Average Preparation Times and Out-Of-Pocket Expenses by Return Preparation Method
according to IRS Figures.**
Taxpayer & Form Combinations for Form 1040 Filers |
Hours |
Costs |
| Non-business Filers* |
10.9 |
$172 |
| Form 1040 and other forms and schedules, but not Schedule A or D |
7.6 |
$121 |
| Form 1040, Schedule A, and other forms and schedules, but not Schedule D |
12.1 |
$174 |
| Form 1040, Schedule D, and other forms and schedules, but not Schedule A |
12.8 |
$215 |
| Form 1040, Schedules A and D, and other forms and schedules |
18.0 |
$313 |
| Business Filers* |
47.9 |
$542 |
| Form 1040, Schedule C or C-EZ, and other forms and schedules, but not Schedules E or F or Form 2106 or 2106-EZ |
55.4 |
$329 |
| Form 1040, Schedule E, and other forms and schedules, but not Schedule C, C-EZ, or F or Form 2106 or 2106-EZ |
36.6 |
$685 |
| Form 1040 and Schedule F and other forms and schedules, but not Schedule C, C-EZ, or E or Form 2106 or 2106-EZ |
49.7 |
$296 |
| Form 1040, Form 2106 or 2106-EZ, and other forms and schedules, but not Schedule C, C-EZ, E, or F |
27.7 |
$349 |
| Form 1040 and forms and schedules including more than one Schedule C, C-EZ, E, or F or Form 2106 or 2106-EZ |
62.4 |
$866 |
*You are a “business” filer if you file one or more of the following with your Form 1040: Schedule C, C-EZ, E, or F or Form 2106 or 2106 or 2106-EZ. You are a “nonbusiness” filer if you did not file any of those schedules or forms with your Form 1040.
**These figures are a national average, based on figures provided by the IRS. Crabtree CPA & Associate figures are lower than the national average in many cases.
