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Just went into practice for myself and the hardest thing I'm finding is pricing my services. Seems like either the "other guy" can always do it cheaper or I've taken on a nightmare client for very little pay. Any general consensus on what other CPAs are charging for tax returns or write-up services (or even an hourly rate)? 

Welcome to life as a practitioner!!!!  You will probably not find anyone willing to share their fee structure in a public forum.  Further, the CPA's lament is that someone can always do it cheaper if that is all the client is interested in.  I actually know someone who does routine 1040's for $50 a pop.  Your best bet is to make personal friends in the business and, at the risk of being accused of price fixing, get an overall feel.  You will then have to adjust your pricing as you go forward.  You can also try dividing what you would like to make by say 1500 hours and multiplying the result by 2.  Use that as your introductory hourly rate.

 

Good luck.

 

I agree with your assessment because I did not focus on how a price was derived.  With taxes, there are two schools of thought one is to charge per the hour.  The difficulty with this is you may find tht you are underpricing your servies for completing returns that are complex but tha t we complete in a standard number of hours.  When condisios merit an appropriate price increase, many of our existing clients may feel that they are being gouged relative to the percentage increase requjired to sustain our livelihood and the effect maybe lost client or lost relationship.  

Antoher pricing scheme is to charge baqsed on the complexitty of the schedules that you are preparing.  For exmple a base price of lets say $140 for a simple 1040EZ with additions as more forms are required.  

As an aside, many first time companies want to charge bargain basement prices applying a deep discount for our service.  We need to provide enough of a buffer to be able to sustain our for profit purpose.   

We have a webinar coming up that will address these issues. See below. 

 

PICPA is hosting a Pricing Your Tax Services webinar on Feb. 28 at 10:00 a.m.

with Dawn M. Greenberg, CPA. To register, visit http://www.picpa.com/public/Catalog/CourseDetails.aspx?CourseID=08680800

or call (215) 972-5430 and request Course No. 680800

 

In just one hour, you'll learn the five factors to consider when

pricing professional services, as well as communication skills

necessary for successful billing and collections. You’ll also discuss

ways to identify your target client base and sell the appropriate

level of service.