Moreover, an expert advisory board of experienced professionals and educators reviews and verifies Forbes Advisor Education content to ensure accuracy and completeness. Our team sources accounting and bookkeeping for small business data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. We also pull information from reputable professional organizations and education providers’ direct websites.

This exact number of hours varies from state to state and is set by each state’s accounting board. Because your accountant will be dealing with your most personal financial information, it’s best to find someone who is referred to you by a friend or business colleague. The next best option is to reach out to the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware state CPA Societies, which are professional organizations that can recommend their members. Figuring out the right price or the right way to package your services isn’t easy. But breaking it down and building your pricing model by considering all the relevant factors will give you a reasonable solution to test.

Factors To Consider When Setting an Accountant’s Rates

In some cases, payroll software for accountants allows your accountant to offer payroll processing for you at very little additional cost. If you need returns done for multiple years, that may also increase the cost of working with your CPA. It’s pretty common for business owners to be behind on a few years of tax returns — especially if they’ve never worked with a CPA before. It costs more to have multiple years of returns done, but it’s worth it in many cases to avoid potential audits and penalties.

To keep your education expenses low, make sure to seek scholarships and grants when applying. Prioritize public, in-state colleges and universities, which tend to charge lower tuition rates than private and out-of-state https://www.bookstime.com/ schools. Bachelor’s degree-holders can pursue entry-level accounting roles, but if you plan to pursue graduate studies to meet CPA requirements, make sure to research schools with strong master’s programs.