How much do you pay your accountant?

[M@rketing1]

Saskfarmer99 you make a good point.

You're the expert in operating your farm. It makes sense to spend your time doing that and hire someone with the knowledge and years of experience to manage your taxes.

[Small_biz_jim]

We used FBC, we were told by a sales person that they had a computer system that would match Government programs to our business needs. That was part of the cost. Also at one time we had 2 corporations, I kept saying that I thought the amount was 2 high, I was told, 1 it was because of our amount of cash flow, 2 because it was 2 corps.

When one of the Corps was closed I expected savings, these savings did not appear, then I was told it was our cash flow, well that dropped off, but our bill stayed high.

Finally I had had enough, the nerve of them to ask for payment a year in advance. I could understand that if there were a savings, lets face it that would be good business, to know you have the customer the next year and not have to go looking for new business.

However they wanted $3000 in advance. I finally had enough, told them I was willing to pay $1800 no more, my accountant texted back and forth with his boss and stated that that was not enough.

I was also worried about making any changes, thats why I offered more then I thought was fair ($1500).

Our books are all done by my partner and a general book keeper. Its all in simply accounting. The length of time he spent doing our corporate return was 3 hours, if that. 3 HOURS? for $3000.00

Imagine that. Looks like this may be where the money is.

In 10 years they never once matched us up with 1 program.

We have just meet with a new accountant, her fee will be $1250, right away she saw several areas that we can leverage to keep our taxes down, lets face the government doesn't need any more money to throw away, from us anyways.

We were always left till the last minute. Almost always had to pay interest. In the end all I can say is call around, most people are honest, accountants know how important a dollar is. Getting 3 or 4 quotes will tell you who is taking you for a ride and who isn't.

Thank you for taking the time and working so hard the feed all of us.

I should mention also, our business is not in farming, or even related, however we share many other common requirements.

Best of luck in our search for a new accountant, you will be glad you did.

James in Ontario