Pickett Chaney & McMullen, LLP

Quantum Singularity

Feb 23, 2023on

This firm is good for those who are just getting started on the path of self-employment to take tax preparation mostly off your mind. However, they are pricey as a bookkeeping service at $1100+/yr if you're lucky enough to have been referred to them through a contract that probably gives a discount and allows you to make $20+ weekly payments towards that balance. This firm does make you do most of the bookkeeping yourself, despite being a bookkeeping service, their contributions are mostly done at the end of the fiscal year, and they are not very patient if you come to them with too many tax related / business consulting questions. It's understandable someone is being paid for their time to do a minimum and if you happen to need professional advice above and beyond the minimum, as they advertise supposedly providing, they don't get paid for that so naturally they have limits which is understandably human nature. Don't be mistaken just because you're paying a high fee that the quality of service will be as high, because you will be having to complete monthly paperwork for this firm to even benefit you when filing your taxes without knowledge of the subject, and on top of managing your own business. A major inconvenience is if you are too "needy" of their services, they may spontaneously terminate their service with you without notice, as they did in my case after having worked with this firm for 2+ years. I was beginning to have my patience wear thin and then to see their actual fees in full listed that I'd been paying with weekly payments for a service that's mediocre at best, it was for the better they perhaps decided I was giving them too much work beyond their pay grade, but then if you're making $1100+ per client and you've potentially got a hundreds if not thousands of contracts, I don't see where you're underpaid to provide decent customer service for Official Scottish Royalty let alone regular people. Aside from the high rates as opposed to H&R Block's more down-to-Earth rates, and the expectation this firm has of you to complete their monthly paperwork yourself - no you cannot email them receipts, you must do the monthly expenses paperwork separately and above and beyond bookkeeping your own work-related expense receipts even though you're paying them $1100+ annually to do their paperwork every month on top of running your own business - along with the inconsistent consulting practices, you are better off to just take all your manual paperwork this firm pins on you and go to H&R block for hundreds of dollars less, or even check out TurboTax. I can also attest from a few friends from the area that this firm is not very good at accommodating disabilities and providing concise and thorough communication for Autism Spectrum, Deafness, and Learning Disabilities. In addition, you may face grief from the accountant if you are making legitimate donations to your church, synagogue, mosque, or temple, which can ultimately affect the longevity of their willingness to continue service with you, which seems somewhat discriminatory, but that's the world today. If your taxes are simple, if you're fit with not asking too many questions, and you don't donate to charity ever, then this is the long-term firm for you. Otherwise, the old H&R block is way better. 😎👉