Quote Originally Posted by MonkeyPrincess View Post
Holy cow. i just went back and checked what i paid. In 2013, i paid 135.60 and in 2014 i paid 587.60. i am wondering how the hell.....
I think there is generally a flat fee for small business' initially and then beyond that accountants charge by the hour. Last time I filed it cost me close to $1000. That was filing with my spouse and for TWO years. His fee was close to a hundred per year and then I think mine was about $150 per year plus per hour. So probably another $200 per year for hourly rate beyond the normal expectations. My accounts were in a mess, so there were a couple of appointments face to face and many follow up phone calls and emails back and forth before I had everything together.

I'm thinking when I file next month for THREE years, as I know the template now and everything I need to do to make it a straight forward claim that it should be about $900-$1100 for the 3 years filing as a spouse.

With respect 5LM, not a big fan of stereotyping but I have not heard anything good about H&R Block from providers in my province. This isn't aimed at you or your accountant, but is something I've spoken with other providers about previously and their seems to be a pattern at least in my area. Most didn't even find out they were paying to much in taxes per year until they had a comparable. They missed out on lots. Filing as a home daycare is unique in many ways that if an accountant is not experienced in this field will likely not carry it out accurately or in a manner that follows the very specific details that do not apply to majority of other home based business'. The first year I filed with H&R and paid the most taxes I have in my entire 9 years even though I wasn't maxed out like other years. I went with another accountant who did workshop presentations for home daycare providers and had a heavy clientele as a result. In hindsight I now think it was nothing but a sales pitch. I paid them about $250 per year including my husbands taxes and all seemed fine. When they closed down I got a recommendation from a provider on here who warned me that this accountant wasn't the cheapest but was accurate. It was upon filing with them that I learnt the errors of my previous accountant. These were all explained to me and backed up with proof and they even sent the CRA documentation for previous years which resulted in a refund due to the errors. This was likely where some of my additional charges came from as they spent time looking through my prior returns. Very thorough indeed!

My advice to anyone is do not choose your accountant based on their fee. Saving yourself a few bucks upfront could cost you hundreds in the end, potentially more over the long run. Do your research and ask questions. Just because someone has been doing their job for years does not guarantee that they are good at it. In my husbands industry many newly qualified licensed employees know nothing coming out of school even though they are licensed and their teacher is licensed to teach. Doesn't always guarantee quality and competence.