| Types
of Services Provided |
|  What
types of tax returns do you prepare?
 We
prepare tax returns for all types of entities including individuals, partnerships,
limited liability companies, estates, trusts, corporations (including S corporations),
and exempt and nonprofit organizations.
We prepare income
tax returns, sales tax returns, payroll tax returns, and other special tax forms.
We
prepare federal tax returns and returns for all the states. We generally do not
prepare tax returns for other countries.
[top] |
|
Who
will work on my tax return or financial statements?
Our
staff consists primarily of certified public accountants, and all of our professional
staff have college degrees and multiple years of experience. Please see
About JM&A for a list of our individual qualifications.
We also are fortunate to have long-standing relationships with two California
certified tax preparers. These two individuals provide assistance during tax
season or when we have a special project best suited to their skills.
All tax returns and other work are
reviewed by one of our most experienced accounting professionals.
[top] |
|
Can
you help me with QuickBooks?
Most
of our small business clients use QuickBooks, and we can help with setup and
accounting on a QuickBooks system and
have a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor on staff. We also can refer you to an
independent bookkeeper who can come to your business and provide monthly or
quarterly bookkeeping services.
[top] |
Will
you give me some advice on stocks and investments?
Our professionals
are not licensed for investment advice. Maintaining expertise in the
stock market to render investment advice is a full-time job. We can assist
with investments in the following ways:
 Provide
several referrals for investment professionals, so you can find one that
is a good fit for your needs.
Review
investment options to provide you with the tax consequences of each investment.
Read
partnership, LLC, or other offering documents and discuss economic and
tax ramifications of each one.
Assist
in all related tax and estate planning based on your portfolio.
Answer
questions about types of investments
[top] |
|
Do
you provide notary services?
We offer notary services to our existing clients for an additional fee. Dee Dee Bridgens is our registered notary.
[top] |
| Charges
& Hourly Rates |
| How
do you charge for your services? Although
we provide our clients with tax returns, tax projections, financial statements,
or other documents, our real product is the quality of education, knowledge, and
client service that make those documents possible.
Like
most accountants, we base our fees on the time required to complete each project
and the hourly rates assigned to the people involved in the process. Unlike
many accountants, we have various billing rates for each employee, depending
on the services provided. That results in lower charges for our clients when
a CPA works on bookkeeping or does other tasks not requiring professional
level education or experience.
[top] |
|
What
are your hourly rates?
Our employee hourly rates, as of August 1, 2010, range
from $95 - $235. The highest rates generally apply to complex matters such
as tax-deferred exchanges or corporate and other entity tax preparation, such
as estate tax returns. The lowest rates are used for bookkeeping matters or
other projects not requiring our high level of experience and expertise. Please
click click here to
learn more about us.
[top] |
| Do
you have a minimum charge for a tax return?
Our
minimum fee for a tax return is $300.
[top] |
|
Do
you charge for postage, copies or other costs? We
do not bill separately for postage, but charges may be assessed for unusual
messenger services or special mailing (i.e. Federal Express) charges.
We
do include an administrative charge in our invoices for each tax return, to
cover our costs for computer processing, assembly, and other costs. The current
administrative charge is between $75 and $125, depending on the
type of return and assembly requirements.
Multiple
state returns and returns with estimated tax payment forms require additional
assembly procedures, as well as additional time for preparation of the forms.
We
do not charge separately for electronically filing your tax returns. It is
part of the administrative charge noted above.
[top] |
|
Do
you charge for telephone and email questions?
While
we generally do not charge for brief (approximately 5 minutes) phone calls or
email replies, we do charge if additional time is required. Since many busy
clients prefer to consult with us via email and telephone we find that more
and more of our time is spent answering telephone and email questions. We
recognize that coming to the office is time consuming and are happy to accommodate
our clients who use these alternate forms of contact. It does not eliminate
our charges for those consultations, unless the discussions or email replies
are short and infrequent.
[top] |
| Administration
& Billing |
|
Do
I need to meet with you to get my tax return done?
A
tax interview is optional. Since it adds to the cost of tax preparation, many
of our clients simply mail or drop off their tax organizer package. We will
call with any questions. When we mail our tax organizer package, we always
include a sheet for your questions so that you have a chance to ask us anything
you might otherwise ask in a conference.
If you do want to meet
with us, please call in advance since our calendars fill up quickly in March
and April. One of our experienced professionals will be happy to meet with
you and answer your questions. Click here to learn
more about contacting us.
[top] |
| What
is the privacy policy of your office? As
your CPAs, we collect information provided by you from your tax organizer,
worksheets, documents and discussions. We also collect information that we
develop as part of our work.
As your CPAs, we are required to keep all information
about our engagement confidential and we will not disclose any information
about you unless we have your approval or are required/permitted by law.
This applies even if you are no longer a client.
As your CPAs, we are committed
to safekeeping of your confidential information and we maintain physical,
electronic and procedural safeguards to protect your information.
[top] |
|
How
do you handle e-mail, faxes, and telephone calls?
The
use of phone, fax, and e-mails has increased each year. Like many of our clients,
we think these methods of communication result in increased efficiency. They
are important to us because they let us improve client service.
However,
phone calls, faxes, and e-mails take time. Whether we respond to questions
asked in the conference room, on the phone, or via e-mail, we need the same
level of knowledge and expertise. Often the issues addressed in calls, faxes,
or e-mail require tax research or a review of the client’s files so that
we can provide an appropriate response. We often follow-up with correspondence
or sending information.
Accordingly,
we may charge for responses to phone calls, faxes and e-mails, based on the
time required.
Click here to learn more about
contacting us.
[top] |
How
do you handle copying and storage?
We are
often asked to provide copies of prior years’ tax returns or other
documents. Sometimes we incur storage retrieval charges if the related
files are in storage. We may request reimbursement for our costs.
[top] |
|
How
long do you keep my records?
We retain paper
or computer/electronic copies of our clients’ tax returns and financial
statements for seven years from the due date of the tax return.
Copies of bookkeeping or payroll records are retained for five years. Destruction
of bookkeeping files or files from former clients may occur after five years.
[top] |
|
How
do you handle invoices, payments, and collection?
Invoices
are submitted monthly and are due and payable upon receipt.
We
accept Visa and MasterCard. Credit card authorization forms are enclosed with
each invoice so that we can charge your account.
We
are always available to discuss invoices and will accommodate payment arrangements
upon request. Whenever appropriate, we use the services of an outside collection
service.
Please contact Dee Dee Bridgens with questions regarding invoices. She can answer most billing
inquiries and will refer any other questions to the appropriate billing
partner.
[top] |
| Office
Hours & Location |
| What
are your office hours?
Our
regular office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. During
tax season, we are at the office for many more hours and can accommodate late
meetings and Saturday interviews if they are arranged in advance.
[top] |
|
Where
is your office located? Our
offices are conveniently located in San Diego’s Mission Valley area. Our
contact information and a clickable picture of our building appear on the right
hand side of this page, our home
page, and several other pages on this web site. The building
picture includes a link to a Mapquest® map along with driving directions
to our offices.
You’ll also find contact
information at the bottom of every page on this web site. For more details, please
visit our contact page.
[top] |
| Tax
Records & Information Gathering |
| How
long should I keep my tax records?
Please
refer to the record retention guidelines offered under Taxes
» Other tax information on the menu bar.
[top] |
|
When
do I have to provide my information if I don’t want to go on extension? We
make every effort to complete the returns we receive throughout the filing season.
However, we do prepare all returns on a first come first serve basis and we can
not predict the number or complexity of returns that may arrive before yours.
For that reason any returns received after March 15 may need to go on extension.
Even if your information is not complete we encourage you to send it in early
so you do not have to wait for us to start on it.
Many clients plan vacations
around spring break for schools. Those taxpayers should be sure they bring their
information into the office at least 3 weeks before they plan to leave town.
Be sure and let us know if you have deadlines other than April 15.
[top] |
