[xgyrl]

For a personal versus a business return?

[ILCPA2014]

It really depends. For 1040 clients, I normally finish an easy one in 15 mins if all they have is W2's and 1099's. And there are some 1040 clients that would take me a while if they have Sch C, F, E along with K-1s. For 1120 or 1120S, 1065, or 1041 clients, it also depends on what kind of information they will provide. Like financial statements, details on purchased equipment, etc. and they are some clients that i still have to convert cash to accrual or vice versa.

AUD Passed 78 (4x) Thank you Lord.
REG Passed 81 (2x) Thank you St Joseph of Cupertino
FAR Passed 77 (3x) Thank you St Joseph of Cupertino. Thank you Lord.
BEC TBD
My CPA journey started in 2013 and it will be finished in April 2016. That's for sure!!
Ethics 91

[elprezidente07]

Personal – 15 minutes if PY client with nothing to it.
Business – generally 2 hours for year-end bookkeeping and adjustments and then prep the return.
However, I'm on day 2 of a 7 state corporation. Looking at day 3 tomorrow. Lots of adjustments to be made.

AUD // F x2 P 92- (Test server crashed! It really does happen!)
REG // F, F, F, P - 75 Aug 2014
BEC // P - 80
FAR // F, F...now its time for my greatest trick yet.
Ethics // Very.

75 to stay alive

[CPA2BEE]

I work at a pretty small firm and most of our clients are S-Corps, LLCs/Partnerships, small C-Corps, and high net worth individuals. I can finish an easy individual return in 15 mins and easy business return in 45-60 mins, but can also sometimes spent up to 6-8 hours depending on how organized the client is and also the complexity of the return. My time spent on a return is more in the hands of the client than it is me.

FAR - 80
AUD - 82
BEC - 80
REG - 85

ETHICS - 90
EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

[the LAST Coffee]

Interesting responses here. Easy 1040s for me are ones that take 30-45 minutes. However, these are high net worth clients and we normally don't get clients with only W2s + 1099s because our billing rate is too high for them (why not just go to H&R Block…?.

On average a 1040 may take 2-4 hours to complete and a simple 1120S or a small 1120 or small 1065 could take 4-6 hours. Have done a engineering firm (1120S) that took 3 days to do.

FAR 84 (AUG '15)
BEC 83 (AUG '15)
AUD 79 (OCT '15)
REG 71, 78! (NOV '15, FEB '16)

[Anonymous]

R u guys working at cpa firms or h&r block? Most of our corp returns r full day jobs minimum and go up from there. We would never take on an individual client with only w 2s. Let those go to turbo tax. Many of our individuals are 8 to 16 hour returns. I work at a firm of about 20. Sounds like some of ur offices need to be more selective. Why would u take on that kind of liability that being a cpa firm creates for tax returns that cost 200$ also those r also always the clients who sick up your time. That's a real loser of a business model.

[Anonymous]

Why would u take on that kind of liability that being a cpa firm creates for tax returns that cost 200$ also those r also always the clients who sick up your time. That's a real loser of a business model.

It maybe a “loser of a business model” but it's the business model that a lot of us are using. Every client is worth our time, respect and the benefit of our education and skills.

I have been doing about 15 returns a week and I rarely charge more than $150. It takes me about 20 minutes for each return.

[Anonymous]

This is an impossible to answer question. There are so many variables.

[northernlights]

@ C9p9a9

alot of our “easy” individual clients are the owners or shareholders of the businesses that we do the 1120S and 1065's for. They don't take long, just throw the K-1s into the tax software, and then add a few w-2's and investment statements. The individual return might not take long, and might not make us much money, but its a natural extension of our relationship with those business clients.

FAR: 55, 52, 66
REG: 84*
AUD: 54, 70, 73, 72, 79!!!
BEC: 75*

*expired

[Skynet]

6 Hours

Step 1. Tell client to go to H&R Block
Step 2. Client return with Effed Up Return
Step 3. Amend return for client. Cha-Ching: Billable hours ; )

[Anonymous]

@Skynet haha awesome business model. i have seen that happen multiple times btw

[Vanessachy]

It really depends. I work in a local accounting firm and this is my second year.
If the client's book is not clean, need a lot of adjustments, I need probably a day to clean up the book and 2-3 hours to do the tax return. Since I don't have too much work experience, I normally like to spend 1-2 hours to review my work before I give them to the partners or managers to review.
For 1040, easy one, takes me 30 mins-1 hour, harder ones with schedule C, E, multiple investment statements and K-1s, takes me at least 4 hours, and I like to make work sheet to reconcile my work, so I can make sure that I don't stupid mistakes

Far 10/26/2015, 64, 1/4/2016, 82
Reg 7/10/2015, 60, 2/27/2016, 86
Aud, 5/9/2016, 74 (ouch), 7/26/2016, I cannot wait to take this test again
Bec, 6/10/2016, 70,9/8 retake

[EuroAddict]

Doing a doctors office right now. I am in the middle of doing the yearly write-up (enter every single bank and CC transaction into QB then do the return). They do about 200 transactions a month via bank. So, yeah. A long time. lol

-----------------------------
BEC - 77, 03/2015 (first try)
FAR - 79, 05/2015 (second try)
REG - 83, 12/2015 (first try)
AUD - 84, 03/2015 (first try)

I got 99 problems but the CPA ain't one.

[Anonymous]

What is the penalty for not including a few grand as income on a 1040? It constitutes less than 25% of gross income. Would it be the 20% of the underpayment or $5000 for frivolous tax position? And the statute of limitation applies for 3 years correct?

DISCLAIMER: this is not my situation and I'm aware not to hold anyone responding to this accountable

[Chris]

It is really subjective. Most of us can relate to the quick returns, but like @EuroAddict, I do a lot a write-ups and that alone can take a few days. The actually return after that is minimal, but I've been through every transaction so there's nothing left to ask at that point.

NH CPA
REG: 07/03/2014 - 88
AUD: 08/30/2014 - 73 - Retake 10/16/14 - 86
BEC: 05/31/2015 - 77
FAR: 08/08/2015 - 64 - Retake 11/23/15 - 77

Becker*NINJA Notes/MCQ*

Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem
Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams ~ Kanye West

[confusedcandidate]

C9p9a9: I don't entirely disagree with your sentiment, but that was a bit rude and could have been worded more respectfully…That being said, my firm has a number of clients that we bill less than $500 to, and I don't understand why either of us are in this business relationship. It's beans for us, and way too much $ for them. I feel like the value of our skills and knowledge doesn't really kick in until a certain point, which those tiny returns don't meet.

Re: the original question about time. It completely depends. I've done individual returns that take 25 billable hours, and corporate returns that take 2. Right now I'm working on a 1065 that I've hit with about 60 hours, and I'm expecting another 20 or so. It's impossible to say.

Weekends are meaningless to a CPA candidate

[Author]

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