smtcpa wrote:
6 HOURS? Wow. What is the process that takes so long? That can't be for a single shareholder, is it?
That's average per shareholder in my experience, especially given most clients I have worked with on it are not interested in it and become very lazy, which can be counterproductive to an accurate report. If you use RCReports and depending on how involved the client chooses to be, it can require a lot of time. There are a lot of questions, job functions, etc., to review, really think about in terms of ACTUAL functions, assigning hours to each function, etc.
If a client asks me what they should pay themselves, I will not give out a figure without a formal study. If they tell me a figure and it seems reasonable in my head, all I say is "OK, just make sure you have support if challenged by IRS."
A solo CPA does a lot of admin work, so reasonable comp is going to be lower than one that is a partner and overseeing an entire office or division for a region. Or a medical doctor that has a tremendous amount of paperwork to complete relative to their active shifts. But then if that MD hires out their accounting and tax matters to a CPA, for example, then it is going to increase the reasonable comp because less time is spent on admin functions.