Santa Cruz, CA
March 19, 2024
Heather was my accountant for four tax seasons for both business and personal taxes. A pattern of mistakes became evident as time uncovered massive professional negligence, and her mistakes cost me thousands of dollars and untold hours of my life trying to remedy them. It was one horrible surprise after another. She takes no responsibility when she messes up because she thinks she is perfect but her many mistakes prove otherwise. Expect to pay high rates for sub par service.
You will have to review everything she does with a fine-tooth comb, do your own research to get the deductions you're eligible for (that she doesn't know about), and follow up with the IRS yourself to make sure they got what she says she filed. She does not follow the standards of best practice for her profession to diligently discharge responsibility, and sloppily drops the ball when it is in her court and her job to handle it.
Here is a list of the mistakes she made in just four years:
1. First mistake: Didn't voice any concern to alert me to the $250/month/member penalty for late filing my first ever multi-member LLC return. Penalty: $5,000. Result: Abated. I forgave her this mistake because she technically did sneak it in the engagement letter, but the fact she never mentioned it verbally to me or in an email when we were working together on the taxes over the following months is a huge oversight on her part. In my very first year filing taxes for my business I had to use my one and only "get out of jail free card" with the IRS.
2. Second mistake: She did my partner's K-1s wrong and they all had to be reissued. Penalty: Only my own embarrassment.
3. Third mistake: She stuck me with a California penalty for not having health insurance when in fact I was exempt which I found out about years later. Penalty: It was definitely over $1000, I think it was around $1,500.
4. Fourth mistake: She missed the opportunity to reduce my taxable income by using 26 U.S. Code § 721 for nonrecognition of gain or loss on contribution of personal property (my work van) to the partnership.
5. Fifth mistake: She did not follow up on a rejection she received after submitting my 2021 tax extension. The rejection--that I only recently received a copy of--said, "You need to fix errors that caused the rejection before it can be accepted...The helpdesk encourages you to contact them via telephone." She blames me for this rejection because "I told her too late" that I needed the extension. (The deadline day.) But she accepted the task and told me it was done! Rather than properly follow up as requested by the IRS, she mailed in a late paper extension without even getting a certified mail receipt. The IRS did not receive it, which resulted in $5,400 in penalties to my company. I found out about them a year later. Heather never even mentioned to me about the e-file rejection so I could have followed up with the IRS myself. She claims she left me a voicemail, but I never got it. Don't you think she should have tried again or emailed me regarding such an important matter? She claims I should have filed my taxes sooner, but I filed them well before the extended deadline. She points to irrelevant facts and is full of excuses like "it wasn't in her control that the rejection occurred." But it was 100% in her control how she handled it. Sloppy and unprofessional.
Heather claims she has a spotless reputation and stellar track record. But in my experience, she has a history of mistakes and lacks the integrity to admit to them. I gave her ample opportunity and time to remedy this last costly mistake and was willing to forgive all the others, but she chose to go this route instead. If you are already her client, beware. Chances are she has already missed opportunities to reduce your taxes because in my opinion and experience she only does the minimum to slide by and is not a top tier accountant who is truly looking out for her client's best interests.
