3 ms·

My tax situation is complicated enough that I no longer want to do it myself, but I also can't find a good accountant easily. Why isn't there a web service whi

My tax situation is complicated enough that I no longer want to do it myself, but I also can't find a good accountant easily. Why isn't there a web service which will let you easily hire a good accountant online? There's absolutely no reason your accountant has to be local to you, yet all the information I've found online has been for finding a "local" professional. I can't wait to see the Uberization of professional services.

tsestrich 11y ago
I'm sorry to come in with a blatant promo, but we've just done exactly what you described! https://www.taxaroo.com https://www.taxaroo.com. We can match you with a preparer from anywhere in the country, we quote you a hard up-front price, and you interact with your preparer entirely online. My co-founder (a CPA) and I just launched it this year, and we've received extremely strong interest from professional tax preparers. We actually did a Show HN a little bit ago, but didn't get much traction: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11074466 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11074466 Would love to hear your thoughts!
- morgante 11y ago
  That's pretty much exactly what I was looking for and I'm giving a try right now. It'd be nice to have some sort of ranking/rating system, or just some way of knowing that the preparer you recommended is qualified and good. Also it seems odd that nearly all the accountants you suggested were in CA despite me setting NY (not that that's a problem, it just seems odd).
  - tsestrich 11y ago
    That's awesome! We're excited to have you giving it a try. Thanks for the feedback. I absolutely agree regarding the ranking/rating system. We've really just recently launched, so right now we just don't have many reviews. We do have the system in place, though, and we'll be building up those reviews. Regarding the preparer locations - we plan to add the ability to sort/filter preparers, but we do only show you those that have specifically indicated that they can handle the type of returns required based on your quote. So, if you said you worked in NY and lived in NJ, the listed preparers will be able to handle both states. Same goes for rental property, capital gains, etc. If you have any feedback or issues as you go, feel free to reach out to me directly at tim@taxaroo.com
curun1r 11y ago
The funny thing is, Intuit used to have a product called CPA Select that would connect you with a CPA to complete your taxes. It was even intelligent, so that if you'd started your return on TurboTax, the CPA could pick up right where you left off and didn't have to ask as many questions. However I can't find it anymore, so I guess they discontinued it. Given how many people ask the same question you've asked, I guess they did a really bad job of getting the word out about it and didn't get adoption.
- tsestrich 11y ago
  Yeah, they actually rebranded it as TurboTax Personal Pro before they discontinued it. It just shut down before this current tax season. We're picking up where they left off, with our company Taxaroo[1]. My understanding from the research we've been able to do is that there were a few issues: - The branding was weird. TurboTax is supposed to be about DIY, so having a tax pro service under that was confusing. I spoke to several former preparers with Personal Pro who said they would get clients asking for technical support with TurboTax - It started as "intrapreneurship" within Intuit, so it was a small team trying to grow it (not a top-down initiative). I suspect they had certain (large) targets they couldn't meet that were gates along the development process. - I suspect ultimately, similar to above, it never became large enough to be interesting to Intuit, and it was likely cannibalizing some of their existing customers as it was. [1] - https://www.taxaroo.com https://www.taxaroo.com

tsestrich 11y ago

I'm sorry to come in with a blatant promo, but we've just done exactly what you described! https://www.taxaroo.com https://www.taxaroo.com. We can match you with a preparer from anywhere in the country, we quote you a hard up-front price, and you interact with your preparer entirely online. My co-founder (a CPA) and I just launched it this year, and we've received extremely strong interest from professional tax preparers. We actually did a Show HN a little bit ago, but didn't get much traction: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11074466 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11074466 Would love to hear your thoughts!

morgante 11y ago
That's pretty much exactly what I was looking for and I'm giving a try right now. It'd be nice to have some sort of ranking/rating system, or just some way of knowing that the preparer you recommended is qualified and good. Also it seems odd that nearly all the accountants you suggested were in CA despite me setting NY (not that that's a problem, it just seems odd).
- tsestrich 11y ago
  That's awesome! We're excited to have you giving it a try. Thanks for the feedback. I absolutely agree regarding the ranking/rating system. We've really just recently launched, so right now we just don't have many reviews. We do have the system in place, though, and we'll be building up those reviews. Regarding the preparer locations - we plan to add the ability to sort/filter preparers, but we do only show you those that have specifically indicated that they can handle the type of returns required based on your quote. So, if you said you worked in NY and lived in NJ, the listed preparers will be able to handle both states. Same goes for rental property, capital gains, etc. If you have any feedback or issues as you go, feel free to reach out to me directly at tim@taxaroo.com

curun1r 11y ago

The funny thing is, Intuit used to have a product called CPA Select that would connect you with a CPA to complete your taxes. It was even intelligent, so that if you'd started your return on TurboTax, the CPA could pick up right where you left off and didn't have to ask as many questions. However I can't find it anymore, so I guess they discontinued it. Given how many people ask the same question you've asked, I guess they did a really bad job of getting the word out about it and didn't get adoption.

tsestrich 11y ago
Yeah, they actually rebranded it as TurboTax Personal Pro before they discontinued it. It just shut down before this current tax season. We're picking up where they left off, with our company Taxaroo[1]. My understanding from the research we've been able to do is that there were a few issues: - The branding was weird. TurboTax is supposed to be about DIY, so having a tax pro service under that was confusing. I spoke to several former preparers with Personal Pro who said they would get clients asking for technical support with TurboTax - It started as "intrapreneurship" within Intuit, so it was a small team trying to grow it (not a top-down initiative). I suspect they had certain (large) targets they couldn't meet that were gates along the development process. - I suspect ultimately, similar to above, it never became large enough to be interesting to Intuit, and it was likely cannibalizing some of their existing customers as it was. [1] - https://www.taxaroo.com https://www.taxaroo.com