Pricing

What we charge, and what we cannot price on a web page

Tax preparation has a published price ladder, below. Bookkeeping, payroll and CFO work are quoted, because a single list price would be wrong for most of the people reading it. We say which is which rather than hiding both behind a contact form.

Veris Financials publishes fixed starting prices for tax preparation: individual returns from $100 (Form 1040-NR) and $150 (simple federal 1040), and business returns from $600 for Forms 1120-S, 1065 and 1120. Bookkeeping, payroll, books cleanup and fractional CFO work are quoted on scope, with the fee fixed in writing before work begins.

Get your fixed quote See our services

Every fee is fixed in writing before work starts. Starting prices reflect the scope described. If your situation needs more than that scope covers, we tell you the new number and you decide, rather than you discovering it on the invoice.

Published prices

Individual tax preparation

Flat fees for individual returns, agreed before we begin. State returns are an add-on where one is required.

Flat fees, agreed before work starts. State returns are an add-on where required.
Return	From	Includes
J-1 visa holders / 1040-NR	From $100	Form 1040-NR preparation Tax treaty analysis FICA refund claim State return add-on available
Simple federal	From $150	Form 1040 preparation Federal e-file included W-2 and standard deduction State return add-on available
Itemized / self-employed	From $250	Form 1040 plus Schedule C or D Self-employment tax Quarterly estimate calculation Itemized deduction support
Multi-state / complex	From $400	Multiple state returns Investment and rental income K-1 pass-through income Prior-year comparison

Filing on a J-1 visa? The scope, the treaty position and the FICA refund claim are set out on our J-1 visa tax return page.

Published prices

Business tax preparation

Entity returns including federal filing and one state. Additional states are quoted separately.

Federal return plus one state. Additional states quoted separately.
Return	From	Includes
S-Corporation (1120-S)	From $600	Federal S-Corp return K-1 preparation Shareholder basis tracking One state filing included
C-Corporation (1120)	From $600	Federal C-Corp return Schedule M-1 / M-3 Built-in gains analysis One state filing included
Partnership (1065)	From $600	Federal partnership return K-1 preparation for each partner Capital account maintenance One state filing included

Quoted services

Why these are not on a price list

Four services where a published number would mislead more people than it helped. For each one, here is the basis we price on and the reason.

Bookkeeping

Priced on: Quoted on monthly transaction volume, number of accounts and reporting complexity.

A 40-transaction month and a 4,000-transaction month are not the same job, and a single list price would overcharge one of them.

Payroll

Priced on: Quoted on headcount, pay frequency and how many states you run withholding in.

Multi-state registration and compliance is the variable that moves payroll cost, not employee count alone.

Books cleanup

Priced on: Fixed price, quoted after a free 48-hour diagnostic.

We look first, then commit to a number. Hourly billing on a cleanup punishes you for a mess you already know about.

Fractional CFO

Priced on: Fixed monthly retainer, sized to scope and named deliverables.

Hourly billing makes founders ration the questions they most need to ask.

CPA firm engagements

Priced on: Volume-based, from a 1 to 3 client pilot up to 200+ accounts.

Firms price their own clients. We price the delivery so your margin stays yours to set.

Get a quote for any of these

What you get either way

The terms are the same at every price point

A fixed fee

Agreed in writing before work begins. It does not move because the work turned out harder than we expected.

No long contract

Monthly services run month to month. If we are not earning the fee, leaving should be easy.

A named contact

A person who knows your file, not a ticket queue and a different name every time.

A free first call

Thirty minutes, no charge, no obligation. Cleanup diagnostics are free too, and yours to keep.

What drives the price of a bookkeeping engagement?

Three things, in this order: monthly transaction volume, the number of bank, credit card and merchant accounts to reconcile, and how much reporting you need beyond the standard three statements.

Volume is the largest driver because it is what the work actually consists of. Account count matters more than people expect, since each account is a separate reconciliation with its own feed and its own failure modes. Reporting complexity is the third: class or location tracking, job costing, departmental P&Ls and multi-entity consolidation each add real work to every close, not just to the first one.

Two things that do not drive our price are your revenue and your industry. A high-revenue business with simple transactions is a cheaper file to keep than a low-revenue one with a thousand small ones, and pricing off revenue would charge you for the wrong thing.

What is not included in the starting prices?

The tax preparation prices above cover the scope described in each row. The most common additions are worth naming so nothing arrives as a surprise.

Additional state returns beyond the one included in a business return.
Bookkeeping needed to get the file into a filable state. That is quoted as a separate fixed-price cleanup.
Prior-year or amended returns, which are quoted per year.
Foreign account reporting (FBAR and FATCA forms) where it applies.
Representation in an audit or examination, which is a separate engagement.

Is a fixed fee genuinely fixed?

Yes, for the scope written into the quote. If the work turns out harder than we expected inside that scope, that is our estimating error and we absorb it.

The fee changes only if the scope changes, and then only with your agreement before the extra work happens. In practice the trigger is almost always something that was not visible at quoting time: a second entity, a year of unreconciled history, a state we did not know you had employees in. When we find one, you get the revised number and the choice, rather than an invoice with a line you did not authorize on it.

Pricing questions

Why is bookkeeping not priced on this page?

Because any number we published would be wrong for most readers. Bookkeeping cost tracks transaction volume, account count and how clean the starting position is. We quote a fixed monthly fee after a 20-minute call and a look at your ledger, and that fee does not move unless your volume does.

Are the tax preparation prices fixed?

They are starting prices for the scope described, and the fee is fixed in writing before we begin. If your return turns out to need more than the scope covers, we tell you the new number and you decide, rather than discovering it on the invoice.

Do you charge for the consultation?

No. The first call is 30 minutes, free, and has no obligation attached. Books cleanup diagnostics are also free, and you keep the diagnostic whether or not you hire us.

Do you require a long contract?

No. Monthly services run month to month. If we are not earning the fee, you should be able to leave without a penalty clause making the decision for you.