All Forum Posts by: Ming Ip

He was out of line. He switched on me, after saying "please let me know if there is are any other questions I can help you with". Then sent me a $210 invoice without telling me his consultation costs, and threatened legal trouble. My cousin is a small business lawyer, and he sent him a letter about what he did wrong and that this invoice is disputed and that I am not to be charged. The CPA ended up not charging me and that was that. Happy ending 😎

I've outlined the differences as well in a reply to another comment. I asked him such questions like "write off vehicle rate, the answer is 58c/km". He was definitely out of line, and my cousin is a small business lawyer and sent him a letter. Pointed out that baiting people at the end of letters by saying "feel free to let me know if you have anymore questions" and not pointing out his consultation costs, and 1 of his answers were incorrect in the emails that I am not to be charged and is a disputed invoice. The CPA has decided not to charge me and that was that. 

Thank you for your response. In my circumstance, I sign a W-8 form with Amazon and I report my earnings with CRA. 

I am arguing for the fact that if you were to pick up the phone, and intentionally hold a call for 2 hours and than say "hey, thanks for calling, I'm going to send you an invoice, and oh yeah, you don't know my rate and that I was charging you but the cost is now $210. Sir, what's your email?". Any consumer would feel a little cheated. Especially when I asked questions that didn't require much at all like "what is the vehicle mileage gas write-off rate? the answer is 58c". I could have found that myself, but it's always more direct answer from an accountant and because so many answers are mixed between Canadian and US search results, it really is easier to just ask an accountant for factual information.

It's another thing if I were to say "can you help me calculate my cost of acquisition and total everything up, I need help with my gross revenue as well, can you also throw in net revenue? Let's also go over my business plan and model for tax planning and while I'm at it, why don't you just calculate everything? It's free right?". Okay, that's not free. 

I get that "it's the exception to the rule and not the rule itself" but a little bit of good faith is normally expected. I have also asked the same question to some other forums and most people would agree that, small routine questions are uncharged for. So in my circumstance, I feel like it's warranted that I dispute his invoice with integrity.

So recently, I was going to use a CPA for a corporate tax return. He outlined that book keeping was $45/hr and corporate tax would be $500, and any additional costs to file to USA would be determined later. I told him I am all new to this and pre-revenue at this moment and I'd like to ask a few questions and asked if I could count on him to help me through a little bit of book keeping and he encouraged me to ask some questions by ending with "If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask". Weeks go by, I ask about 4 questions throughout the span of 2 months. He then suspiciously asks for my corporate legal entity name and address then proceeds to send me a full page about "this is not how it works and I am going to take legal action against you if you don't pay this invoice of $210". He never outlined his consultation service costs, and I have not made any agreement/contract to take on his services. I did not know that these emails were going to be charged and I did not demand for him to answer these questions. I found a new CPA and he is charging me even less at $450 for the corporate return and told me that he won't charge for consultation at all and encourages me to ask questions. The new CPA even told me directly that he will not charge for asking questions and feel free to email him. I am currently disputing with the other CPA over emails about this charge, what do you guys think?

So recently, I was going to use a CPA for a corporate tax return. He outlined that book keeping was $45/hr and corporate tax would be $500, and any additional costs to file to USA would be determined later. I told him I am all new to this and pre-revenue at this moment and I'd like to ask a few questions and asked if I could count on him to help me through a little bit of book keeping and he encouraged me to ask some questions by ending with "If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask". Weeks go by, I ask about 4 questions throughout the span of 2 months. He then suspiciously asks for my corporate legal entity name and address then proceeds to send me a full page about "this is not how it works and I am going to take legal action against you if you don't pay this invoice of $210". He never outlined his consultation service costs, and I have not made any agreement/contract to take on his services. I did not know that these emails were going to be charged and I did not demand for him to answer these questions. I found a new CPA and he is charging me even less at $450 for the corporate return and told me that he won't charge for consultation at all and encourages me to ask questions. The new CPA even told me directly that he will not charge for asking questions and feel free to email him. I am currently disputing with the other CPA over emails about this charge, what do you guys think?