1-800Accountant vs. a CPA: What the Plans Cost
By Timothy LeGendre, CPA · Florida License #AC62625 · Published 2026-10-07
1-800Accountant costs $209 to $469 a month, billed annually, as of October 2026. What each plan includes, the refund terms, and how a CPA compares.
The direct answer, up front.
1-800Accountant costs $209 to $469 a month as of October 2026, and every plan on its pricing page is billed annually. That works out to $2,508 to $5,628 a year. For an S-Corp owner, the plan that actually includes monthly bookkeeping is Business Complete, at $469 a month, or $5,628 a year.
The monthly price is the easy part. The harder questions are the ones a pricing page does not answer: who does the work and what credential they hold, what happens when you hire your second and third employee, and what the annual billing means if the fit is wrong in month four.
I'm a Florida CPA who works with the same S-Corp owners 1-800Accountant sells to, so read this knowing where I sit. Every claim about 1-800Accountant below comes from its own published pricing page, About page or Terms of Service, checked in October 2026.
What each 1-800Accountant plan includes.
1-800Accountant sells three core plans. Each is advertised as a monthly price with a note that it is billed annually. Per 1-800Accountant's pricing page as of October 2026:
| Plan | Advertised | Per year | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax Advisory | $209/mo | $2,508 | Portal, dedicated accountant, year-round tax advice, proactive planning, quarterly reviews. No tax return listed. |
| Starter | $299/mo | $3,588 | Your personal return plus one business return (Schedule C, 1065, 1120 or 1120-S), ClientBooks software, expert review, quarterly reviews, annual tax plan. |
| Business Complete | $469/mo | $5,628 | Everything in Starter, plus full-service bookkeeping starting at 75 monthly transactions, payroll for the owner, quarterly estimates tracked. |
Per-year figures are the advertised monthly price times twelve. The pricing page shows no month-to-month rate for these plans.
Read the Starter plan closely, because it is the one most S-Corp owners land on first. It files your personal return and the annual return for "one (1) entity," and it comes with a subscription to ClientBooks, 1-800Accountant's bookkeeping software. It does not include someone doing your books. The software is yours to run. Monthly bookkeeping by a person starts at Business Complete.
The company itself was founded in 2014 and describes itself on its About page as "America's largest small business accounting firm." That scale is real value for a lot of owners: a known brand, a portal, a process that has been run thousands of times. The question for you is whether a national process fits the way your business is about to grow.
The fine print: billing, refunds and renewal.
The terms that matter most are in 1-800Accountant's Terms of Service, revised July 7, 2026, not on the pricing page. Four of them are worth knowing before you pay for a year:
- Refunds have a 30-day window. Annual and one-time fees are "up to 90% refundable only within 30 days from your initial purchase date, less services rendered." After 30 days, the fees are non-refundable.
- Plans renew automatically "at the then-current rates" unless you cancel. The renewal price is whatever the price is that day, not what you paid this year.
- Cancellation has to be in writing, by email, phone or letter, and takes effect with the next billing cycle.
- Disputes go to arbitration. You agree to waive a jury trial and the right to join a class action.
None of this is unusual for a national subscription service, and none of it is hidden. It does change what you are buying. A month-to-month service lets you judge the work every month. An annual plan with a 30-day refund window asks you to judge it in the first four weeks, before you have seen a single month-end close or a tax return.
The 30-day test: if you sign up for an annual plan anywhere, use the first 30 days to get one real deliverable: a reconciled month, a payroll run, or a written answer to a hard question about your business. If you can't judge the work inside the refund window, you are prepaying for a year on faith.
The honest comparison for an S-Corp owner.
Here is how Business Complete, the 1-800Accountant plan with bookkeeping, lines up against the way I run an engagement. Their side is from the pricing page as of October 2026. My side is scoped to the business on a discovery call.
| Line item | 1-800Accountant Business Complete | My practice |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly bookkeeping | Business Complete only, "starting at 75 monthly transactions" | Every close done personally by me, scoped to your volume |
| Payroll | Set up and run for the owner; employee pricing not published | You run Gusto or ADP directly; I reconcile it into the books |
| Business return (1120-S) | Starter and up, one entity | Prepared by the same CPA who closed the books |
| Personal return (1040) | Starter and up | Scoped on a discovery call |
| Who reviews the work | "Expert review prior to filing"; credential not stated on the pricing page | A licensed Florida CPA, license #AC62625 |
| Billing | Billed annually; refund window 30 days | Month-to-month, 30-day notice to cancel |
The published price is clear. If you want a known national brand, a fixed annual number and a process built for volume, 1-800Accountant tells you exactly what you will pay. The rest of this article is about what that number does not tell you.
Compare it against a real number.
Tell me about your business, then pick a time on my calendar. I'll walk you through what the engagement would look like on the call, from the CPA who would do the work.
Pick a time on my calendar. No obligation.
What the price doesn't tell you.
Four things, concretely. None of them is a line item, and each one shows up the year your business stops being a business of one.
Difference 1
Who signs the return, and what license they hold.
The pricing page promises a "dedicated accountant," a "team of experts" and "expert review prior to filing." It doesn't say whether the person reviewing your return is a CPA, an enrolled agent or another kind of tax preparer, and the Terms of Service don't say either. All of those can be legitimate. They are not the same thing, and you should know which one you are paying for. Ask for the name and credential of the preparer who will sign your 1120-S before you sign up.
Difference 2
Payroll for you is not payroll for your team.
Business Complete includes "payroll set up and handled for you as the business owner." That covers the salary an S-Corp owner has to pay themselves. The pricing page doesn't publish what each additional employee costs. If you are about to hire, and many owners at this stage are, get that number in writing. Your first hires also bring new filings and deposit deadlines, which I walk through in my guide to payroll taxes for your first employee.
Difference 3
The salary decision is the expensive one.
The IRS requires an S-Corp to pay its owner-employees reasonable compensation before taking distributions, and its guidance on S-Corp compensation lists the factors courts weigh: your duties, time spent, what comparable businesses pay, and more. That number drives your payroll tax every year. Setting it well takes someone who knows where your revenue comes from, which is easiest when the same person keeps your books. A quarterly review can answer the question. Defending the answer is easier for someone who has seen every transaction behind it.
Difference 4
The books and the return under one person.
A return is only as good as the books under it. On Starter, you keep the books in ClientBooks yourself, and the return is prepared from what you entered. A miscoded owner draw or a missed equipment purchase becomes a return problem, and sometimes a cleanup project. When the person who closes your books every month also prepares your return, nothing gets lost between them. The deadline matters too: a calendar-year 1120-S for 2025 was due March 16, 2026, and per the Form 1120-S instructions the late-filing penalty for a return due in 2026 is $255 per shareholder for each month it is late, up to 12 months. Clean books are what keep that date from being a scramble.
Who should pick which, honestly.
1-800Accountant fits you if:
- You run one entity with simple books and no employees beyond yourself
- You want a national brand and a fixed annual price, and you are comfortable paying for the year up front
- You are happy keeping your own books in software and want help mainly at tax time
- You will use the first 30 days to test the work before the refund window closes
A CPA fits you if:
- You have employees, or you are about to hire them
- You run more than one entity, or plan to add a holding or real estate company
- You want the person who keeps your books to be the licensed CPA who prepares your return
- You would rather judge the work every month than commit for a year
Many owners start in the first column and move to the second when the business grows past what a fixed package was built for. If you are weighing other bundles too, my comparison of S-Corp bookkeeping packages lines up eight of them, and my Collective vs. CPA comparison covers the other subscription S-Corp owners ask me about most.
Six questions to ask before you prepay.
Ask these of 1-800Accountant, of me, or of anyone else who wants to keep your books. Get the answers in writing. A good provider will answer every one without hesitation.
- Who prepares and signs my 1120-S, and is that person a CPA or an enrolled agent?
- Is my "dedicated" accountant the same person who does my books, or a separate role?
- What does each W-2 employee add to the payroll price, beyond me as the owner?
- What happens to the price when my books run past 75 transactions a month?
- Can I export my complete general ledger to a standard format, today and after I cancel?
- What will the renewal rate be next year, and when will I be told?
The last two matter more than they look. Your books are the record of your business, and after Bench shut down in December 2024 and locked owners out of their own ledgers, whether you can take your books with you stopped being a theoretical question.
How I run my practice.
I'm a Florida CPA (license #AC62625), and I do every monthly close personally. The person on your books in February is the person who prepares your 1120-S in March, sets your quarterly estimates in April and answers your salary question in November. There is no handoff between a bookkeeping team and a tax team, because there is only one of me.
The engagement is month-to-month with 30 days' notice to cancel. Books run on Forty Two Six, the bookkeeping platform I built, and your general ledger exports to CSV anytime. I scope every engagement to the business it serves on a discovery call.
For the full picture of what the monthly work includes, see my bookkeeping services page.
More reading
Want to keep going?
Collective vs. a Real CPA: S-Corp Cost Comparison
Collective's S-Corp plan costs ~$3,564/year on annual billing. What the lower price buys you, what it doesn't, and how to decide.Best Bookkeeping Services for S-Corp Owners (2026)
Eight monthly S-Corp bookkeeping packages compared: July 2026 pricing, who does the work, whether the 1120-S is included, and the all-in annual cost.Payroll Taxes for Your First Employee: A Florida Guide
A Florida CPA's guide to payroll taxes when you hire your first employee: FICA, FUTA, Form 941, deposit schedules, and the trust-fund trap.Frequently asked questions
- How much does 1-800Accountant cost per month?
- As of October 2026, 1-800Accountant's pricing page lists three plans: Tax Advisory at $209 a month, Starter at $299 a month and Business Complete at $469 a month. Every one is marked billed annually, so the yearly cost is $2,508, $3,588 or $5,628. The page shows no month-to-month rate for these plans. For an S-Corp owner who wants someone to do the monthly books, Business Complete is the plan that includes bookkeeping.
- Can I get a refund from 1-800Accountant if it is not a fit?
- Only early. 1-800Accountant's Terms of Service, revised July 7, 2026, say annual and one-time fees are up to 90% refundable within 30 days of the initial purchase, less services rendered, and non-refundable after that. Plans also renew automatically at the then-current rates unless you cancel in writing. If you sign up, use the first 30 days to see one real deliverable, such as a reconciled month or a payroll run, before the window closes.
- Does 1-800Accountant work for an S-Corp?
- Yes. The Starter plan files your personal return and the annual return for one entity, and the 1120-S is one of the returns it lists. Starter gives you bookkeeping software, not a bookkeeper, so you keep the books yourself. Business Complete adds full-service bookkeeping starting at 75 monthly transactions and payroll for you as the owner. A second entity, or employees beyond yourself, are things to price with them directly, because the pricing page doesn't publish those costs.
- Are 1-800Accountant's accountants CPAs?
- The pricing page doesn't say. It promises a dedicated accountant, a team of experts and expert review before filing, and the Terms of Service don't name a credential either. CPAs, enrolled agents and other tax preparers can all do legitimate work, but they are not interchangeable. Before you prepay, ask for the name and credential of the person who will prepare and sign your business return.
- Does 1-800Accountant run payroll for my employees?
- Business Complete includes payroll set up and handled for you as the business owner, which covers the salary an S-Corp owner has to pay themselves. The pricing page doesn't publish the cost of adding employees. If you plan to hire, get the per-employee price in writing before you sign, because a growing team is where a fixed package price and the real annual cost start to drift apart.