Today's Features
BUSY SEASON MANAGEMENT

Outlook 2026: NATP Shows Tax Prep Prices Surging and Diverging

Experience, complexity, and scarcity redefine the market

Volume and consulting drive growth: Of the 48% of firms reporting advances, 78% credit more business and 54% credit higher-grade services. Source: NATP

By CPA Trendlines

Tax preparation is getting markedly more expensive in 2026, and not in the slow, incremental way many firms have long assumed they can explain away.

In a widely used pricing model, the National Association of Tax Professionals reports the average base charge for a Form 1040 with Schedules is $236, up from a 2024 average of $162 reported in the same study series. That’s a 45.7% nominal increase in two years for the profession’s signature product, before a single schedule, state filing, or complexity premium is added.

JOIN the Busy Season Barometer survey. Get the results.

MORE TAX and PRICING

The U.S. tax preparation market is not merely more expensive.  It is increasingly stratified, with pricing that clearly distinguishes between complex professional work and the lower tiers of retail and do-it-yourself alternatives.

Across multiple independent pricing measures, certified public accountants and credentialed tax professionals command fees that are substantially higher than the base costs advertised by major retail chains, software platforms, and dwindling government-sponsored free filing options. The result is a world of tax preparation pricing that reflects not only the complexity of engagement but also client expectations, risk management, service delivery models, and clear segmentation of value. READ MORE →

PODCAST

Pogosian: What Advisors Miss in Risk Management | The Concierge CPA

A former IRS agent breaks down the red flags, revenue thresholds, and compliance work that advisors can’t ignore.

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by CPA Trendlines Go PRO – Get More! Go PRO!  See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.
Get free gits, exclusive access, and more! Get more! Go PRO! 

The Concierge CPA
With Jackie Meyer
For CPA Trendlines

The Concierge CPA hosts a deep dive into captive insurance planning this week, as host Dr. Jackie Meyer, CPA, and guest Vardan Pogosian, CPA, unpack both the risk-management foundations and tax-planning implications of small captive insurance companies. The episode clarifies a strategy that many tax professionals find complex or intimidating, with actionable guidance on identifying suitable clients and avoiding compliance risks.

More Jackie Meyer

Captive insurance — typically formed under Internal Revenue Code Section 831(b) — allows businesses to establish their own insurance company to cover risks that may be difficult or costly to insure through commercial carriers. Under the provision, small qualifying captives can elect alternative tax treatment, in which premiums paid into the captive are tax-deductible to the operating business but not immediately recognized as income by the captive. Tax is generally deferred until the captive is dissolved, at which point capital gains tax applies.

READ MORE →

PRO Member Exclusive

AI Can Be Your Ally or Your Competitor

portrait of Davyde Wachell
Wachell
 Davyde “Day” Wachell is the co-founder and CEO of Responsive AI. He studied AI in the SymSys program at Stanford and Film at Columbia. Their innovative thinking drives the company’s success by bridging technology and the arts, leading to a culture of creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

Six steps to using it to grow and protect revenue.

By Davyde Wachell
The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Lenin’s quip resonates deeply with any seasoned advice professional. Black Friday, 9/11, the Great Recession and COVID-19 kept us on our toes when it came to the markets and our clients. Big outlier events that disrupt “business as usual” can arise at any moment. These moments can change the lives of our clients, and as a result, the growth and stability of our businesses. Our clients can lose their trust in us in the blink of an eye if we haven’t positioned those clients correctly, or if we do not respond effectively to changes in the market.

MORE Rory Henry and The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

How we prepare our business for the unexpected determines our ability to respond to outlier events. How we respond to those events determines how we perform under pressure. Staying competitive isn’t about performing well when the sun is shining; it’s about executing and gaining clarity in the fog of war.
READ MORE →

CLIENT ACCOUNTING SERVICES

Why Most CAS Practices Stall | It’s Not Just the Numbers

…And what the successful ones do differently.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.
Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines

Client Accounting Services (CAS) has moved well beyond bookkeeping. For firms serious about advisory, CAS is now a fundamentally different operating model, one that demands new roles, new systems, and a far higher level of internal transparency than traditional tax or audit practices ever required. 

In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin draw on more than two decades of shared experience to unpack what actually makes a modern CAS practice work in the real world. Their discussion goes beyond theory and into the structural, cultural, and operational decisions firms must confront if they want CAS to be scalable, profitable, and sustainable . 

MORE Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead | MORE Advisory & Consulting | BUY “It’s Not Just the Numbers”

GoProCPA.com Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Traditional accounting firms are built around specialization and hierarchy: junior and senior accountants, bookkeepers, managers, and partners, each working essentially in isolation on their own client list. That structure works for compliance, but it breaks down in a CAS environment. 

“CAS requires the team to approach the client holistically,” Breslin explains. “You can’t have people operating in silos. Everyone needs to understand the client’s goals, not just their individual task.” 

READ MORE →

ACCOUNTING INFLUENCERS

AI Shows the Weak Faster than It Helps the Strong | Accounting Voices

The Big Four pull ahead by treating AI as a system, not a shortcut.

Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer

 Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.

Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

Accounting Voices
With Rob Brown

Artificial intelligence is no longer a side project in accounting. It is the main event.

The largest firms are moving aggressively, clients are asking sharper questions, and expectations around speed, accuracy, and insight continue to rise. In the latest episode of Accounting Voices, the focus shifts past headlines and hype to examine what the Big Four are actually doing with AI—and why their moves matter far beyond the global giants.

Brown does not chase flashy demos or speculative tech. Instead, he breaks down how AI is being operationalized in audit, tax, and advisory work—and how firms without billion-dollar budgets can compete by doing fewer things better.

READ MORE →