Client Review on Smith Business Services

Feedback:

Disorganized, indifferent and dishonest. They did the laziest, quickest tax service regardless of what was best for me and then tried to tell me they’d gone the extra mile when I knew they hadn’t. Details follow: I hired Laury Koontz to have my taxes done. I work full time from home and have a paying hobby. In mid-March when we met, we discussed my options and I told her I’d decided I would not expense the hobby as a side business but wanted to itemize using my home as an office. She spotted my house and office square footage on the paperwork I gave her and a few days later I emailed my utility bill history, confirming with her receptionist that she’d received it. Turns out she delegated it to another accountant and didn’t communicate anything we discussed. The accountant thought I wanted to claim my paying hobby and I had to clarify that I was only claiming my home office. April 11 her office called me saying the records were incomplete. Again, I emailed Laury the utility bill with dollar amount payment history, along with the square footage info. April 14 I arrived to get my tax return and the accountant had just done a 1040. Asked to speak to the accountant; she said she hadn’t itemized my expenses because my records were incomplete. They hadn’t given her the complete records I emailed 2 days earlier! I then talked to both her and Laury and when they realized I’d emailed what they needed to itemize, they then told me to my face that they HAD itemized and the itemized deductions didn’t exceed the standard deduction so I should just take the 1040. I don't know how she could have worked with records that a few moments earlier she hadn't even known she had. My itemized deductions might NOT have exceeded the standard; maybe the 1040 was the best thing, but for them just to tell me that off the fly …I mean, I was sitting right there and they did not do any math. I’m not using her services again and I wouldn’t recommend her to anyone.