[berettafan]

word of mouth. I never advertise, don't need to.

truth is there is no magic involved. most cpa's in my area know how to do their job. there are differences in how much some charge but by and large you'll get a very similar return back from most firms if you give them the same set of facts.

now there are a few who are notoriously cheap and one or two who are notoriously crooked. believe me when I tell you IRS knows who both are. the super cheap ones don't know their jobs and the crooked ones (everyone knows who they are) engage in fraud on a regular basis and put every one of their clients at risk because their PTIN is on every return they file and easily singled out for audit.

within the realm of competent firms most client turnover is more related to personality differences and to a lesser extent pricing. in my experience 9 of 10 clients leaving the cheap accountant (typically not even a CPA) have returns with errors or major missed issues. 10 of 10 clients leaving crooked accountants aren't welcome in my firm (I'm not cleaning up someone elses fraud after the fact) and maybe 1 of 10 from legit firms have significant errors or missed issues. more than 1 of 10 BELIEVE they have missed issues but very often it is a misunderstanding on the clients part. maybe 2 of 10 from legit firms were gently pushed out the door for being a pain in the ass and thus less efficient to work for.

I know this is more than was asked by OP but thought some insight into the industry might be helpful.