A 35 percent increase can be fair, but general price rises don't explain it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics index for what CPA offices charge rose about 2.3 percent nationally between August 2025 and August 2026, on a preliminary August 2026 reading, so the rest of the jump has to come from somewhere else.
Three explanations are worth checking. The work grew, the old fee was low, or the firm repriced your account. Each one has a different answer, and you can find out which by asking for the new fee in writing next to the work it covers.
Key Takeaways
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index for offices of certified public accountants rose about 2.3 percent from August 2025 to August 2026, using the preliminary August 2026 reading.
- The same national index rose about 11 percent over the three years from August 2023 to August 2026.
- Employers use IRS Form 941, a quarterly return, to report federal income, social security and Medicare taxes withheld from paychecks.
- The Texas Comptroller tells a business by letter, once its sales tax permit is approved, whether it will file sales tax reports monthly or quarterly.
- Stafford has no city property tax, but the city's own tax page still lists school district and Fort Bend County rates inside city limits.
- A Texas CPA must return a client's original records within 10 business days of a request, without a fee, whatever the state of the client's account.
How does 35 percent compare with what accounting prices did this year?
It's far above it. The BLS producer price index for offices of certified public accountants tracks how the prices CPA firms receive for their services change over time, across the whole country. Its August readings for the last four years are below, with the August 2026 figure marked preliminary by BLS.
| August reading | Index level (December 2003 = 100) | Change from a year earlier (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Three years ago, 2023 | 139.824 | 5.9 |
| Two years ago, 2024 | 146.599 | 4.8 |
| Last year, 2025 | 151.590 | 3.4 |
| This year, 2026 (preliminary) | 155.105 | 2.3 |
This is a national average. It doesn't tell you what a Stafford firm should charge, and one firm can sit well above or below it. What it does tell you is that a 35 percent increase isn't explained by general price movement in the profession. Something about your account changed, or the firm is pricing it differently.
How we got these numbers: we pulled the August index levels for 2022 to 2026 from the BLS data series on October 29, 2026, and worked out each year's change from the August before. BLS can revise a preliminary reading for up to four months, and it already moved the August 2026 figure slightly without changing the rounded 2.3 percent. The September 2026 reading, also preliminary, puts the year-on-year rise at about 2.7 percent. The index covers what firms charge across the country, not what any one firm charges or what Stafford businesses pay.
Has the work changed since last year's fee?
Start here, because it's the easiest reason to check. If your business added employees, a sales tax permit, a new entity type or a lot more activity, the firm may be pricing work it didn't do last year.
| Change in your business | Work it can add or remove | What to ask the firm |
|---|---|---|
| You hired your first employees | Federal payroll tax returns | Is payroll reporting now in the scope? |
| You started selling taxable goods or services | Texas sales tax reports | Who files them, and how often? |
| The business elected S corporation status | An S corporation income tax return | Which returns does the new fee cover? |
| Transactions, bank accounts or locations grew | More reconciliation each month | How many accounts does the fee assume? |
| The books were behind when the firm started | Cleanup before any return | Is cleanup a one-time charge or built into the fee? |
| You dropped a service or closed a location | Less work than last year | Should the fee come down? |
The forms behind those rows are real filings. Employers use IRS Form 941, the Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, to report federal income, social security and Medicare taxes withheld from paychecks, plus the employer's share of social security and Medicare. An eligible business makes the S election on Form 2553 and reports for each year the election covers on Form 1120-S. The Texas Comptroller's sales tax page says a business learns whether it files monthly or quarterly when its permit is approved, and monthly reports are due on the 20th of the following month.
If none of the rows apply and the work hasn't changed, the question gets simpler: what is the extra money paying for?
Was the old fee too low?
Sometimes. A fee that sat still for years is one way it happens. The same BLS index rose about 11 percent between August 2023 and August 2026, so a firm that held your fee flat for three years and then caught up all at once could produce a bigger jump than a single year's change would suggest.
That still doesn't reach 35 percent on its own. If the firm says your old fee was below market, ask how it arrived at the new number. You can't check a market claim from the inside, but you can get a second quote on the same written list of work and see whether it lands near the new fee or the old one.
Is the increase for everyone or just your account?
Ask the firm directly. A firm might raise its prices for every client in the same year, or it might reprice one account because the work took more hours than the old fee assumed. Both are legitimate. They call for different answers.
A firm-wide change is a pricing decision, and the only question is whether the new number is still worth it to you. An account-specific increase should come with specifics: which months ran over, which tasks took longer, and what would bring the hours back down. Late documents, a bank account nobody mentioned and receipts sent in one box at year end all cost a firm time. Fixing those on your side is sometimes cheaper than paying for them.
What should you ask for before you agree?
Ask for the new fee and the work it covers on the same page, then compare it with last year's. Then you're judging a list of work, not a number on its own.
- Ask for the new fee and a written list of the work it covers.
- Put that list next to last year's engagement letter, line by line.
- Mark which items are new and which cost more for the same work.
- Ask what gets billed outside the fee, such as notices or amended returns.
- Ask whether the fee is fixed for the year or can change partway through.
- Get a quote from another firm on the same written list of work.
- Decide with both numbers in front of you.
The written list matters most. Without one, you're comparing a number with a feeling about what the firm does, and a second quote on a vague scope won't tell you much either.
Does switching firms cost you anything?
Yes, mostly time. A new firm has to learn your books, get copies of past returns and find out which filings are due when, and that setup can make the first year with anyone new more work than the years after it.
Your original records aren't the obstacle. Texas rule 501.76 on records and work papers requires a CPA to return original client records within 10 business days of a request, without charging for them and regardless of the status of the client's account. Copies of past returns and some work papers are different: the same rule lets a CPA charge a reasonable fee for those. It covers licensed CPAs, so check your contract if the provider isn't one.
If the old firm explains the increase and the work list holds up, staying may be the cheaper choice. If it can't say what the money pays for, our post on when to switch CPAs walks through that decision.
Does being in Stafford change the scope?
It changes a few line items, not the method. Stafford's own tax structure page says it's the largest city in Texas to abolish city property taxes, for commercial and residential property alike.
No city property tax doesn't mean no property tax, though. The same page lists rates inside city limits for the Stafford Municipal School District and Fort Bend County, among others. So the business personal property rendition, the yearly report of a business's furniture, equipment and inventory, can still be part of what your accountant handles. The Fort Bend Central Appraisal District's business personal property page says the standard exemption for that property rose from $2,500 to $125,000 on January 1, 2026, so whether your business still owes tax on it is worth checking with the firm. The Comptroller's April 2026 notice gives April 15 as the deadline to file renditions with county appraisal districts, with different deadlines for certain regulated property. Ask whether your fee covers it.
Stafford also sits in two counties. The Texas Almanac entry for Stafford lists it as part of both Fort Bend County and Harris County, and the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District's rendition guide names Fort Bend as the district when the property is physically in Fort Bend County. If the firm files your rendition, confirm it goes to the right district.
Sales tax is the other local item. The city page says Stafford adds 2 percent on top of the state's 6.25 percent. If you sell taxable goods or services, those reports are recurring work, and they belong on the list. Our Stafford page has more about the practice.
Where does Nguyen Accounting Group fit?
Nguyen Accounting Group is a CPA firm led by a Texas-licensed CPA, with an office at 12440 Emily Ct, Suite 303, in Sugar Land. The firm's services include accounting and QuickBooks bookkeeping, tax return preparation, tax resolution and fractional CFO work. Thuy Nguyen, JD, CPA, the firm's founder, works in English and Vietnamese.
Bring both numbers to a CPA
A fee increase is easier to judge with the old and new scope side by side. If you'd like a second firm to quote the same list, Book Your 15-Minute Intro Call. We'll talk for 15 minutes and decide together whether we're the right firm for you.
