How Much Does a CPA Cost in Houston? A 2026 Pricing Guide

Most Houston CPAs will not give you a price until they have your numbers. We get why. But that does not help you plan a budget, decide between DIY and hiring out, or compare us to the firm down the street.

So here is the actual market in Sugar Land and the greater Houston metro for 2026. Real ranges. What is included. When the price stops being worth it. And how Nguyen Accounting Group prices each service.

TL;DR: Houston CPA pricing in 2026

• Personal tax return (1040 + standard deduction): $200 to $400

• Personal tax return with Schedule C, rentals, or stock: $400 to $900

• S-corporation 1120S return: $700 to $1,500

• Monthly bookkeeping (single-entity small business): $300 to $900 per month

• Strategic tax planning (engagement plus quarterly): $1,500 to $5,000 per year

• Fractional CFO / business advisory: $500 to $2,500 per month

• Tax resolution (back filings + IRS rep): $1,500 to $7,500 per case

• Offer in Compromise filing: $2,500 to $5,000 if you qualify

• Most Houston business owners netting $50k+ are best served at $5,000 to $12,000 per year combined

Tax return preparation

This is where most clients first interact with a CPA, so it is the easiest to benchmark.

Personal returns

A simple Form 1040 with W-2 income and a standard deduction runs $200 to $400 in Houston. Add a Schedule A (itemized deductions), Schedule B (interest and dividends over $1,500), or Schedule D (capital gains) and you are at $300 to $500. Self-employment Schedule C, rental property Schedule E, K-1 partnership income, or stock compensation pushes the price to $400 to $900 depending on volume and complexity.

Multi-state returns add $75 to $200 per additional state. Foreign income reporting (Form 8938, FBAR) adds $200 to $500.

Business returns

S-corporation 1120S returns run $700 to $1,500 in Houston. Partnership 1065 returns run $700 to $1,800. C-corporation 1120 returns are $1,000 to $2,500. The price ranges reflect bookkeeping cleanliness more than anything else. If your books are reconciled and tied out, you sit at the low end. If we have to clean up the books before we can prepare the return, that is a separate $300 to $1,500 of bookkeeping work.

Bookkeeping and QuickBooks

Monthly bookkeeping in Houston runs $300 to $900 per month for a single-entity small business with reasonable transaction volume. The driver is monthly transaction count, not revenue. A consulting business doing $500k revenue with 30 transactions per month sits at the low end. A retail business doing $300k revenue with 600 transactions sits at the high end.

What is included at the standard tier: bank and credit card reconciliations, P and L and balance sheet each month, AP and AR coding, payroll journal entries, and one monthly review call. What is not included at the standard tier: full-service AP (paying bills for you), full-service AR (invoicing customers), inventory tracking, multi-entity consolidations. Those are add-ons or upgrades to a higher tier.

First-month cleanup of an existing QuickBooks file usually runs $500 to $2,500 depending on how messy the books are. A clean, current QuickBooks Online setup from scratch runs $300 to $700.

Strategic tax planning

Strategic tax planning is the work that happens before December 31, not in April. A standalone tax-planning engagement in Houston runs $1,500 to $5,000 per year. That includes a full review of your entity structure, an owner-compensation analysis if you are an S-corp, a depreciation strategy, a retirement contribution plan, and quarterly tax projections.

If you are netting under $50,000, the math usually does not justify standalone tax planning. The marginal tax saved is smaller than the fee. If you are netting $100k+, it almost always justifies it (we routinely save clients $5,000 to $25,000 per year in legitimate, legal tax). Between $50k and $100k, it depends on whether the entity structure is right.

Fractional CFO and business advisory

Business advisory is the most variable line item. The Houston market runs $500 to $2,500 per month, with the high end reserved for engagements that include a quarterly board-style strategy session, monthly KPI dashboards, and on-call decision support.

What you get at $500 per month: a monthly call to review numbers, basic budget vs actual, light help with pricing or hiring decisions. What you get at $2,500 per month: cash flow forecasting, formal monthly KPI dashboard, quarterly strategy session with documented outputs, on-call decision support, and one major analysis project per quarter (pricing model, expansion analysis, debt vs equity, M and A diligence).

Tax resolution

Tax resolution is priced per case, not hourly. Most engagements in Houston run $1,500 to $7,500 depending on the complexity of the situation.

• Back tax filings (3 to 5 years catch-up, no IRS contact yet): $1,500 to $3,500

• IRS notice response and installment agreement: $1,500 to $4,000

• Offer in Compromise filing (if you qualify): $2,500 to $5,000

• Audit defense (correspondence audit): $1,500 to $4,000

• Audit defense (in-person field audit): $3,500 to $7,500+

• Trust Fund Recovery Penalty defense: $3,500 to $7,500

Avoid any firm that quotes you a percentage of the savings. That is the tax-resolution-mill model and it is illegal in Texas without specific disclosures. Flat-fee per case is the right model.

When TurboTax or Bench is still fine

We will tell you when you do not need us, because misfit clients are bad for both sides. Use DIY software if all of the following are true.

• Your total household income is under $150,000

• All your income is W-2 (no self-employment, no rentals, no K-1s)

• You take the standard deduction

• You have no equity compensation, no foreign income, no inherited assets this year

• You have not received any IRS notices in the last 12 months

TurboTax Premier ($129) or H and R Block Premium ($89) handle that situation correctly. You do not need a CPA.

Bench, Pilot, and similar bookkeeping services run $250 to $600 per month and work fine for businesses with under 100 transactions per month and no inventory. The trade-off is you do not get an actual CPA reviewing the books, just bookkeepers, so the books are clean but tax-strategy-blind. We have re-done first-year Bench books for several Houston clients because the chart of accounts was wrong for tax purposes.

When you should hire a CPA

• Your business is netting $50,000 or more (entity structure questions get expensive at this level)

• You have rental properties, equity compensation, or partnership K-1s

• You have any IRS notice in the last 24 months

• You are behind on tax filings by 2+ years

• You are about to make a major financial decision (sell a business, buy a property, take on a major loan, hire your first employee)

• You crossed $250,000 personal income or $500,000 business revenue in the last 24 months

How Nguyen Accounting Group prices

We price flat per service, not hourly. Most clients sit in one of three engagement shapes.

Tax return only ($300 to $1,500 per year)

One return per year, prepared by Thuy. Personal or business. Includes a 30-minute year-end check-in call. Best for clients with stable, simple situations who want a CPA-signed return.

Tax planning + tax return ($2,500 to $6,000 per year)

Quarterly tax planning sessions, year-end strategy meeting, and the tax return preparation. Best for business owners netting $50k+ who want to stop overpaying.

Full service ($600 to $1,500 per month)

Monthly bookkeeping, quarterly tax planning, year-end tax return, and on-call advisory. Best for established businesses who want one CPA handling everything.

Tax resolution is quoted separately per case after a free 30-minute review call.

Day 1: what to expect when you start

Free 30-minute consult. We review where you are, what you are hoping to achieve, and quote a flat fee for the engagement before we ask for a credit card. Once you sign the engagement letter, we set up a secure document portal, schedule the kickoff call, and request the documents we need (last 2 years of returns, current bookkeeping file, any IRS correspondence). First deliverable lands in 7 to 14 days for tax prep, 30 days for bookkeeping setup, 14 days for tax planning.

FAQ

Is a CPA worth it for a small business in Houston?

If you are netting under $50,000, probably not. DIY plus a discount tax preparer is fine. If you are netting $50,000 to $150,000, the value depends on whether you have an entity-structure question (LLC vs S-corp). If you are netting over $150,000, almost always yes; the tax savings alone usually pay the fee 2 to 5 times over.

How is a CPA different from a bookkeeper or tax preparer?

A CPA is licensed by the state and can represent you before the IRS. A bookkeeper records transactions. A non-CPA tax preparer can prepare your return but cannot represent you in an audit or negotiate with the IRS on your behalf. For a complex or high-stakes situation, only a CPA, EA, or tax attorney can step in.

Do you charge by the hour or by the project?

We quote flat fees per engagement so you know the cost up front. Hourly billing has perverse incentives. We do not invoice in 0.1-hour increments.

Are there cheaper CPAs in Houston?

Yes, and there are pricier ones. The bottom 10% of Houston tax preparers will do a 1040 for $150. The top 10% of Houston firms will charge $700 for the same return. We sit in the 25th to 50th percentile by price for most services. We compete on follow-through and bilingual service, not on being the cheapest.

Ready to talk

Free 30-minute consult, no obligation. We will look at your situation, tell you whether DIY is fine or whether a CPA makes sense, and quote a flat fee if so. Call (832) 500-4299 or book online.