Last updated October 14, 2026. The ranges below are the published starting prices of Houston-area firms that post their fees online, checked that day. How we got them is explained further down.
| Service | Houston range (2026) | Usually included | Usually extra | When it fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Form 1040 | $250 to $500 | Federal return, W-2 income, standard deduction | Itemizing, extra states, foreign accounts | W-2 income only, no notices |
| 1040 with Schedule C, E or K-1 | From $375; $650 or more with several schedules | Self-employment or rental schedules | Each extra schedule or state | Side business, rentals, partnership income |
| Business return (1120S, 1065, 1120) | $675 to $1,250 to start | The entity return from reconciled books | Cleanup of unreconciled books, extra states | Any S corp, partnership or C corp |
| Monthly bookkeeping | $200 to $3,000 a month | Reconciliations and monthly reports | Payroll, sales tax filings, paying bills | A business with steady monthly activity |
| Bookkeeping catch-up | $250 to $400 per month behind | Rebuilding the missing months | Ongoing monthly work | Books behind before a return is due |
| Fractional CFO | No published Houston price; quoted after scoping | Monthly numbers review, forecasts, a quarterly strategy session | Large one-off projects | A growing business that needs finance support |
| IRS tax resolution | Priced per case after the notice is read | Notice response and representation | Unfiled years, separate entity matters | An IRS letter, balance due or audit |
Key numbers
Published starting prices from Houston-area tax and bookkeeping firms (CPA and enrolled agent firms alike), checked October 14, 2026:
- Simple individual return (Form 1040): $250 to $500
- Individual return with self-employment or a rental: from $375, and $650 or more once several schedules are added
- Business return (1120S, 1065 or 1120): $675 to $1,250 to start
- Monthly bookkeeping: $200 to $3,000 a month, set mostly by how many transactions you have
- Bookkeeping catch-up: $250 to $400 for each month behind
Tax return preparation in Houston (2026): $250 to $500 for a simple return
A simple individual return costs $250 to $500 at the Houston-area firms that publish prices, and more once self-employment, rentals or extra states are added. Individual returns at Nguyen Accounting Group start at $950.
A simple 1040 is a federal Form 1040 with W-2 wages and the standard deduction, and nothing else to report. A Schedule C reports self-employment or sole-proprietor income and expenses. A Schedule E reports rental income, along with income from partnerships and S corporations. A K-1 is the form a partnership or S corporation sends each owner showing their share of income, which then goes onto the owner's return.
Starting prices for a return with a Schedule C and a rental begin around $375, and a base fee plus $250 per schedule puts some firms at $650 and up. Each additional state return adds to the price ($250 each at the firm that lists a current figure). Foreign accounts add work too: an FBAR is FinCEN Form 114, the report of foreign bank and financial accounts, and it's filed separately from the return.
What moves the price up or down:
- Up: each extra schedule (C, E, K-1 income), each extra state, foreign accounts, stock compensation, an amended return
- Down: W-2 income only, the standard deduction, organized documents delivered at once, the same situation as last year
Examples, each inside the published ranges:
- Sugar Land single filer, one W-2, standard deduction: within $250 to $500.
- For a Katy freelancer with one Schedule C and no rentals: from about $375.
- Houston owner with a Schedule C, two rentals and a K-1: $650 or more, because each schedule is priced on top of the base fee.
Business tax returns in Houston (2026): $675 to $1,250 to start
An S corporation, partnership or C corporation return starts at $675 to $1,250 at the two Houston-area firms that publish business prices.
An 1120S is the S corporation return, an 1065 is the partnership return and an 1120 is the C corporation return. Published starting prices run $675 for any of the three at one firm, and $950 for an S corporation or partnership and $1,250 for a C corporation at another, for the smallest revenue band. For a wider view, the National Society of Accountants' 2020-2021 survey put Texas averages at $823 for an 1120S, $739 for an 1065 and $1,008 for an 1120.
What moves the price up or down:
- Up: books that aren't reconciled, more revenue or activity, more owners, extra states
- Down: reconciled books that tie out, one owner, one state
Books matter most. If the bank and card accounts don't reconcile, the work starts with a cleanup: rebuilding the missing or wrong months until the books match the bank, which is priced separately (below).
Monthly bookkeeping in Houston (2026): $200 to $3,000 a month
Monthly bookkeeping in Houston runs $200 to $3,000 a month across the firms that publish prices, and the main driver is how many transactions you have each month.
Entry tiers for low-volume businesses start at $200 to $300 a month. Busier books with a few hundred transactions sit in the hundreds to low thousands, and plans that add payroll sit at the top of the range. The standard tier usually covers bank and card reconciliations and a monthly profit and loss and balance sheet. Paying bills, invoicing customers, payroll and sales tax filings are usually add-ons.
What moves the price up or down:
- Up: more transactions, payroll, sales tax filings, inventory, more than one entity
- Down: few transactions, one bank account and one card, no inventory
Examples, each inside the published ranges:
- Missouri City consultant, about 30 transactions a month: an entry tier, from $200 to $300.
- For a Pearland retailer with several hundred transactions and sales tax: well above the entry tier, toward the low thousands with payroll added.
Bookkeeping cleanup in Houston (2026): $250 to $400 per month behind
Catch-up bookkeeping is usually priced per month behind: $250 to $400 a month at the one Houston-area firm that publishes it, or $2,500 to $3,500 for a typical year.
Only one firm we checked publishes cleanup prices, so treat this as a single data point. The work is the same everywhere: gather the statements, rebuild each month, reconcile to the bank, then hand back books a return can be built on.
Fractional CFO in Houston (2026): quoted after a scoping call
No Houston firm we checked publishes a fractional CFO price, so expect a quote after a scoping conversation.
A fractional CFO is a part-time finance lead who reviews the numbers monthly, builds cash flow forecasts and KPI reports, and runs a quarterly strategy session, without a full-time salary. Scope sets the price: how many entities, how often you meet and whether one-off projects such as a pricing model or expansion analysis are included.
IRS tax resolution in Houston (2026): priced per case
Tax resolution is quoted per case after the firm reads your IRS notice; none of the Houston resolution firms we checked publishes a price.
Three terms come up. The IRS says it conducts audits either by mail or through an in-person interview: a correspondence audit is the mail kind, and a field audit is an in-person one at your home or business. An Offer in Compromise is, in the IRS's words, a way that may allow you to settle your tax debt for less than the full amount you owe if you can't pay in full or doing so would cause financial hardship.
Who can represent you matters more than price. The IRS says enrolled agents, CPAs and attorneys have unlimited representation rights before the IRS, including audits, collection issues and appeals. You authorize a representative with Form 2848.
On fees: federal rules for CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys (Treasury Circular 230) generally bar charging a fee based on a percentage of the tax saved for work before the IRS, with narrow exceptions such as some IRS examinations.
TurboTax, Bench or a Houston CPA? A 6-step check
If every step below is a yes, DIY software is likely enough; one no is a reason to talk to a CPA.
- Is your household income under $150,000?
- Is all of your income W-2 wages, with no self-employment, rentals or K-1s?
- Do you take the standard deduction?
- Do you have no equity compensation, foreign income or inherited assets this year?
- Have you had no IRS notices in the last 24 months?
- If you run a business, does it have fewer than 100 transactions a month and no inventory?
| All six answers yes? | What to use |
|---|---|
| Yes | DIY tax software and, for a business, an online bookkeeping service |
| No to any | A CPA, or at least a CPA review of the return and books |
For scale: Intuit listed TurboTax Do It Yourself Premium at $139 for the federal return plus $64 per state when we checked on October 14, 2026, and prices change through the season. Online bookkeeping services publish plans from $99 a month (Pilot's entry plan) to $199 to $649 a month (Bench, which paused operations in December 2024 and now runs under Employer.com). Those services keep books clean, but a CPA builds them with the tax return in mind.
When to hire a CPA instead:
- Your business nets $50,000 or more, because the return and the books behind it get more complex
- You have rental properties, equity compensation or partnership K-1s
- Any IRS notice has arrived in the last 24 months
- You are two or more years behind on filings
- Personal income crossed $250,000 or business revenue crossed $500,000 in the last 24 months
How we got these numbers
On October 14, 2026 we checked the websites of 28 Houston-area tax, accounting and bookkeeping firms, in Houston, Sugar Land, Katy, Spring, The Woodlands, Cypress and Pearland. Seven publish prices.
Each range above runs from the lowest to the highest published starting price for that service. Where only one or two firms publish a figure, we say so. Firms based outside the Houston area were left out, and we did not use our own fees. Starting prices are a floor: every firm quotes after seeing your documents.
How Nguyen Accounting Group quotes
Individual returns start at $950. For everything else, we quote after a 15-minute intro call, once we know what you need.
That covers how many returns you need, whether you want bookkeeping through the year and whether there's an IRS matter to sort out. Use the ranges above to check any quote you get, ours included. We work in English and Vietnamese.
About this guide
Written for Nguyen Accounting Group, a CPA firm at 12440 Emily Ct Suite 303, Sugar Land, TX 77478, led by Thuy Nguyen, JD, CPA, CTC, CTRS. Her CPA license shows as current on the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy license lookup (checked October 14, 2026). Office hours are Monday to Thursday, 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm, and Friday, 9am to 12pm. Call (832) 500-4299.
Book Your 15-Minute Intro Call, or call (832) 500-4299. Pick a time, talk for 15 minutes, and decide together whether to work with us. For what a return involves, see our tax preparation services.
