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120 returns at $350 plus 15 business returns is a $60,000 season — $78/hr across all 770 season hours, before the fall extensions.
Tax prep is a sprint business with an annuity hidden inside it. The sprint: 120 individual returns at $350 plus 15 business returns at $1,200 is a $60,000 season — $78/hr across 770 season hours when you count admin, questions, and corrections, not just prep time. The annuity: extension revenue in the fall, advisory engagements May through December, and monthly accounting clients that convert a seasonal shop into a firm. This calculator runs your season, prices the follow-on work, and shows the true hourly.
Preparers use it before setting the fee schedule: 120 returns at $350 is a $60k season at $78/hr true — and extensions plus advisory work are what turn the sprint into a firm.
Per-form fee schedules beat hourly billing for one mechanical reason: the work scales with complexity while the clock punishes your speed. Base 1040 at $250–450, then per-form lines — Schedule C adds $150–300, rentals $75–150 per property, K-1s $50–100 each, business returns $800–2,500 depending on books condition. Publish the schedule and the price conversation disappears; hide it and every return starts with negotiation. The disciplines that protect the season: organizers required (incomplete documents mean the return waits, not your evenings), a drop-dead date for on-time filing (March 25 — later arrivals file on extension at premium pricing, which converts April chaos into October revenue), and annual fee increases of $15–25 per return — below inflation since 2020 means a real pay cut. The capacity math: one preparer with good intake discipline handles 150–250 returns per season; past that you hire seasonal prep staff ($25–35/hr) whose returns you review — the reviewer's hour sells 3–4 prepared hours.
The seasonal shop becomes a firm through three levers. Extensions first: 20–30% of clients file on extension — billed at ~60% of the return fee in September/October, that is found fall revenue from work the season already acquired. Advisory second: 15% of return clients will pay $300–600 for year-end planning — entity election timing, retirement contribution calibration, estimated-tax setup — scheduled May through December, it roughly doubles the practice's effective hourly because it is knowledge work, not throughput work. Monthly accounting third: bookkeeping, payroll, and sales tax for your business-return clients converts the seasonal relationship into a monthly retainer — 20 bookkeeping clients at $350/mo is $84,000/yr that shows up every month regardless of April. Representation work is the premium layer for EAs and CPAs: audits, notices, penalty abatements, and offers-in-compromise at $150–400/hr — the highest-rate work in tax, marketing itself through every scary IRS letter your clients receive. The credential ladder funds all of it: EA or CPA status justifies the top of every fee band.
Lean: $3,000–12,000 first year. The stack: credential (EA exam ~$700 total, or work under an established firm first), professional tax software ($2,000–8,000/yr — the big fixed cost, priced per-return or unlimited), E&O insurance ($500–1,500/yr), PTIN registration (free), EFIN application for e-filing (free but background-checked — apply early, it takes weeks), office (home office works; a storefront is a marketing decision), and intake infrastructure (organizer templates, engagement letters, secure client portal — $30–80/mo). The revenue ramp reality: year one is 40–80 returns from friends, referrals, and local visibility — $15–25k season; the book compounds by retention (clients return at 85–95% rates) plus referral, so year three typically doubles year one. The non-obvious costs: continuing education (required for credentials, worth it for the rate justification), the security plan (IRS WISP requirement — written data-security plan is legally required for preparers), and your January–April personal life. The franchise alternative (Liberty, H&R Block seasonal) pays a wage instead of building equity — fine for learning, expensive for staying. Start lean, price from the schedule, and let retention compound.