I made the big mistake of engaging Steve Leek to prepare my tax returns for 2 s-corps and our…read morepersonal return. From the beginning it felt like I was being audited by the IRS and he wasted a tremendous amount of my time arguing with me about our business use of an asset, insisting what I claimed couldn't be true and asked me to produce detailed supporting documentation even though his engagement letter states he does not audit and trusts that his client has proper documentation to support the information provided. Even after I provided supporting documentation he stated was sufficient for the IRS, he continued to argue when I pointed out he had some other data wrong. He then dictated how he would file my return without securing my agreement first. After 7 days of his argumentative and insulting nature I realized he was not the right fit and found another CPA. I asked him to stop working, yet he continued spending time on my file and then added that to his bill. Up front he agreed to a particular amount to prepare all 3 tax returns and he took 1/3rd down payment from each company and us personally. We never made it past preliminary discussion regarding the tax return, and he did no actual tax preparation. I asked for a refund for the other company and personal retainer we paid as well as a time log for time spent on the first company. I received an outrageous bill for the first company equal to 2 times the agreed upon fee. Keep in mind, he never did any actual tax prep. He only argued and interrogated me via email for 7 days. He is refusing to refund my other company and our personal credit card even though he rendered no services for them and has instead applied those funds toward payment for the first company. His "time log" was clearly manually generated and does not account for the time he is charging me for. He threatened to take legal action if I don't pay the balance of his bill within 24 hours of receiving it. Based on my experience, I find him to be unethical and condescending and should be avoided. My new CPA and I faced the same exact debate, but instead discussed the options, weighed the risks and together quickly came to a decision of how to file that we both feel confident with. No ego and mutual respect go a long way.

From the owner: Leek & Associates is a full service firm. We do financial statement audits and preparation for both…read moresmall and large companies, business and personal tax planning and preparation, and accounting and consulting services.