Overpriced with little respect for client rights and satisfaction. $495 for 40 minutes of time…read more What followed after was I found a higher tax return elsewhere after double checking the Lake Steven tax accountants work. I lost trust in the company after this and did not want to provide further personal information they requested nor continue in a client service agreement. The front desk rebutted this with a threat to file our tax return anyway since that's what I authorized in a document signed (causing a double filed return and problems with the IRS I imagine). No partial refund authorized. Be careful with this company!​

I made an appointment inquiry online. They have a form to fill out and a deposit of $100 towards…read moreyour service is paid. Then you get an appointment. Correspondence was quick and friendly. Office is upstairs, has a large waiting area with plenty of snacks. Mr Farmer was pleasant and worked quickly through our past and current tax situation. Answered my questions and made suggestions for next year. We received the final documents through a share file. We returned our signed paperwork through this sharing method. So nice not to have to go back in. They file electronically and gave us all the info to make our payment to the IRS. I was pleased with our services here.

I have several issues with this company. 1. I emailed them…read moretwice through their "Contact us" on their website. No one ever got back to me. 2. I called today to get an appointment to see what they offered and explained what I was looking for. I was told that IF I became a client the hourly fee to meet with them would be rolled into my payment for services. But if not I would "just be responsible" for the regular hourly rate. I did not even ask what that was because the other companies I have reached out to have all met with me gratis for an initial consultation. I am self employed, I "get" the desire to be paid for one's services. But I also "get" that if you want new business you have to be willing to sell yourself and one should not be charged to shop. Needless to say, Carter & Co. are off my list of potential new accountant firms.

Initially I was excited to work with them, from the first impression they looked like a good team…read moreof competent CPA's and Bookkeepers. However, after the first year, the problems started. From the lack of consistent accounts we were assigned, which caused organization issues, to communication and especially accountability issues (sending the IRS wrong information and causing confusion with IRS inquires). First we were assigned about 3-4 CPA's over a short time (about 3 years) with them. So every year we'd have someone new to work with, and after we had some mis-handling of our IRS responses, we were told we may need to pay $4000+ additional to the IRS for an issue that we didnt cause. It wasn't lack of payment to the IRS but a penalty for lack of records that were sent to the IRS during the first year Carter & Company did our taxes. We were told by our previous CPA that the records were sent and have proof, so are now handling this ourselves but it took Carter & Company about 18 monhts to even figure out what the issue was to begin with. I believe it's mostly due to the constant switching of CPA's & bookkeepers, so I got upset about the possible penalty fee and Carter & Company fired me as a client for attempting to hold them accountable. So we parted ways, but we also had an agreement for a fixed amount of bookkeeping/tax filing (pre-funding our company tax filing), which we started in 2017 but now that we're not spending all of our credit (since we're going to a new CPA elsewhere), it really seems like we're being over charged for our final invoice and not being credited our full amount paid over the last year. Rather than working with me through the confusion and crediting our account as agreed, they just send snide emails, threatening collections. So if you ever leave Carter & Company for a new CPA they seem to be be fairly non-communicative and inflexible, plus if you have a credit you better have it very iron-clad documented if you plan on getting your credit back. I'm looking for a CPA who will be there consistently (year after year), to build a long term relationship and have great communication (both with me and any IRS/tax issues or questions), rather than out-sourcing it to the next bookkeeper or CPA in line. I think these guys are more built for in and out, next in line please. So if you don't mind a different CPA being assigned annually (or possibly more often), they're probably fine. However, if you want a good long term relationship with your CPA and someone who will learn your books inside and out, someone who will guide you or your company through any IRS statements and inquires, both accurately and promptly, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

I usually file my own taxes unless something special comes up (a few years ago I used a CPA in…read moreCalifornia and he was so-so). Well last year I started my own business and that was special enough. I have never met Rebecca. We took care of everything over the phone or via email. How refreshing it is to work with someone who is responsive to email! Rebecca is very nice, took the time to answer all my inane questions, and I have a strong feeling that I paid the exact right amount on my federal taxes... taking every deduction I deserved and no more. She even laid out options for reducing taxes by opening an IRA. Rebecca is located in Bothell, not Bellevue as the entry states.

Becky has been doing the taxes for our general contracting business for at least the last 16 years…read more She is so efficient, gets everything done in a timely manner and is always so patient- even when I seem to ask the same questions year after year. Like the other reviewer said, everything is easily done over the internet, fax and phone. Even though we've had a business relationship for so many years, I think I've only met her in person a couple times! I highly recommend Rebecca Braun, CPA to anyone with a need for tax help. She is great.

My wife is a partner at a law firm and I am an owner of a medical practice. Ryan Blume has been our…read moreCPA for the past 5 years and we couldn't be happier with his services. Ryan is extremely knowledgeable and always presents information that neither my wife nor I have thought of when it comes to our finances. I would highly recommend him and his associates for your accounting needs.

I used Blume when he was employed in Moss Adam (the arrangement was that another CPA prepares it…read moreand Blume files it, and Blume left Moss Adam before he did the filing). He sounds like a confident and skillful CPA, and is nice to talk to. But when I asked him specific tax planning questions, sometimes he gave very general or very vague answers that are not very helpful. There were wrong answers too that I found out in my own followup research. Advise those who wants to work with him do a thorough interview and ask concrete questions about your specific situation, to make sure he can handle them well. That said, my tax situation had some extra considerations that may not be the case for others.

Easily one of the best CPA firms I have ever worked with. Knowledgeable? Check. Responsive? Check…read more Competent and reliable? Check and check. These folks care about their customers and their community and it shows in their commitment to non-profits and people. Thank you for your professionalism and kindness in helping my business and family with our accounting and taxes these past few years!

Don't count on this company to stand by you. If you are looking for a stable, long term…read morerelationship with an accountant, avoid Vine Dahlen. My 93 old mother was left high and dry, terminated as a client with NO explanation offered whatsoever. Her tax preparation requires nothing very difficult or out of the ordinary. Vine Dahlen was compensated at a very high rate for the couple of hours it took to complete my Mom's tax return. Perhaps she didn't provide enough revenue for Vine Dahlen? Perhaps they are ageists? My mother is a sweet old lady who always paid her bill on time. She mistakenly thought she had a reliable accounting firm that was as trustworthy as she is...

Very nice people but I would never use them again…read more I had them prepare my taxes for the last four years. First year was great. Then they incrementally increase their fees year over year while doing the exact same work. As a customer I felt taken advantage of. First year they charge me approximately $400 to prepare my taxes. This year they charged nearly $1000 to prepare the exact same taxes. Now that would've been fine if they had notified me prior to doing the work that they would be charging me 100% more to do my taxes this year. That way I would've i could have made an informed decision to either say yes or no to the work. Instead they perform the work and then blindside me with with an enormous bill. It would've been one thing if they had used some special accounting magic and lowered my tax obligation but that was not the case. For their thousand dollar bill I could've gotten the exact same results filing standard deductions using $30 TurboTax. So basically as they observed my income increasing over the years they decided to charge me more to prepare my taxes even though the work was exactly the same. To me that just shows a lack of ethics. So even though they're very nice I would never use them again nor will I recommend them to anyone that I know.

Steve is a great accountant!! He's open, honest and trustworthy. He's very knowledgeable and…read moreprovides great information. He's always there to answer my questions, even if it's just a short answer. Most importantly: HE HAS SAVED US A LOT OF MONEY! We've resisted using an accountant for a long time--until our taxes got too complicated. I thought we were doing pretty good using Turbo Tax but Steve knows so much more and can find deductions that we didn't realize existed. Paying for an accountant to do your taxes is often thought of as an unneeded expense but I think Steve is worth the money. Especially if he saves us time and money as well as peace of mind knowing our taxes are in good hands. His fees are very fair. He does what he says he will do and we don't get surprises for hidden or added costs. I highly recommend him!

Tom Simon CPA has done my parents taxes for years and has searched for every deduction possible…read more Mom died 4 months ago and Tom has helped my 97 yr old step dad and myself through the process of completing the 2013 taxes while starting work on her federal estate income tax. Even when I can't find receipts or records he will contact whatever agency to get the numbers necessary. I am going to hire him to do my 2014 taxes too! His charges are very reasonable for the work he has to do.

I popped into Tom's office today, without an appointment, with a couple questions about our…read moreprevious years' taxes, and he was very friendly and helpful. I usually do our taxes with confidence, however, I recently hit a bump in the road, and he clearly answered all my questions. If I can't sort things out on my own, I will definitely be using his services moving forward. It's very nice having a local Wedgwood such as his!

March 6, 2026, WARNING!! to any existing or potential clients, please read this review. I am 74 and…read morein poor health, I was an independent family Doctor in Tacoma for 45 years. I kept my private practice open during Covid despite great financial loss out of my retirement fund to pay my staff, but only see emergent patients. And unfortunately, my entire staff including myself contracted Covid. But this was my community duty as a Family Doctor, and my hippocratic oath. The federal government offered some help to partially compensate doctors that kept their private practices open during the pandemic with a program called the employee retention credit. elite CPA assured me after a 45 year relationship that they could take care of the necessary CPA paperwork for federal reimbursement. Apparently elite sent in the wrong forms or filled them out incorrectly, and then sent the corrected forms late past the government guidelines; after working on these for over three years, costing me thousands and thousands of dollars. I can't afford the loss because I'm retired and run a private rescue ranch for horses, dogs, and cats which is very expensive. Instead of investigating what happened and compensate me if THEY found any mistakes that were made, Mr. Dadgar the principal, decided not to investigate what happened or give me any explanation for all the money that was lost, and then terminated our relationship without cause. I am currently asking the Washington State board of accountancy to do a thorough investigation and apply any necessary penalties and fines. If they find professional misconduct, mistakes, neglect, and or fraud, penalties could include large fines, and loss of their state license. I have given the state proof of mistakes, misconduct, and neglect, which caused their client great financial loss. Also possible fraud as they held a $53,000 check for months all the time denying they had it, and making me go through the trouble of trying to get a second check from the IRS; which probably raised a red flag for my account for AUDIT! Is there anyone out there that would want a CPA like this? I have tried to communicate with elite CPA to resolve our fee dispute, and just find out what happened. But all I get is threats of penalty fees and collection agencies. Elite CPA even refused to send my records so I could find out what happened, and find a new CPA, which is the state law. PLEASE, if you ever had an independent family DOCTOR that cared for you and your family, help me resolve this by calling elite CPA and ask them to fulfill their professional obligations. I am in very poor health, and this is not how I wanted to spend my retirement. Believe me, these people will not have your back if there's any problems. Tonight is Friday, March 6, 2026, I will continue to keep this review posted of the outcome of the states investigations and results, and any state fines, or penalties; and if elite decides to fulfill their obligations. THANK YOU in advance. Dr. Ken

Allan has been our accountant since he took over from the previous owner who had been our…read moreaccountant for 30 years and was excellent. We were worried at first because we had received such excellent service in the past. We needn't have worried as Allan has been great. He is very knowledgeable skilled and understands our needs. Not only is he a good accountant but he is a nice and warm person. We're very satisfied.