Published October 21, 2026 · Tax & Accounting Services
Choosing a CPA in Bergen County: The Questions That Actually Separate Firms
Most guidance on choosing an accountant tells you to check credentials, ask about fees, and make sure you get along. That is true and it is not useful, because every firm passes it.
The questions below are the ones that produce different answers from different firms. They are written from the other side of the desk, by people who have been asked them and who know which ones reveal something. Several of them will be uncomfortable for us to answer as well.
Confirm the license. New Jersey maintains a public verification system, and checking takes two minutes.
"CPA" and "tax preparer" are not the same credential, and the difference matters for what the person can do when something goes wrong.
Ask who does the work, not who sells it. In many firms the person in the meeting is not the person on the return.
Ask what they will not do. A firm that claims everything is a firm that has not specialized in anything.
If you have anything cross-border between New Jersey and New York, licensing in both states is a practical question, not a formality.
What we see that most coverage does not say: the most common reason new clients give us for leaving a prior accountant is not that the return was obviously wrong. It is lack of responsiveness and proactive contact during the year, often combined with the feeling that the business has outgrown a compliance-only relationship.
First, verify the license
New Jersey licenses certified public accountants through the Division of Consumer Affairs, and license status is publicly verifiable. Check it. It takes two minutes and it is the only item on this list with a binary answer.
While you are there, understand the distinction that catches people out.
A CPA holds a state license, meets education and examination requirements, is subject to continuing education, and is bound by professional standards and state board oversight.
A tax preparer may be competent and experienced, and is not necessarily licensed in the same way. Anyone preparing returns for compensation needs a preparer identification number from the IRS, which is a registration rather than a professional license.
An enrolled agent is federally authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS, having passed a specialized examination or qualified through experience. Enrolled agents are genuine specialists in tax representation.
The distinction matters most when something goes wrong. Representation rights before the IRS, and the ability to perform attest work such as audits and reviews that a lender may require, are not equally available across these categories.
The questions that reveal something
"Who will actually do my work?"
In many firms the person who meets you is a partner whose role is relationships, and the work is performed by staff you will not meet. That is not wrong, and it is how firms scale. What matters is whether you are told.
Ask who prepares, who reviews, who you call with a question in June, and how quickly you get an answer. A firm that cannot describe its own process clearly is describing a process that does not exist.
"What do you not do?"
A firm that handles individual returns, business returns, audits, bookkeeping, payroll, valuations, estate planning, international tax and representation, at a high standard, for all client sizes, is describing an aspiration.
Firms specialize. The useful answer sounds like: we do not do audits, we refer them; we are not the right firm for a business over a certain size; we do not do international and we have someone we trust for it. A firm that tells you its limits is a firm that knows them.
"Have you worked with a business like mine?"
Not an industry buzzword. A specific description of a comparable situation and what was involved.
Industry matters more than owners expect, because the issues cluster by industry. Construction has work in progress and surety reporting. Restaurants have tip reporting and sales tax exposure. Cannabis has a federal tax position that shapes everything. Professional services have owner compensation questions. Real estate has passive activity rules and depreciation planning.
"What will you tell me during the year?"
This is the question we would put first if we could only ask one.
A firm that sees you once a year, at filing time, is reporting history. By the time a return is being prepared, the year is over and almost every planning decision has already been made by default.
Ask specifically: will we have a conversation before year end, and what will it cover. A firm with a real answer has a process. A firm that says it depends has one process, which is to wait for your documents.
"How do you charge, and what is not included?"
The second part is where surprises live. Ask what triggers a fee outside the engagement: a notice from a taxing authority, an amended return, a question that takes more than a phone call, a lender's request for additional information.
You are not looking for the cheapest answer. You are looking for an answer that exists in writing before the work starts.
"Are you licensed in New York as well as New Jersey?"
In this part of the state this is a practical question, not a technicality.
A large share of Bergen and Hudson County residents earn income in New York. That produces a non-resident New York filing alongside a New Jersey resident return, with a credit mechanism between them that is not automatic and not always equal to what was paid. Allocation, days worked in each state, and the order in which the returns are prepared all affect the outcome.
The same applies to businesses with employees or operations on both sides of the river.
A firm licensed in one state can still prepare returns, but where a matter needs representation or attest work in the other state, licensing becomes the question. If your situation is cross-border, ask.
"What happens if I get a notice?"
Notices are routine. What is not routine is how firms respond to them.
Ask whether responding is included, how quickly they respond, and whether the person who handles it is the person who prepared the return. A firm that treats a notice as a new engagement with a new fee is telling you something about the relationship.
"Can I see how you would organize my year?"
The answer separates firms that have a method from firms that react. It need not be elaborate. A firm with a method can describe what happens in each quarter without preparing anything.
Questions that sound good and are not
"How long have you been in business?" Longevity correlates with stability and with nothing else. A long-established firm may be carrying processes designed for a different era. A newer firm may be built by people with substantial experience elsewhere, which is our situation: TC Advisors was founded in 2025 by two partners with Big Four backgrounds. If you want a firm with a thirty-year local history, we are not that firm, and there are good ones nearby.
"Are you the biggest?" Size determines capacity, not quality, and for a small business a large firm often means being the smallest client in the portfolio.
"Can you guarantee a refund?" No one can, and a firm suggesting otherwise is describing an outcome that depends on your facts, not on their skill. Be careful with anyone who quantifies a result before seeing your situation.
"Do you use the latest software?" Everyone uses comparable software. It differentiates nothing.
What to bring to the first meeting
The last two years of returns, business and personal.
Your current year to date financials if you have a business.
A list of anything that changed: a property bought or sold, a new state, a new entity, an employee hired in another state, an inheritance.
A list of what frustrated you about your last accountant. This is the most useful item, and the one people leave out.
A firm that reads the prior returns before the meeting is a firm that prepares. A firm that opens them in front of you is a firm that did not.
A note on what we are and are not
We advise business owners, with a concentration in transactions, fractional CFO work, tax strategy and real estate. TC Advisors was founded in 2025 by two partners with Big Four backgrounds, and the firm is licensed in New Jersey and New York. We are a small firm and selective about the work we take because we would rather do a smaller number of engagements properly.
We do not perform audits. We refer them. We are probably not the right firm if what you need is a straightforward individual return at the lowest available price, and we will say so in the first conversation rather than after you have signed.
If what you need is someone who will call you in October rather than February, that is the work we are built for.
Where to start
Interview more than one firm. Ask the questions above. Note which ones produce a specific answer and which produce a general one.
If you are in Bergen or Hudson County and want an hour to work out whether we are a fit, that conversation is free and it is not a sales meeting. Occasionally the right answer is that your current accountant is doing fine and you need something narrower, and we will tell you that.
TC Advisors CPA is a Hackensack firm licensed in New Jersey and New York. Ask us the questions in this guide; we would rather be measured against them than against a general impression.
Meet the firm →Signals worth noticing in the first meeting
Beyond the answers, the meeting itself carries information.
Did they read the prior returns before you arrived? A firm that prepared has already formed questions. A firm opening them in front of you is improvising.
Did they ask about the business or only about the paperwork? An accountant who does not understand how you make money will produce accurate returns and no useful advice.
Did they tell you anything you did not want to hear? A first meeting consisting entirely of agreement is a sales meeting.
Did they explain something clearly? The ability to make a technical point plain is the skill you will rely on every time something complicated happens.
Did they commit to anything specific? A date, a deliverable, a scope in writing. Specific commitments in a first meeting predict specific commitments later.
Switching firms, and when to do it
Owners stay with an unsuitable accountant far longer than they should, usually because switching feels disruptive at the wrong time of year.
The disruption is smaller than expected. A new firm needs the prior two years of returns, the accounting file, and access to the current records. Most of the transition is administrative, and a professional predecessor will cooperate in handing over.
The better time to switch is shortly after a filing season rather than during one, which gives the new firm a full cycle to understand the business before anything is due.
Reasons that justify the move: you only hear from them at filing time, questions take weeks, the same error recurs, you have outgrown what they do, your situation has changed in a way they do not handle, or you have lost confidence in the accuracy of the work.
Reasons that usually do not: a single fee increase, one late filing in an otherwise good relationship, or a difficult year where the tax outcome was driven by your results rather than by their work.
What you should expect from any firm you hire
A written engagement letter setting out scope and fees before work begins. A named person responsible for your account. Responses within a stated timeframe. Notice of deadlines before they arrive rather than after. Plain explanations of anything that affects what you owe. And honesty about the limits of their expertise, including a referral when a matter is outside it.
These are not high standards. They are the baseline, and a firm that cannot commit to them in a first conversation is unlikely to meet them later.
Questions we get asked about fees
Nick Termine, CPA
Price is a legitimate factor and it should not be the first one. The relevant comparison is not fee against fee, it is fee against what the engagement includes and what happens when something unexpected arises. A lower fee with everything billed separately is frequently the higher number.
Nick Termine, CPA
Both work. Fixed fees suit predictable recurring work and give you certainty. Hourly suits open-ended matters where nobody can scope the work honestly in advance. What matters is that the basis is agreed in writing before the work starts.
Nick Termine, CPA
Yes, and a firm that never raises fees is usually absorbing the increase somewhere you cannot see. What is not reasonable is a material increase arriving with the invoice rather than before the work.
A final thought
The accountant relationship is one of the few professional relationships where the cost of a poor fit compounds quietly. A bad outcome rarely announces itself. It shows up as decisions made without input, elections not considered, a structure never revisited, and a cumulative gap between what happened and what could have happened.
That is why the questions about communication matter more than the questions about technical expertise. Most licensed professionals can prepare an accurate return. Far fewer will call you in the autumn to tell you about something you should do before December.
Before you decide
Write down, before the meetings, the three things that matter most to you. Responsiveness during the year. Industry familiarity. A specific technical capability. A fee you can predict.
Then score each firm against your own three rather than against a general impression. The firm you liked most in conversation is not reliably the firm that will serve you best, and having written the criteria down beforehand is what protects against deciding on rapport alone.
Two meetings with two firms, an hour each, is a small investment against a relationship that will shape financial decisions for years.
Finally, ask each firm what they would want to know about your business that you have not told them. The question is unusual enough that the answer is unrehearsed, and it reveals how they think about a client they have just met. A firm that asks about your customer concentration, your succession intentions, or how you are paid is already doing the work. A firm with nothing to ask has already decided you are a return rather than a relationship.
- State of New Jersey, Division of Consumer Affairs. State Board of Accountancy www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/acc
- Internal Revenue Service. Choosing a Tax Professional www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/choosing-a-tax-professional
- Internal Revenue Service. Enrolled Agent Information www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/enrolled-agents
- Internal Revenue Service. Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications irs.treasury.gov/rpo/rpo.jsf
Talk to TC Advisors CPA
Our Hackensack office works with business owners and real estate investors across Bergen County, New Jersey and New York. Tell us what you are working on and we will tell you plainly whether we can help.
Book a conversation →
