First, the honest part
There is no current authoritative survey of what CPAs charge. The National Society of Accountants ran the standard one for years and stopped after the 2020–2021 edition. Nobody has published an equivalent since.
So every page confidently telling you “the average CPA in Florida charges X” is doing one of two things: quoting that same 2020 survey without saying how old it is, or quoting its own firm’s price list. We are going to do the first thing, but openly — the real figures, their real date, and an inflation adjustment you can check.
Individual returns
Survey figures are the 2020 averages, shown next to the same amount in August 2026 dollars. “South Atlantic” is the census region Florida sits in, and it is the closest the survey gets to a Florida number — note it runs a little above the national average, not below.
| Return or schedule | 2020 survey | In August 2026 dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Form 1040, standard deduction — national | $220 | $285 |
| Form 1040, standard deduction — South Atlantic | $247 | $320 |
| Form 1040, itemized (Schedule A) — national | $323 | $418 |
| Form 1040, itemized (Schedule A) — South Atlantic | $332 | $430 |
Then add what applies to you
This is how a real quote is built, and it is more useful than any single average. Start with the base return above, then add a fee for each schedule your situation needs.
| Return or schedule | 2020 survey | In August 2026 dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule C — self-employment or a small business | $192 | $249 |
| Schedule E — rental property | $145 | $188 |
| Schedule D / Form 8949 — investment gains and losses | $118 | $153 |
| Schedule F — farm | $200 | $259 |
| Schedule B — interest and dividends | $42 | $54 |
| Schedule SE — self-employment tax | $41 | $53 |
A Florida freelancer with one rental property, itemizing, is therefore looking at roughly $430 + $249 + $188 — around $870, before any firm-specific difference. That is a far better starting expectation than “about $300”.
Business returns
| Return or schedule | 2020 survey | In August 2026 dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Form 1065 — partnership | $733 | $949 |
| Form 1120S — S corporation | $903 | $1,169 |
| Form 1120 — C corporation | $913 | $1,182 |
| Form 1041 — estate or trust | $576 | $745 |
| Form 990 — nonprofit | $735 | $951 |
Does no state income tax make it cheaper? A little.
Florida levies no individual income tax, and that is written into the state constitution rather than set by the legislature. It has a small, real effect on price: the survey’s 1040 figures are for a federal return plus a state return, and a Florida-only filer does not have a state return to prepare. Expect to sit at the lower end of the ranges above rather than the top.
It does far less for a business than people assume. A Florida company can still owe corporate income tax, sales and use tax with a county surtax on top, reemployment tax on payroll, and tangible personal property tax — and the corporate return is due May 1 for a calendar-year filer, not April 15. The absence of a personal income tax removes one return; it does not simplify a business.
Hourly work is different
Return preparation is normally a flat fee per return and schedule. Anything open-ended — cleaning up a year of bad bookkeeping, representing you against an IRS notice, entity structuring, an audit — is normally hourly, and Florida metro rates commonly run $200–$400 an hour. Ask which basis applies before any work starts, and for hourly work ask for an estimated ceiling.
What actually moves your number
- How organized you are. The single biggest controllable factor. A shoebox of receipts is billed as bookkeeping before it is billed as tax work.
- Business activity. A Schedule C, a partnership or an S corp changes the category of work, not just the volume.
- Rental property. Each one adds a Schedule E.
- Other states. Moved to Florida mid-year, or still earning where you came from? That is an extra return, and it is where Florida residents most often get surprised.
- Metro versus small town. Miami, Tampa and Orlando firms sit at the top of these ranges; a sole practitioner inland often sits below them.
- When you call. February is cheaper than April. Some firms price a late-March arrival at a premium, and the good ones are simply full.
When a CPA isn’t worth it
Worth saying plainly on a site that lists CPAs for a living. If you have one or two W-2s, take the standard deduction, and have no business, rental or investment complexity, then commercial tax software will do the same job for a fraction of the price, and a Florida filer does not even have a state return to complicate it. Paying $300 for that is paying for reassurance, which is a real thing to want but worth naming honestly.
A CPA earns the fee when there is a business, a rental, income in more than one state, equity compensation, an inheritance, an IRS letter, or a decision — an entity choice, a property sale, a retirement move — where the planning is worth more than the return.
Three options, cheapest first
Between “do it yourself” and “hire a Florida CPA” there is a middle option most people don’t know about, and it is worth naming rather than pretending the choice is binary.
- Tax software, roughly $0–$130. Genuinely fine for one or two W-2s and the standard deduction. In Florida there is no state return to complicate it.
- A remote licensed preparer, typically a few hundred dollars. A real person prepares and files your return, but remotely and usually cheaper than a local firm. Suits people who want a human but whose return does not need local knowledge — and people catching up on past years, which established firms are often reluctant to take on.
- A local Florida CPA, the ranges on this page. A relationship, someone who knows Florida’s business taxes and your situation over time, and someone who can represent you.
The middle option
Taxfyle (opens in new tab) matches you with a licensed tax professional who prepares and files your return remotely, for a flat fee quoted up front.
Two things to be clear about. Taxfyle routes you to a licensed tax professional — that may be a CPA, an enrolled agent or another credentialed preparer, and they are not necessarily in Florida. And it is a filing service, not an advisor: nobody is going to call you in October about an entity election.
Don’t use it if you run a business that needs Florida sales-and-use or corporate filings, you want year-round planning, you have an IRS notice to answer, or you simply prefer sitting across a desk from someone. Those are the cases where a local CPA is worth the difference, and they are why this directory exists.
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Florida makes the middle option more viable than it would be elsewhere, for one specific reason: with no state individual income tax there is no Florida return to prepare, so a simple individual filer loses very little by using someone out of state. That argument collapses the moment a business is involved — Florida corporate income tax, sales and use tax with a county surtax, reemployment tax and tangible personal property tax are all local, all easy to get wrong, and all reasons to hire locally.
Getting a real quote in one email
Every range on this page is a starting expectation. The way to convert it into a number is to give a firm enough to price you without a meeting:
I need a 2026 return prepared. My situation:
- Filing status, and how many W-2s
- Standard deduction or itemizing
- Self-employment or a business, and which entity type
- Number of rental properties
- Whether I have investment sales to report
- Any state other than Florida I earned in this year
- Whether last year’s return was filed and clean
Could you give me a flat-fee quote, and tell me what would push it higher?
Send that to three firms. The spread you get back is the real answer for your situation, and it takes about ten minutes.
Common questions
- How much does a CPA cost in Florida for a simple tax return?
- Budget roughly $285 to $320 for a straightforward Form 1040 taking the standard deduction. Florida firms commonly advertise $200 to $400 for this work, which brackets that figure. Itemizing pushes it to roughly $420 to $430.
- Why can nobody give me an exact price for a CPA?
- Because no current authoritative fee survey exists. The National Society of Accountants stopped publishing its Income and Fees Survey after the 2020-2021 edition, so every confident number you see online is either that stale survey, or a firm quoting its own prices. Fees also genuinely vary by complexity, location and firm size.
- Does Florida having no state income tax make a CPA cheaper?
- A little, for a straightforward individual return. The national survey figures bundle a state return with the federal one, and a Florida-only filer does not have a state return to prepare. It does not help a business, which still faces Florida corporate income tax, sales and use tax, reemployment tax and tangible personal property tax.
- Is a CPA charged hourly or as a flat fee?
- Tax return preparation is usually a flat fee per return and schedule. Advisory work, cleanup of messy books, audits and IRS representation are usually hourly, commonly $200 to $400 an hour in Florida metros. Ask which one applies before work starts.
- Do I even need a CPA if my return is simple?
- Often not. If you have one or two W-2s, take the standard deduction and have no business, rental or investment complexity, commercial tax software will handle it for a fraction of the cost. A CPA earns their fee when there is a business, rental property, multi-state income, equity compensation, an IRS notice, or a decision worth planning around.
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Get Matched — Free →Where these numbers come from
Fees are the 2020 averages from the National Society of Accountants Income and Fees Survey (opens in new tab), the most recent edition published. Amounts in August 2026 dollars are adjusted with the BLS CPI-U index (opens in new tab) (series CUUR0000SA0): 258.811 in 2020 against 334.980, a factor of 1.2943. Hourly rates and the $200–$400 advertised range are what Florida firms publish on their own sites, not survey data.
These are estimates for budgeting, not quotes, and nothing here is tax advice. Checked .