Shea Business Solutions handles tax preparation in Orlando starting at $90 per return, and this guide covers what tax prep actually costs in 2026: the published national averages by return type, the ranges Orlando businesses really see, and what moves a fee up or down. Use the estimator below for a ballpark, then get a real quote from a free review of your file.
Quick Cost Estimator
Ballpark from published industry fee data. An estimate, not a quote.
Ranges assembled from the National Society of Accountants fee survey and 2026 fee guides published by tax firms (sources cited below). Clearly an estimate: your return is quoted individually. Shea tax prep starts at $90 per return, set after a free review.
Average Tax Prep Fees by Return Type (2026)
Two kinds of published numbers are worth trusting: the fee survey run by the National Society of Accountants, and the fee guides tax firms publish against their own 2026 price lists. Here is what they show side by side.
| Return type | National average (NSA survey, inflation-adjusted) | 2026 firm-quoted ranges |
|---|---|---|
| Form 1040, not itemized | $281 | $150 to $450 |
| Form 1040, itemized | $414 | $250 to $800 |
| Schedule C (added to a 1040) | $245 | $300 to $1,500 all-in |
| S-Corp (Form 1120-S) | $1,123 | $650 to $3,500 |
| Partnership (Form 1065) | $938 | $650 to $5,000 |
| C-Corp (Form 1120) | $1,169 | $800 to $4,000 |
Sources: the National Society of Accountants Income and Fees Survey (2020 survey data, adjusted to current dollars) and 2026 business tax prep fee guides published by CPA firms such as SDO CPA. Every figure above is a published average or range, not a Shea price.
What Moves the Price
Entity type sets the floor. An 1120-S carries payroll interplay, basis tracking, and K-1s that a plain 1040 never sees, which is why the averages triple. Multi-state activity, inventory, and heavy fixed assets each push a return toward the top of its range.
The condition of the books moves the price more than anything else on the list. A preparer quoted on a reconciled QuickBooks file is pricing a return. A preparer handed a shoebox is pricing an excavation, and the cleanup gets billed before the filing does. Getting caught up first is almost always cheaper than paying tax-season rates for the same work.
Why Orlando Prices Vary So Much
The same 1120-S can be quoted at $650 by a small firm and $3,000 by a downtown CPA practice, and both are telling the truth about their model. Big-firm overhead, franchise-storefront volume pricing, and solo preparers all land differently. The useful question is not the sticker, it is what condition your file has to be in for the low quote to hold.
What Shea Charges
Tax preparation here starts at $90 per return, and business returns are quoted after a free review of your file, before any work starts. Because we also keep the monthly books for our tax clients, most of our returns are prepared from files we reconciled ourselves, which is exactly the condition that keeps a quote at the bottom of the ranges above. That combination is the point of our bookkeeping and tax package, and our small business tax prep page covers the filing work itself.
- From $90 per return. The published Shea starting price, individual and business.
- Quoted before work starts. Business returns priced from a free file review.
- Cleanup priced separately. Behind books are quoted as their own project, never buried in the tax fee.
- Cited numbers only. Every industry figure in this guide traces to a published survey or fee guide.
Want a real number for your situation? Call, or use the form at the top of this page. Every message gets a same-business-day answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an S-Corp tax return cost on average?
The National Society of Accountants fee survey puts the average 1120-S around $1,123 in inflation-adjusted dollars, and 2026 fee guides published by CPA firms quote simple S-Corp returns from about $650 at smaller firms up to $3,500 for complex filings.
Why does a preparer cost more than tax software?
Software charges less because you do the work and carry the risk. A preparer is pricing judgment: entity questions, a defensible owner salary, deductions your categories actually support. For a business return, the fee usually competes with a single missed deduction.
Does messy bookkeeping raise the price?
Yes, more than anything else. Preparers bill for the cleanup before they ever touch the return, either as hourly work or a padded fee. Businesses that arrive with reconciled books pay the low end of every range in this guide.
What does Shea Business Solutions charge?
Tax preparation starts at $90 per return. Business returns are quoted after a free review of your file, so the number is set before any work begins. No estimate from any calculator is a quote.
Are tax preparation fees deductible?
For a business, tax prep fees are generally deductible as an ordinary business expense. The personal-return portion generally is not deductible for most filers under current federal rules. Ask us about your specific situation.
