Smeed CPA, Inc - Brentwood, California

Barbara V.

I would give zero stars if I could. I met with Michael, he was very pleasant but he said I would need to speak with someone else on pricing. I dropped by and they said that to file 1year of taxes is 1,250.00 as a W2 employee. That's insane! I found someone else that charges 170.00-250.00. I should have know when he didn't want to give me pricing it was going to be bad.

Olivia D.

I'd leave 0 stars if I could. They have not returned our phone calls, emails or any type of communication in over 6 months. They charged us for financial planning that never occurred, are withholding our tax information and don't have an active phone number where they return calls. I'd never recommend them.

Rahshel B.

This will be a long review, so TLDR: if you value honesty, integrity, organization, accuracy, personalized tax guidance, and good customer service, DO NOT use Smeed CPA for their tax services. I unfortunately did not give much weight to the negative reviews I saw of them, and have now paid the price with my money, time, energy, and sanity.

When my husband and I agreed to work with Smeed, we thought we were getting CPAs that we could trust and would help us navigate this complicated tax system as new business owners. Unfortunately, they turned out to be dishonest, not honoring promises made when we signed up, disorganized in planning our meetings and tax returns, and did not provide good tax advice for the stage we were at in our businesses, recommending we do an S-Election when we weren't even profitable yet (luckily, due to their disorganization, the documents were never actually filed).

They didn't truly understand our businesses, or at the very least, greatly oversimplified them, and seemed to offer a one size fits all solution for tax planning. Not to mention, they are very unresponsive to email communications, which required us to reach out several times and in some instances having to call before we got a response.

This entire experience was a nightmare that was dragged out for entirely too long. Our 2021 tax return was not completed until January 2023, and that was only after me getting fed up and letting them know I'd be doing a chargeback on my credit card if they did not complete our returns. Then they had the nerve to push the blame on us and our bookkeeping, when we were looking to their guidance all year and doing what they told us to do as our CPAs. They knew we were new business owners. They took it upon themselves to recommend entity types, all kinds of documents and meeting minutes we should keep and notarize, getting hotel event space quotes, but apparently ensuring we had proper bookkeeping was out of scope? They didn't even let us know what documents they would need from us for tax filing until it was tax filing time, leaving us scrambling, and all the other documents they had us working on all year turned out to be irrelevant and a waste of time.

Fast forward to filing our 2022 tax return, we have found a CPA who actually cares enough to fully understand our tax situation and they have found multiple glaring issues with our 2021 return, requiring us to do an amendment. Smeed preaches education, which is what drew us to them as new business owners, but they are not educating you on information specific to your situation, just general tax loopholes.

All in all, highly DO NOT RECOMMEND. They did not provide the support and guidance expected of a CPA, and we ultimately overpaid for an INCORRECT personal tax return.

sabry H.

It has been wonderful experience for the first visit to Smeed CPA. I have been procrastinating for so long with 2015 individual tax return, filing an extension after my tax situation changed, gave-up searching for reputable accountant who can listen and understand my needs without using stopwatch to charge by the minute, and also finding CPA who treats individuals same as treating small/medium business clients.
I found Smeed CPA by accidents from a trustworthy online CPA referral and could not be happier after my very first consultation visit with Michael Uaiadle. Not only he took extra time to address all my questions, listening and providing professional opinions, he was able to ease my stress since I was very close to extension deadline and still missing additional documentation. Kudos Michael and entire office staff who instantly scanned my documents while in the office and immediately begun the tax return preparation. I received follow-up phone calls and online emails almost immediately reminding me of missing paperwork that I needed to provide. The tax return was completed in record time once my documentations were provided. I believe, it took less than 5 days from start to finish and the fee was less than tax preparation chain or what I have been charged previously by other CPA firms. Michael and staff have been EXCELLENT through the process! Thank you for all you do and keep up the great service.

Sunshine H. P.

I own a small business and recently started using Smeed CPA. They do accounting and financial planning in Brentwood CA. At our first meeting, I was most impressed by Michael's true interest and curiosity about our business. He was very knowledgeable about accounting (you think that would be a given, but I think I know more about accounting than our last CPA). Michael and his team (which is extensive) have quickly resolved the issues our last CPA created and are filing correct returns that are now due under a deadline.

I have also met twice with their financial planner, Pablo, and was equally impressed with him. They are both very clear and give as much information as you want to have. You will quickly come to know they're strongly committed to being thorough, fast, and ethical.

Alphonso G.

Michael Uaiadle and his staff have been GREAT! I started a non-profit organization in 2009 and have been looking for a tax preparation company that has a background in non-profit tax preparation. The two previous companies I used did not know how to prepare my taxes, even though they claimed to have prepared hundreds of non-profit taxes. Unfortunately both times I received a notice from the IRS stating that the returns were not prepared correctly (very stressful). Michael took his time to explain different requirements and options and gave me sound advise. Filing the organizations taxes was stress free this time. Not only was it fast, Smeeds paperless system allows me to have access to my files 24/7 from wherever I'm at. If you have a non-profit organization, Michael and Smeed CPA, Inc. is a must.

Saint B.

This was my first visit to Smeed CPA. I went to H&R Block last year and was treated with contempt after realizing a mistake had been made on my taxes. The tax preparer refused to give me contact information for the manager. I had to contact their corporate offices and the process was timely, frustrating and still unsettling, They did not even apologize. Smeed's staff was very professional and yet friendly. My questions were welcomed, and clear explanations were given. I am so relieved Smeed made filing my tax returns easy even though I waited until the last minute. They were excellent at making my anticipated nightmare a surprisingly pleasant experience. Thank you Smeed CPA! I will see you next year!

Steve H.

I've known Michael for some 5 years now and he has "watched over" my tax obligations and in general my IRS experiences as I've traveled from California to Scotland to Colorado. Michael is ALWAYS available even in the tumultuous days of April as everyone is knocking on his door.

He has guided me through California tax obligations, expatriate queries and in general has put us in the best of position as we now, back on solid US soil, continue on our way...

Cheers and much thanks to you Michael and Smeed as quite frankly you are the best... Steve & Shannon