He really is a great accountant. I highly recommend him for any of your needs. He is super nice and helpful.

I don't write many reviews but this is warranted. As a freelancer in the city, I needed help filing taxes so I went to Marc. When filing as a freelancer on 1040ES, you're supposed to pay quarterly estimates. Repeatedly over the 3 years I used Marc, he told me as long as I paid ALL of the estimated taxes by the final due date as opposed to quarters, I'd be ok and not be fined. Well I'm sitting here at 3 years since using Marc and now I have received fines from the IRS for 2 of the years I used his services. Luckily I've switched to someone else who told me I should 100% be paying quarterly and no fines so far. And also saving a couple hundred on prep costs. I cannot recommend Marc's tax prep services for this reason. If you're cutting corners on taxes it'll end up costing you in the end. I gave Marc an extra star just because he was a nice and pleasant guy but fines speak louder. read more

STAY AWAY!!! STAY AWAY!!!! I just got married last year and decided to go to a CPA to file jointly since my husband is from another country and our tax situation was now complicated. I went to see him in May and paid a $50 retainer fee. He filed an extension that day and that the was last of it. It is now August and I still have not received anything at all. I am a very understanding person, however there was barely any communication of the situation. Now I am accruing late fees because my taxes were never sent in. Go to another more professional CPA!!! Save yourself the stress and late fees. read more

Long story short - we came to Rayner and Associates for peace of mind, and walked away completely stressed. When we first met Marc, he seemed very enthusiastic, and we felt we had made the right choice. Having said that, after 8-weeks, the only form filed on our behalf was an extension (which we grudgingly took despite a promise he would finish on time). Also, attempts to get an ETA from him proved futile. At this point in time, our taxes remain unprepared, and we feel disrespected in that our small business was not handled with seriousness and professionalism. read more

Do yourself a favor and find another CPA. This one will cause you more work and stress! The past bad reviews tell me that I'm not the only one. As a small business owner, I do not take reviews lightly. But I feel it is my duty to share my horrible experience with this CPA. So first thing: our return was filed very late, despite giving him materials early and a heads up months in advance that we really needed to file quickly. The worst part about this is that he did not return any emails to us for weeks. Getting a response from him was like pulling teeth. He always, always will apologize and offer you discounts and etc. But nothing changes. I gave him so many chances, and I was disappointed every single time. I'd rather pay full price for him to just do his job right and well. When I finally found another CPA, I told him politely that we no longer needed his services. Of course he tells me that he has some bookkeeping invoices to give me from 2014 AND 2013!! - a bill for over $1300. And mind you, we're almost at the end of 2014! I was outraged because now I have to go back to my 2013 emails and try to dig through my papers to see if he was really billing me correctly. And low and behold, over half of the charges were double billed or incorrectly billed. This makes me very concerned about my return. If he knew I was so upset about the experience I had with him, wouldn't he triple check the invoice and make sure I wasn't being double billed and everything was in perfect shape? NOPE. Not with Rayner. read more

Marc was really thorough and professional. After spending 30 minutes reviewing my taxes, he asked me if I had tried to do them online. I said yes and told him how much I was getting - he said he was getting the same amount and told me to file them online because it would save me money. I was really impressed that Marc told me to do this and will go back to him in a heartbeat when my taxes become more complicated. He is definitely not a scam. read more

Rayner & Associates was amazing. I was looking for someone who had experience with freelancers, as I am a sole proprietor of a small business and Marc (Rayner) was fantastic. He is very friendly, down to Earth, easy to deal with, and most of all - he really looks out for you! There were some things that I missed writing up and he certainly went out of his way to contact me about it to fix things up. Thanks to him, I pay a lot less tax than the year before because he knew what he was doing and he made my life 100x easier. I would recommend anyone to go to Rayner & Associates for your taxes needs! read more

By the far the worst experience I've had with a professional. Nothing has been done on time and a completely disorganized mess. I HATE leaving yelp reviews, but I feel like I need to warn others. I hired someone to make this process easier and it has done nothing but add stress. Listen to the one stars, they are beyond accurate! read more

I usually do my own taxes, but for 2009 I had a lot of different employers and had to file in multiple states. After answering an ad for a special $50 dollar rate (H&R who?) to file, a guy named Marc assisted me with everything. Got a great refund and some helpful tips on planning for next year's taxes. It was a lot cheaper than any other place I've seen to file, which is always a plus for the budget-conscious. Will definitely be returning to this company for tax needs. read more

Marc is a nice guy. Very nice. I like him as a person. He also does high quality work. And it is a new venture so I wanted to support it. Four stars only because there have been growing pains. Going forward, he has promised that he would start offering free returns if not completed by a given date, which pretty much sounds like he is backing up his guarantee with his pocketbook. Look forward to seeing if it can rise to five stars. read more

Previously I left a very positive review of Rayner CPA upon leaving the firm and taking my business elsewhere. I had no major quibbles at that time, and appreciated the service I received. However, an issue has now come to light 2 years later that changes all of that for me. Rayner was dealing directly with the NY Dept. of Labor on an audit of my business' records (probably due to many missed deadlines and other issues in 2012/2013, see other reviews for customers dealing with poor service at that time), and that audit was still ongoing at the time I left Rayner in 2014-- however, despite promising they would "tell me when it was settled", he nor anyone else at the firm notified me when I switched CPAs that the audit was still ongoing. As a result, the Dept. of Labor assessed a penalty the next year, but it was sent to an old address, three times removed from where I was at that point, and the mail never made it to me. I was very surprised that Rayner didn't tell me when I was leaving that he hadn't received a final verdict for the audit, which he was dealing with directly. Now, two years later, this audit has led to the freezing of my bank account and other assets due to nonpayment. Part of this is due to the issue of the mailed notification not reaching me, and that's on me. But I was shocked that Rayner did not communicate anything about the open audit being still open at the time I took my business elsewhere. Furthermore, in a recent email exchange when I inquired about why he never told me the audit was ongoing, he did not express any concern for that lack of communication on his part. Beware of poor communication, and good treatment only when it's convenient-- this was a major communication issue that led to some very serious problems for me. read more

I'm a frequent Yelp reader, but have never been compelled to write a review until now. That should speak volumes about the quality of service I received at Mark Rayner's office! Usually I am right on top of my taxes and file early, but this year that April deadline snuck up on me in a bad way. I'm a recent college graduate, type-A personality, and ridiculously organized when it comes to my financial life... BUT this year, as I sat surrounded by documents and pay stubs, plus multiple W-2s and 1099s, I came to the realization that I was going to have to hire an accountant for the first time. After a good day's research (thanks, Yelp), I found Mark Rayner. And I am so glad I did! I called and made an appointment to file for an extension about a week before the tax deadline, and got in on the only day I had free. I explained to the receptionist that in the past year I had lived and worked in 3 states and 2 countries, graduated college, and gotten married to a non-resident alien who recently received his green card... and that I had at least four W-2s and two 1099s. Little bit more complicated than a standard return. She quoted me $250-$350, to be paid once my taxes were complete, which was a lot less than I was expecting. I met Mark and his assistant, and they instantly put me at ease. We went through all my paperwork and got the extension filed in about 15 minutes... it was that easy! I waited 4 months to schedule an appointment, but that was no problem at all. When I was ready to file (i.e. had the $$ in the bank to pay the man), I got an appointment right away. I went to Mark's office expecting the worse, as I only paid tax on half my income from last year, being a self-employed artist, but guess what!? Mark found me a few credits I had never even heard of, and got me back a refund that literally made my jaw drop! And then he only charged me about $200 for the whole thing, saying "When you start making big money, I'll charge you more. But I'm not here to take advantage of my clients." What a guy! I walked out of that office practically singing. Mark Rayner knows his stuff, and he's a nice guy. He sent me an email a few days later to let me know that my return was accepted, to thank me for coming in, and told me about the other services he offers year round, such as investments, retirement planning, and small business needs. I'm an aspiring actor/cocktail waitress on a tight budget, plus a recent transplant to The City, but Mark Rayner is worth every penny - and I plan to use him again! read more

I started working with Marc last year, and I would like to counter some of the negative reviews on here. First of all, he was very responsive both this year and last, responding personally to my myriad of email questions and meeting with me in person. It was my first time going to an accountant, as I had always done my taxes myself, and thus, I wanted to be very involved and understand what decisions he was making. While my taxes are fairly straightforward, I had some extenuating circumstances that made itemizing tricky. I could not have been more thrilled with the service that I received and the refund that came my way. He totally got it about how to handle airbnb income, and relieved my anxiety about how that might impact what I owe. The best part was that he actually found me an amazing deduction for educational expenses that I had no idea about, since I always assumed my income was too high to benefit from any of the tuition programs out there (I am a part-time grad student). It is a no brainer that I went back to Marc this year. He is young, tech-savvy and approachable for all those Millennials out there who may be overwhelmed about finding an accountant (I was for years!). His online form upload program is easy to use and convenient. I know that my boyfriend still has to email all his paperwork piecemeal to his accountant, which seems like a pain. Keep up the good work Marc! I'm looking forward to seeing your magic this year! read more

Went to Marc again this year and was impressed at the improvements in service from last year. Marc's assistant was very helpful and friendly with setting up meetings to drop off my paperwork and same for when it came time to review the prepared returns. Marc was very good about sticking to the timelines he promised (3 weeks) to process both my business and personal taxes. He really took our feedback from last year to heart: last year we went with Marc to handle our taxes, and there were certainly some service issues. Like some of the other reviewers mentioned, it seemed that Marc had taken more business than could be handled by one person. He now has more staff to help out with everything and the operation ran much smoother this year. Thanks for listening and taking swift action, Marc! read more

dissapointed. i tried making an appointment and he was late, so i left. i get a phone call later with his cell, try to make an appointment again leaving a voicemail message and calling a second time and not even a response back. either way i would've liked to have known what was going on. :( was excited to have my taxes done based on these great reviews, unfortunately i'm unable to add another great one. read more

Marc's a good guy and was helpful in both setting up our LLC and walking us through a difficult process of filing some confusing personal and business freelance taxes. I have used him for the past few years but unfortunately last year I ran into some issues of what appears that Marc was overbooked. That means my tax documents I sent in during February sat untouched, and Marc wanted me to apply for a extension. In the end I wasn't fond of this since I did get everything in early, and Marc just didn't get them done in time. Also in the past few months I have sent some emails in to employees but got no response which left me a bit bummed. For this year I went to another tax accountant that charged me half of what Marc did. I think Marc is good at what he does, but it just doesn't seem like the right fit for us anymore. read more

I've had my review removed countless times now by Yelp. Rayner calls Yelp and asks them to remove it, and Yelp does. So to summarize again, Rayner was unresponsive, unprofessional, disorganized and uncontactable to the extent that it led to incorrect and late submissions of my tax returns by Rayer, costing me $50k in taxes and late fees that I had to personally work to get back by resubmitting my tax and pleading forgiveness with a new accountant. It was a nightmare. DO NOT listen to these reviews, he doctors them to get the bad ones removed. Please do yourself a huge favor and STAY AWAY. It's possible if you are one of Rayner's "important" (or lucky?) clients, you'd get good service but for me, I felt he he simply saw me as a simple $500 tax return to churn through without any thought or consideration or responsiveness. read more

I made a yelp account just to post this review. I can't say enough how frustrating it is to work with Marc, having been a client for over 5 years now. I almost went elsewhere a few years ago after he repeatedly filed my taxes late or incorrectly, but he apologized in 2014 and said he'd hired new people to help him in the future, which did fix things briefly. But this year has set a new low. He had all of my documents weeks in advance and promised they would be filed on time, but they were not. I then emailed him a day after filing day only to get en email saying that he was "taking a break" after all the hard work of tax season. I then called his assistant, who apologized and promised me he would have the filing done two days later. That was 2 weeks ago and I've heard nothing from them since. They also seem to have stopped answering the phone. Needless to say, I have found another accountant. To sum it up, if you value your money and/or your sanity, please find another CPA. read more

Marc's the man - great communication, always there when you need him. I had a scare with the IRS and called him on his personal cell phone and he was on it immediately and kept me in the loop of how things were evolving. Great to have on your team. read more

Marc was recommended to me a by another start-up. We had a few tangled knots and he was pretty understanding and cleaned things up. He saved us filing fees from other states and we were able to avoid filing for a year when we had no transactions. His rate is almost half of those large accounting firms and he's on point. The most impressive thing was that he stayed up super late (until 11pm) working on our return to make sure that we met the deadline. read more

Marc was great in helping me file my taxes not only for 2010 but also the prior years which needed some extra filings. In fact when I didn't get the correct refund from my federal returns he helped follow up with the IRS. Though an extremely busy guy he was able to ensure that everything was filed on time. My company will be doing my taxes this year but I will definitely be back for 2012! read more

Marc has been my 'go-to' CPA for almost 4 years - always helpful and courteous, he really knows his way through the IRS system. His staff has always been very friendly and prompt whenever any questions come up regarding Refunds etc. I recommend his services constantly!! read more

I had a first consultation with Marc in mid June, and wanted to go over some tax questions outside of the regular cycle of tax preparation. Unfortunately Marc arrived late for the meeting, however I figured that it's a busy city and delays happen. We went through my tax questions and Marc agreed to go through the paperwork. It is now 9 weeks since that appointment and I've had not one response on this matter (despite emailing for a status update). If new customers outside the tax filing window receive zero correspondence for over 2 months, I really do not have any faith on this organization meeting tax deadlines in the future. It's a shame as Marc is obviously extremely knowledgable. However if you're looking for timely service, this might not be the company for you. read more

I am in the process of getting a line of credit with my bank and I completely lost my LLC info which Marc had filed for my company in 2010. It was one of the documents I needed to close the deal with my bank. I called Marc's office and his assistant Matthew was so helpful, professional, and efficient in emailing it to me right away! Such great customer service. I highly recommend them. read more

This year was my first time ever seeing an accountant for tax season and I had a very positive experience with Marc Rayner. The scheduling process was easy, we met and talked about my finances quickly and he explained my tax opportunities very clearly. In the end I handed him my tax documents, He submitted everything and I saved A LOT of money. I recommend him for anyone who is looking to use an accountant for the first time. read more

Have been working with Marc for three years and have been consistently impressed by how knowledgeable, frank, and helpful he and his team are. read more

I decided to meet with Marc based on his positive Yelp reviews, and I wasn't disappointed. As a freelancer who had very little taxes taken out of any checks I received this year, I knew I'd have a big payment to make, but Marc made it as painless as possible. His review of my forms made it easy to follow- and also made it obvious that if I had done my taxes by myself without his knowledge, I'd have ended up paying a substantial amount more. Marc's rate is more than reasonable, he knows his stuff, and he's also very obviously an honest guy. I'll certainly be using him for all my tax needs in the future. read more

I've worked with Marc for 5 years. As is the case with most CPAs, there will be occasional times where 1) tax season and 2) the burden of meeting deadlines/reporting requirements can cause frustration for both parties. When those times have arisen, Marc has always followed up and made sure that my taxes are done professionally, and that I am being given sound advice. On more than one occasion, Marc helped me resolve some complicated amended return issues regarding my business (independent consultancy) with both the IRS and the state, and also provided some personal documentation for me when I needed to secure property. He is an excellent accountant and truly wants to represent his clients' interests. Marc does not "farm out" his work and always explains everything as he is going through the return. He is an astute thinker who prides himself on making sure you don't sign your return until both parties are satisfied. He's always welcoming and personable, and will sit with you in his office for as long as you need to get through any issues regarding your tax prep return. (Word of advice...book an appointment! Easiest way to get him.) I would recommend Marc to anyone who is looking for an accountant for their business or personal needs. read more

Marc is an amazing CPA. He sat down with me and went through all of my unorganized receipts and invoices for the year and really worked out an organized plan with an outstanding outcome. Thanks to Marc I will be getting back way more than what I quoted when doing business with more advertised brands like H&R Block. He's worth it because he made me feel comfortable and helped me understand what we needed to do. I will definitely be using Marc again. Thank you!!! read more

After hiring a different CPA and deciding I was unhappy with his services, I was in a panic to find someone and meet with them and have enough time to file my taxes before April 15th. I researched Marc, found him via Yelp, submitted an inquiry on his website in the evening, and had an email from him first thing in the morning. He was able to meet with me the next day. Taxe are a foreign thing to me, especially after starting my own company and being responsible for self employment tax. Marc took his time to explain the breakdown of everything to me and helped me estimate what I needed to save in order to have enough money to pay taxes each quarter. The meeting took less than an hour and he was able to schedule all of my payment taxes through the rest of the year. I would recommend him to anyone. read more

An overall great experience. Marc thoroughly understands the tax laws and made numerous suggestions to optimize my deductions and help me understand certain pitfalls, such as the AMT. His fees are comparable to much lower-tiered providers but there's a lot more knowledge. I've traditionally done my 1040 via TurboTax, but lately I've been getting snagged on complicated issues such as IRA recharacterizations and an employee stock plan that Marc assisted me with. Overall a very good job! read more

I reached out to Marc during the peak of tax season, but was pleasantly surprised at how responsive he was. He was up front about the fact that he probably wouldn't be able to file my taxes in time, but was still able to quickly calculate the tax estimates needed to file an extension. After the filing deadline he was able to take care of my return, and was very accommodating about accounting for some more income sources that I forgot to provide with my original estimate. He also took the time to answer some questions I had. Overall, it was a pleasure working with Marc and I'm definitely planning to return to him next year for my taxes and perhaps other financial advice. read more

I have been a client of Marc's for about 5 years now - Marc has been phenomenal in helping me file my personal and small business tax returns, getting me the largest possible refunds that I qualify for. He has been great about working around my crazy schedule and filing extensions as I needed them. He gives me great personal attention, I can communicate with him on many levels - shows great interest in finding me ways to help grow my business and open up doors for possible networking with some of his other clients. Marc is very honest and open about my finances and always provides me with great pro tips on how best to manage them. My returns are always done accurately and on time, and with the utmost professionalism. I highly recommend Rayner CPA for all accounting needs. read more

They helped me navigate the paperwork of starting my own business, and (patiently) answered all my questions. They always return my call. I would recommend them if you're thinking of starting a business. read more

Marc has prepared my taxes for the last few years and both times did an extremely thorough job. This year in particular, he was able to prepare my return extremely quickly and was extremely approachable and happy to answer any questions I had. I would thoroughly recommend him and will most definitely be using him again next year. read more

I finally heard back from Marc in early March of this year, he gave me a partial refund, I like supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses so I really wish things had gone down differently. read more

I am returning to Marc for the third year; I've had really good experiences with him and his services, and they seem to get better & better each year as his business develops and grows. He managed my return as a regular salaried employee and then also as an LLC owner & independent contractor, so I can confidently say his expertise and knowledge spans either situation. He was quite thorough in the tax prep, and as an added bonus he gave me all my returns on a jump drive so it was easy to access -- rather than only having printed copies or having to search through my email for an electronic copy. Overall I would certainly recommend him! read more

Marc is very professional and responsive to my tax needs. He is so knowledgeable and has helped me sort through tricky situations for various forms. He is highly recommended! read more

Marc has been my tax accountant for the past 4 years. Over the years he has provided solid, thorough tax advice and prep. There was a delay last year, but he filed an extension, got the work done and gave a hearty discount, which I think makes up for the waiting. The service from Marc and others in the office has been professional and pleasant. And it's great that Marc is available year-round for tax-related questions that might come up. read more

This year I had a fair amount of freelance income for the first time ever and was terrified of messing up my taxes. I'm 26 and have never been to an accountant before but I'm so glad I went. The fee was very reasonable (and more than offset by the refund that Marc got me). Plus, my peace of mind this tax season was invaluable, and I'm now a total accountant (at least Rayner & Associate CPA) convert. read more