Do NOT hire Penumbra CPA, Jacob Nieuwsma or Michelle Barton. I say this based on my own very bad…read moreexperience in reference to their dubious billing practices, client communication, incorrect advising and overall lack of organization which I will describe below. It is worth reading if you are at all considering hiring them. The 5-star reviews for Penumbra CPA are based on a CPA named Bethanny Schmucker, who is no longer there.
I am a local Salt Lake resident and small business owner requiring basic tax help filing annual business and personal tax returns as I am very organized and do my own bookkeeping records and quarterly filings. After my wonderful accountant retired, I had to seek out and hire a new accountant. To explore my options, I met with Penumbra CPA.
In my initial meeting, I was very upfront about what I needed help with. This did not involve complicated variables and was very straight forward, especially for a tax advisory and CPA. Based on all the information I gave, I was verbally quoted a price range of $900 - $1200 for both business and personal returns, and was assured that since I am organized, it would not be higher than that. In my meetings with other local accountants, this rate seemed fair, reasonable and the "going rate". So, two weeks after our initial meeting, (in early February of 2018) I decided to hire Penumbra CPA.
In the weeks following, I provided everything needed that was requested, in a timely fashion. After a couple of phone calls and emails back and forth, Jacob and Michelle had what was needed to file my taxes in plenty of time for the tax deadline. I sent emails for progress updates that went unanswered and my paperwork was not completed until April 16th. The actual signature pages were not sent to me until April 29th, which Michelle assured me was ok.
Buried on a bottom line within my actual tax returns were two invoice totals, with no corresponding explanation of the total charges. These charges totaled $1345 and exceeded the high-end of what was quoted to me. I was prepared to pay the $1345, even though I was very unhappy with the level of service, the late filing, incorrect advising regarding opening an HSA account, and poor communication. I just wanted a proper explanation of services and time spent. My emails to settle my account balance all went unanswered and NO further notices or emails were sent to me for months. By this point, I lost complete trust in Penumbra CPA, Jacob Nieuwsma and Michelle Barton.
With my efforts to get clarity unanswered, I sent an initial payment to settle my account and get closure to this bad experience. This was on August 1st, 2018. Penumbra CPA then immediately cashed my check and promptly responded to me by sending FOUR over-inflated additional invoices, bringing my supposed total balance to over $5000 dollars! Where were these so-called invoices when my taxes were filed and the work was completed?
What followed after receiving these embellished invoices was a long negotiation to settle my account and be done with this awful experience. During the months of silence from April to August, Penumbra CPA hired a client relations manager named Becky Smith. Becky acted as Jacob's mediator, because he in unable to communicate himself. I was told by Becky that there were services rendered that were "out of scope" and that is why my bill was so high. I received no communication as such during the time of tax prep. Everything that I needed was clearly described in my first $711-dollar meeting, and none of it was deemed extraordinary at the time. If efforts were made that were "out of scope", perhaps an email or phone call to me to discuss that would be in order.
I spent hours of my time engaging in this dispute, which cost me lost productivity, not to mention thousands of hard-earned dollars. I am upset that I let something like this happen to myself and my business. I never write reviews, but think it is important to share this experience to possibly help someone from getting burned the way I did.
