H&R Block vs a CPA: when is paying a real accountant worth it?

Short answer

Use software while your return is one income type and the standard deduction. Hire a CPA once you have an entity election, multi-state activity, rental depreciation, equity compensation, or a business with inventory. The fee pays for itself the first year a planning decision changes your tax by more than the fee.

Option A

H&R Block (software)

Self-serve filing software with optional paid expert review and an office network for escalation.

Strengths

Total cost usually under $150 including one state
File on your own schedule, including at midnight on the deadline
Good enough for W-2, standard deduction, and simple Schedule C returns
Optional expert review costs far less than a full CPA engagement

Trade-offs

Compliance only — the software will not tell you to change anything next year
No representation strategy if the return is examined
Complex basis, depreciation, and entity questions are left to you
Wrong answers to interview questions produce wrong returns silently

Option B

A CPA or EA

A licensed preparer who files the return and, more importantly, advises on decisions before the year closes.

Strengths

Planning: entity choice, retirement contributions, timing of income and expenses
Can represent you before the IRS, which software cannot
Catches basis, depreciation, and carryover errors that survive software imports
One relationship covers business, personal, and multi-state complexity

Trade-offs

$400–$1,500 for an individual return, more for entities
Quality varies widely; a cheap preparer may just retype your numbers
Capacity is tight between February and April — you must plan ahead
Overkill for a simple W-2 return; you pay for advice you cannot use

Head-to-head

Metric	H&R Block (software)	A CPA or EA
Typical costA	$85–$150 all-in	$400–$1,500
Proactive planning adviceB	None	The whole point
IRS representationB	Limited, add-on only	Full, if a CPA or EA
Handles rental depreciation and basisB	Yes, if you enter it right	Yes, and checks your history
Multi-state or expat returnsB	Painful	Routine
Turnaround for a simple returnA	Same evening	1–3 weeks in season
Break-even complexityEven	One income type	Entity, rentals, or equity comp

Badge marks which option wins that row: A = H&R Block (software), B = A CPA or EA.

The switch point is your first planning decision worth more than the fee.

Filing is a commodity; planning is not. A software return and a CPA return of the same facts produce the same number. The difference shows up in the decisions made before December 31 — whether to elect S-corp status, how much to put in a solo 401(k), whether to place a vehicle in service this year, whether to harvest losses. A single one of those decisions can move your bill by several thousand dollars, which dwarfs the $400 to $1,500 fee. If no such decision exists in your year, you are paying a premium for data entry.

Worked example: Consultant with $145,000 net profit weighing an S-corp election

Sole proprietor: self-employment tax on 92.35% of $145,000 at 15.3% is about $20,500
S-corp with a $85,000 reasonable salary: payroll taxes about $13,000
Distribution of remaining $60,000 avoids self-employment tax
Gross saving: roughly $7,500 per year
Extra cost: payroll service and entity return, about $1,800 plus a $900 CPA fee
Net benefit in year one: roughly $4,800

At this profit level the CPA pays for itself five times over on one decision. At $45,000 of profit the same election usually loses money — which is exactly the analysis software will never run for you.

The verdict

Choose H&R Block (software)

Stay with software if you have one or two income sources, take the standard deduction, and have no entity, rental, or equity-compensation complexity.

Choose A CPA or EA

Hire a CPA or EA the year you form an entity, buy a rental, exercise options, work across state lines, or clear roughly $100,000 of self-employment profit.

Or run both

A common middle path: use software for the filing and buy one paid planning hour with a CPA in November, before the year closes and options expire.

Frequently asked questions

At what income should I hire a CPA?

Income is the wrong trigger — complexity is. A $300,000 W-2 employee with no side activity rarely needs one. A $70,000 freelancer with a rental in another state usually does. Use the count of forms and states, not the size of the number.

Is an enrolled agent as good as a CPA?

For tax specifically, often better value. EAs are licensed federally, specialize only in tax, can represent you before the IRS, and typically charge less than CPA firms that also do audit and assurance work.

Can I use software and still get advice?

Yes. Buy a paid planning session in the fall, implement the recommendations yourself, and file with software in the spring. This captures most of the planning value at a fraction of a full engagement.

Will a CPA reduce my audit risk?

Slightly, because returns are cleaner and positions are documented. The larger benefit is that if a notice arrives, someone who already knows your file handles the response instead of you learning correspondence procedure under a deadline.

Methodology

Fee ranges reflect typical 2026 US market rates for individual and small-entity returns and vary widely by region and firm. The S-corp worked example uses simplified 2026 payroll and self-employment tax mechanics for illustration; state taxes, health insurance, and retirement interactions can change the result materially. Nothing here is tax advice — confirm your own facts with a licensed preparer.

Run your own numbers

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Last updated 2026-09-03. Machine-readable version: /api/public/comparisons.json. Free to cite with attribution to RevenueLab.