Charles L Albin, CPA

Charles has been doing my taxes for over 5 years. I first found Charles when H&R Block screwed up my taxes. I needed help and I needed it fast and Charles came to my rescue. In the last 5 years, Charles and Associates have been doing my taxes and I cannot say enough good things about him. Every time I call or email I always get a response right away. He is extremely knowledgeable and always very helpful.

Well, unfortunately I must edit my review once again. This time I must actually remove the one compliment I paid Charles for last year’s tax filing on behalf of my deceased aunt. And with it, two stars.
The filing failed to include the quarterly payments she made until her death in July. Therefore after I filed the returns that he prepared, after sending me and billing me for an estimate of her taxes including the quarterly payments to be made — and after having been advised in 2014 that she had made two payments — I got a letter from the IRS telling me that in fact my filing was incorrect.
So after filing them in late March, in late April I responded with copies of all that IRS requested. IRS’ .gov site correctly advised me last week that I would receive a refund nearly 100% higher than filed. But they also advised that it would take another 4 – 6 weeks to receive. By then my aunt will have been dead more than one year. And her estate cannot be closed, her beneficiaries, including my 92 yo mother — her only remaining sister, and other family and charities cannot get full disbursement.
Woe is me.
June 2014
PRIOR POSTING:
I always do my own taxes using software, but I needed a CPA to assist with estate matters involving my family. Their tax returns were complicated so I searched and found that Albin & Associates recieved high marks.
Unfortunately, I have to review this company as one I would not recommend. It is really hard to deal with office staff who are not in any way ‘empowered’ to help clients. No matter what issue I had, I had to wait for Charles to contact me. I also never got the impression that my business was important or valued. The staff was rude and never followed up on things. Last but not least, Charles was more interested in making sure he got paid than when I would get the returns to file.
On the plus side, the returns were always correct and their system for exchanging docs was efficient.
I would not use this firm again.
(This review was edited after a call from Charles to complain about the critical review.)

Over the past 20+ years, I’ve had a few different CPA’s do my tax returns. Once I found Charles Albin, I knew that I was set for as long as he is in business. Charles is honest, hardworking, responsive, thorough, very detailed, and always takes the time to explain things to me in tremendous detail whenever I ask a question. He is the best I’ve ever worked with, and I am in an industry that works with a lot of CPA’s. I strongly recommend Charles Albin if you’re looking for a real pro.

I highly recommend Albin and Associates for tax preparation services. They were very knowledgeable, friendly, and prompt. I was way over my head with taxes this year, and they ended up saving me a considerable amount of money. The portal is very convenient and easy to use. The fee they charged me was fair and competitive.

Charles was expensive, but I saw all the good reviews and was happy to pay a premium for good service. However, I did not find him easy to reach when I had questions and did not feel he really spent much time with me. I would say that his unapologetic and cold responses to my Unilocal review were characteristic of his communications with me, actually.
After filing the taxes he prepared, I got a letter from the IRS about there being errors in the paperwork. I have seen the responses from Charles and my current accountant confirmed the errors made were Charles’ fault and not due to an omission on my part. The errors were not a big hassle to fix beyond me needing to pay additional money, but I have never had this kind of problem with any other accountant nor have I ever hired an accountant who charged as much.
It is true that Charles spent a lot of time telling me about his portal when I first met with him, but it was not clear to me initially that I would only get good service if I conformed to using this portal or how painful it would be to interact with him face-​to-​face or over the phone. If you like interacting with your accountant primarily through a computer portal, then you may like Charles a lot more than I did. He does have lots of good reviews so there are clearly people who like his approach. My advice, though, is that he may not be the best accountant for those like me who are not so computer savvy or who think paying top dollar for good service should involve more human interaction.

I needed help with my tax return last year… I checked Unilocal for reviews and found great reviews for Charles Albin. I have to say that their service was excellent… very timely, efficient and pleasant to deal with. I am happy I had them make sense of this most tedious of tasks… and I got a nice refund… thanks!

Charles did my taxes this year after numerous ridiculous situations with HnR Block. What a breeze. I dropped things off with my wife and they were done and prepared within 2 weeks. All we had to do was sign the states we couldn’t e-​file (we are both consultants, so we have tons of W2s) and drop them in the mail.
Charles was more affordable than HnR block, he was easier to work with and more responsive. I also feel he has way more knowledge than anyone I’ve ever met at an HnR Block.
All in all a total 5 star experience. The customer portal is super easy to use too.
Thanks Charles!

My experience with Charles and Linda was wonderful. Their online portal makes tax preparation a breeze. This was the first year I have used Albin and associates, so I made an appointment to go in to the office but it was totally unnecessary. Nearly everything can be done online or over the phone. Charles is efficient, knowledgeable, and professional. I will definitely be going to him for my tax prep every year from this point forward!

I wouldn’t use Albin and Associates Accounting service again. It’s too expensive for the service provided. Use a tax software and you’ll get the same results.

Albin and Associates Accounting is the real deal. I don’t know how I stood the paper thing in years past. Going paperless and avoiding the tax mills out there is the best!
I JUST used Charles again this year. His secure portal system is so easy for the client, it’s a crime not to use him. I scanned in all my docs and bam, he had the returns done in no time. I LOVE being able to look at my return on the portal, print it out myself, provide a credit card for his very reasonable bill, sign/​scan an E-​authorization to him for E-​filing and avoid the old school game of «pay to park/​sign the return & WAIT for a refund» routine.
What a pleasure it is doing business with Charles. He is a CPA who knows his stuff and I just don’t worry that it is done correctly.

In the past, the husband and I have always had his CPA/​accountant brother look over our taxes haphazardly.
This year, because we 1) just got married, 2) bought a home, and 3) have several incomes (some freelance) with us, we thought we’d get a professional. Also, because Husband’s brother was being a pain in the ass about looking over our stuff.
Having Charles do it was a lifesaver! He is so incredibly nice and extremely good at his job, and he actually is really invested in saving people money and helping them out. Yes, we had to pay someone to do our taxes, but he saved us so much time and stress. With our amateur calculations, we went from owing thousands to getting money back after Charles’ attention to all the little details and advice. Not to mention, he is always responsive to emails and extremely fast — his rates are reasonable and he is worth every penny.

Charles’ attention to detail and accuracy is incredible. He has advised me well and is very involved with providing insight and guidance. He’s not just «doing the books». He is what every accountant should be.