Denis Maurer, EA

I was referred to Denis through a friend for a personal tax problem. He provided quick, helpful, and respectful responses to help me through the tax issue. Denis stands out as putting the customer first.

I called Denis with a complicated tax issue on a trust inheritance for my daughter. She is a working college student who usually just files a 1040EZ. Denis offered to explain the trust filing process, which I accepted. I file my own rental business, investment and income tax forms, so I knew quickly that Denis is very knowledgeable. He was very personable and helpful. I would recommend him.

Great accountant! This is the second year that I filed my taxes with Denis, and this year my husband and I filed jointly for the first time. We wouldn’t think of filing our taxes with anyone but Denis.
Denis is honest, direct, timely, thorough, and works quickly. He’s also personable, empathetic, and an all round really nice person.
I highly recommend Denis!

I’ve known Denis for almost a decade now. I first started having him do my taxes due to a not-​so-​straightforward situation that made me not want to do my taxes myself for the first time ever. Since then, he’s been doing my taxes every year and I’ve referred many of my closest friends to him. In addition to the fact that I trust him implicitly and he consistently does a great job with my taxes, he’s also just an all-​around great guy!

Really unfriendly on the phone and his follow up email was shockingly rude. I didn’t end up working with him because of it so I can’t speak to the quality of his work but he made a few errors in the email which led me to believe there are hundred of people more competent and far more pleasant.

I gave Denis a call with a long shot request (tax prep help with just a few days notice to file), and I wasn’t surprised to find he wasn’t able to help. I was surprised with his unfriendly, annoyed /​dismissive tone, though. Hopefully this isn’t the norm for his social skills.

After seeing all the glowing reviews I thought this was a no brainer. However if you are out there looking for some help from someone who can hold your hand through your financial concerns and talk to you in terms you understand I can’t say you’ve found your match.
Denis asked for alot of things I didn’t understand. It took me a long time to find all the info and when I sent it over to him he said he was busy with larger corporate clients so I would have to wait, I was patient, and he eventually delivered what we had agreed to. No problems with his work as far as I can tell (which honestly I have no clue if its right or wrong which is why I’m out there seeking his services in the first place.) However he didn’t leave me with much confidence that everything was correct, he asked me to verify several things I didn’t understand and even after several quick emails It still didn’t feel very definitive and I expect that it was more of a wait and see what happens at tax time sort of thing… not the feeling I was hoping to walk away with, but its presumedly better information than I had going in, and thats what I was paying for.
However when it came time to pay him he requested payment through a online payment processing tool called intuit which is where our dealings went sour. The payment system screwed up somehow which resulted in them revoking payment with no explanation. Even after calling customer service they couldn’t tell me why the payment was canceled. When that happened his bank charged him $ 25 for a ‘bounced check’ and they sent me an email asking me to re-​enter my account info. After which I did and the payment went through.
Now personally I think the payment processing people should be the ones at fault and responsible for refunding the messed up payment, however within minutes Denis sent me a revised bill to cover the bank fee and said If I didn’t pay it he would do no future work for me.
I can see where he’s coming from, he should get paid for work he does, but instead of taking the time to try sorting out the problems with his payment system he just passed the blame onto his customer and in my opinion was rather unfriendly and judgmental about the whole email chain that ensued. To me it sounded like he cared more about the lousy $ 25 than he did about repeat business, and that really made me question his business ethics.
I paid the fee for good karma, and well because honestly I’m concerned that I’ve trusted him with all my personal information and fear for what he could do with it if I didn’t pay up, but walk away with a terrible taste in my mouth, and wondering if I should be looking for another person to check the work.
Now honest mishap is one thing, but even without this minor fee mishap I wouldn’t recommend working with the guy unless you know a bit about finances, know exactly what you need and are willing to forgo any semblance of customer service.
Whatever you do don’t use that damn online payment service, send a paper check or use something you trust.

Denis is a great guy, he gave me excellent advice and I will most definitely be using him from now on! Thanks Denis!

Denis is the man! He is incredibly thorough, responsive, and has very reasonable rates. He even took the time to look through my previous tax returns and found an error (which saved me money). I’m never going to anyone else.
As an added bonus, he has an awesome Great Dane! If you aren’t a dog person, no fear — he only let the dog out of a separate room when I asked if I could say hi.

WOW!
After moving to the City, I figured there would be thousands of Tax people that could do same sex married couples. For those of you who are not, you do not know know the complexity of these tax returns.
Much to my chagrin there was not an abundance of tax people who were jumping at this great niche market. Doing research, Denis was one of the first I came across. He answered his call right away (no voice mail), quoted me a fair price (it is pricey, but for the amount of work that goes into it, it was fair), and promised that my returns could be done before April 15^th (we had a month).
WIth-​in 3 weeks our taxes were prepared, we met with Denis for a 45 minute consult to go over our results, and our taxes were e-​filed. It could not have been simpler and more professional.
I would recommend Denis for anyone who needs their taxes done, but especially anyone in the SF area who is a Same Sex married couple (or RDP as the IRS likes to call us).
5 star! Made doing our taxes headache free. Thank you Denis

After two years of going to H&R Block and not being impressed with the returns and rates charged for them we were looking for a new tax professional. After some Unilocal searching, I found Denis. Since part of my income is foreign, we needed a professional knowledgeable in this area. As many reviewers attested, Denis has an encyclopedic knowledge and is fast, professional, and thorough. The return that we received was $ 200 cheaper than out previous H&R Block return and no less complicated. I highly recommend Denis.

Let me add my hearty endorsement of Denis. I had a particularly sticky tax matter that Denis addressed, and did so in a competent, thoughtful, and skilled manner. I highly recommend him. Dedicated, responsive, and, again competent!

As a Freelance Graphic Designer, Denis was perfect for me, able to wrangle many Misc files and pull together the proper information in an extremely fast and efficient manner.

Not sure why I did not write this sooner… possibly being selfish and keeping this resource to myself!!!
Denis has handled both my business and personal taxes for many years. A true professional who is great to work with and answers all my questions. I have referred several friends and colleagues, who all continue to work with him to this day. He goes out of his way to help and is invaluable to by business. Frankly… We would be lost without his guidance.

efficient, quick turn around, good location. Thanks Denis!

I just had my first tax return completed by Denis and couldn’t be any more pleased. I recently started a small side business that increased the complexity of my returns. I decided I didn’t want to deal with it on my own any more and found Denis. I was hesitant at first because I have had some bad experiences in the past with tax professionals. Denis immediately put those concerns to rest. The thing that impressed me most about working with Denis is that time he takes to answer questions and explain things to you. You can really tell he invests a great deal of time into knowing all there is to know about the tax code. Very knowledgeable. The entire process has been stress free and I couldn’t be happier. Highly recommended!

My husband and I had some very complicated 2011 year and Denis was recommended to us. We are so happy with his work and are so happy to have found him! Our taxes involved foreign accounts, foreign income, etc and he was so knowledgeable and accurate that we feel great about our choice to have gone to him for his services. We will be returing to him next year, for sure!

I’ve been going to Denis since 2009, when my inability to handle my taxes correctly finally caught up with me. Denis’ frank, no nonsense demeanor is surprising at first, but it’s based around not wasting your time, or his. His advice is invaluable, and his encyclopedic knowledge of tax code, and how they impact you –at your income level specifically– is first rate.
For the last two years I’ve suggested to friends that they go to Denis. Without hesitation, I’ll pass on his email and phone. I can’t imagine taking my business elsewhere.

I am a successful small business owner, and I am very happy to be working with Denis Maurer. Denis is the sharpest accountant I have ever worked with. He actually thought of everything and did everything right! The other accountants that I have worked with needed to go back to school. I had a big-​shot accountant who lived in a million-​dollar home who screwed up the most basic things on a simple tax-​return. I also tried doing my taxes myself — big mistake at this point — and I had an accountant I found in the yellow pages — another big, big mistake.
Denis charged me about the same amount of money as a totally incompetent CPA charged me to cause massive stress of being audited. Denis spent a lot of time talking with me about my business and he understands very much because he had his own construction business before too.

As my taxes have become more complicated over the years,
I have used tax preparation services for a few years.
I have worked with Denis for last four years with no regrets.
He is thorough and trust worthy when it comes to tax preparation.
Each year he provides advice on how to better prepare for the next tax season. I have recommended his services to my friends and will continue to do so. Need a solid tax preparer? Give Denis a call !