Olsen & Partners, CPA

I’ve gotten my taxes done at Olsen & Partners for two years in a row now. Last year they were fine (my first time using something other than TurboTax, so I don’t have much to compare it to), but this year was just a mess. I turned in my forms once I had them all, in early March. My taxes should have been super straightforward, but I (incorrectly) assumed that it was cheaper if you go the second year in a row, since they have something to work from. I sent in my documents and asked a few questions in the email, and I never got responses to them. I had to call several times to make sure they were still on track to finish my taxes before April 15, after their estimates passed and I didn’t get any updates or return drafts. Finally they sent me returns to look over, just before the deadline, but 2 weeks later I still hadn’t been charged by them or gotten either of my refunds. I called back, and after confusion on their end, they realized they already had my card number and said they would charge it, and they reassured me my taxes were in fact filed on time (I still have nothing to verify that, as I haven’t gotten a refund yet). The fee did finally go through and I discovered they charged $ 450 for what were incredibly simple taxes (one income source and one savings account with interest); meanwhile, someone else I know was charged much less for way more complicated taxes. I called and tried to get an explanation, but as far as I can tell there isn’t really any science behind the fee — they just charge what they want to.
I’m incredibly frustrated by the lack of transparency and communication, and I will definitely be finding someone else or switching back to TurboTax next year.

Sadly this company needs to make some serious changes or cut their losses and close their doors.
Dealing with taxes can be stressful and confusing. As a result, you want a company that is knowledgeable, helpful, trustworthy, solution-​oriented, and professional. Olsen & Partners turned out to be none of these.
I signed on in summer of 2014 because of the positive reviews for Gina. I met her and loved her, she was all of the things I described above. And then she disappeared. No one at Olsen responded to me for over two months after my initial consult with Gina.
When they did, they made excuses, had no idea what services I had signed on for, were defensive/​rude and actually shared personal medical details about their colleague Gina — to explain reason for Gina not being in the office (and to make excuses for their incompetence after she left). Unprofessional.
End result — the left over staff charged me for services they did not complete, were slow to respond and were not knowledgeable when they did. When I challenged the fees against the lack of services, and asked for confirmation of work, they refused to deliver proof, and withheld my tax filing until I paid.
So this is a group that extorts money, charges for work they don’t do, will share personal/​confidential information, do not have up to date expertise in tax laws/​filings.
Not a great combo for a vendor during Tax Season. Save yourself the headache and go to a corporate organization like HR Block where there may be some accountability and options.

The company does good work, but you have to respect their deadlines. I admit it, I am procrastinator and despite their warnings, I only finished my taxes on October 9, which was past their October 3 deadline. Of course I had them file an extension by the deadline in April with no issue. But unlike last year when sending in the paperwork October 9 for an October 15^th deadline was okay, this year it wasn’t. They said they could work on my taxes the week after taxes were due, but this is little solace. What’s worse, they were unclear as to what the penalty is for filing late (It’s huge by the way) and it was unclear to me that I had to get someone new to help last minute until a weekend had passed after I sent in my paperwork. I could blame the fact that they may be shortstaffed or that business is a lot more complicated this year, but I only really have myself blame in the end. But, to those fellow procrastinators out there you will have to respect their deadlines… or else. If you’re a punctual type of person, I have no reservations at all as they do turn out good work and set things up in a logical and reasonable manner. Just don’t be tardy to their party.

I really, really wanted this partnership to work out. Unfortunately it did not. I will try to keep it short. I will also mention this was in July 2013, as I had files an extension.
I was referred to Olsen and Partner’s through a friend and saw they had good Unilocal reviews (at that time). I set up a meeting to talk about filing my taxes and doing some QB’s accounting for my business. I met with Gina and it went great. I had a good feeling about her and thought she could take care of me. They were super efficient in setting up the appt. and the first face to face meet and greet. I was happy with my first impression.
I dropped off my paperwork at the front desk. No one ever responded to let me know they received it. This bothered me. I had to call to make sure it got into the right hands. I emailed and still no one responded they received it. Not a good start.
I dealt with several different people. I gave Angelica my password and login info for my Quickbooks, and she said she was on vacation but would be in touch in a week. She was going to look at my books and let me know if they could help me and how much it would be. A month went by with no response.
I was quickly falling through the cracks. I emailed to let them know I was unhappy that no one had responded to my emails asking if the received my tax papers and no response for a month about QB’s. I was CC’ing two people on the emails. Finally Gina responded and said she assumed Angelica was responding… I just don’t see that as a good way to handle a client.
I voiced my unhappiness to Gina. She apologized. I was going to take my taxes somewhere else but had nowhere else to turn that late in the game. She did my taxes very quickly, like in a two day turnaround. Once I got them, I see why. There were mistakes regarding depreciation and she recorded a $ 1500 cash donation to a school as a donation of «art». That could set off a red flag. I told her of the mistakes. She sent them back to be for final review. The mistakes were still there… I told them the mistakes were not fixed. She fixed them.
Super bummed with the whole experience. I was reminded to write this review as I just got a package in the mail from them recently. It was my old, supporting tax paperwork. They sent it to me a year later. No note, no nothing.
To me they really didn’t care about my business, were unresponsive and didn’t do a good job with my taxes. I would not recommend doing business with them.
On the flip side found a great tax guy this past year. Finally…

Olsen and Partners did not know how to handle cost basis for my RSU units declared as investment income. Due to this, I was taxed twice on the same income and had to amend my 2012 and 2011 tax returns with another firm. They seemed eager to rubber stamp my return and take my money, but two years later, I am ironing out prior year tax bills and filing an amendments with another firm. I used to be a customer with Bill Lentini/W.E.L., but the firm has really gone downhill since he has sold the business.
DO NOT RECOMMEND.

I went in for my free 30 minute consultation today and Gina was amazing! Not only did she answer all of my questions, she also provided tools and ideas to really help me succeed in structuring my tax planning for the upcoming year. I would recommend Olsen & Partners to everyone I know!

I know there are a few accountants, so this is just about one of them.
Initially, things were going well. The guy was professional, nice and all that. But things started getting weird when he came back with his draft tax return. I had a few questions about why he did some calculations in a certain way, so I tried to get that clarified. But all i was getting is this sense of hysteria telling me he has to work 12 – 14 hours and he doesn’t have time to address my questions fully. After what felt like an effort that i shouldn’t be expending as a customer and not getting my questions answered, he seemed to have given up saying, «just tell me how you want to change this and i will do that.»
This was a surprise to me. I wasn’t asking him to change anything. i was just trying to understand the rationale behind his calculations. I didn’t want to approve something that i didn’t understand. And I think it’s reasonable to expect tax experts to be able to defend their methodology.
I understand he was stressed out as it was late March, so it’s likely that he didn’t even have time to take a calm look at my questions. But it’s not cool to use bandwidth as an excuse. Every additional client you sign up, you are adding to your work hours. If I was in the advisory business, I would not take clients to the point that i can’t provide basic level of service to all my clients.
I didn’t like the way he handled the situation and the way he communicated, so i decided to cut ties and used Turbotax to file my own return in the very last minute. That was NOT FUN…

I am a small business owner and have worked with another CPA for the last 12 years and after a rough tax filing last year I decided to try a new company. I called and set up an initial review with them and was VERY pleasantly surprised. The office is very comfortable and the staff is really professional and courteous. I met with Gina who is extremely smart and knowledgeable, I felt right at home and signed up. My next meeting (to clean up our QuickBooks to make sure we are ready for the end of the year) was with Will who showed great enthusiasm, patience (with my little knowledge of QuickBooks) and really helped me figure some of the ways to work with the program as well as cleaning up our books. I will follow up after Tax season, but as of now I can say they are great and I am really excited to be a client of theirs.

Late late late hurry hurry hurry, that’s usually how it works In my life and definitely when it comes to getting our taxes done. We left it till last minute again this year and thank God for Gina and Angelica at Olsen and partners. They are so amazing, helpful courteous and on the ball! Dealing with someone like me who’s always last minute can not be easy but they handled everything for my family and our business and did it so fast ! I simply cannot say enough good things about them, if you’re looking for someone to help with every aspect of business and taxes go see them trust me you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how painless they can make it all !

Each year I take a stab at doing my own taxes and hit at least one roadblock that reminds me why I pay O&P to do my taxes. Professional, accurate, and none of my financial shenanigans seem to throw them for a loop.

I used a CPA for the first time to do my taxes this year, and I’m so glad it was Olsen & Partners! Specifically, I worked with Yelena. She was very organized, calm, and clearly knowledgeable about tax laws and requirements. Although taxes can be very complicated, she made everything very easy to understand. I was feeling very anxious about my taxes before I walked in the door, but after my initial meeting with Yelena, I left feeling SO much better as I knew I was in great hands!
Moreover, after I assembled the documents I needed to give her, the turnaround time was SO quick! Yelena was very efficient. She is also very professional yet friendly and I can’t wait to work with her again next year.
5 stars for Yelena and Olsen & Partners!

Excellent results with Yelena for 3 years now. I have a difficult return and she makes it look easy. I HIGHLY recommend Olsen & Partners. Great results and no hassles!

We were very happy with Olsen & Partners for our 2012 tax returns. Our accountant Will was great with his work and communications. Whenever we had a question, he replied nearly immediately. Great work! Thanks

Taxes and death are the only for sures in this life. I trust Gina and her partners with my life– and my taxes. They are super professional and very patient at explaining the same things to me over and over again if needed. I find so much of tax law and regulations mind boggling– it is reassuring to know that somebody understands it.

Being a small business owner is a double-​edged sword. On one edge is the fulfillment of being your own boss and managing your own affairs. On the other, is the occasional realization that some affairs are best handled by an expert.
When I encountered some complexity in my business affairs, I reached out to Olsen based on their Unilocal reputation. I had actually interviewed several accountancies, but ultimately decided to go with Olsen b/​c the prospect of working with a company rather than an individual CPA felt more dependable, and because I got a great first impression from Yelena. She was professional and thorough and did her homework on my business before I ever came in for the initial consultation.
Throughout the process, I worked with Yelena and Gina. Their systems were intuitive to use, their communication was solid. Yelena was very organized from the beginning, and all in all I felt that I was in good hands.
Olsen provided me not only with great results, but also with peace of mind. As my business continues to grow and evolve, I feel confident that a partnership with Olsen will continue to be a good investment.

If there is one stress everyone should eliminate from their life and business — it’s accounting! Letting go and letting the team at Olsen & Partners handle my business accounting and personal accounting is the best decision I ever made.
Each month we have a check-​in on the business and Will and Gina make sure I’m on time… even if they have to chase me down to finalize the numbers as I’m always so busy. I have complete trust and whenever I have a question the response is quick and thorough. I’ve worked with the company for almost ten years.
Trusting someone to manage your books so you can focus on the success of your business is so important — it’s all good with Olsen & Partners.

I went to Olsen today for the first time and had a great experience. A former employer had made several errors in their tax paperwork, and notified everyone that we would need to re-​file our taxes. I explained my situation to Yelena and she could not have been more helpful. I found her, and everyone I dealt with in the office, to be prompt, courteous and extremely professional, and I would use them again for any tax preparation needs.

We’ve been using Olsen & Partners to do our taxes since last year when the IRS ruled that same sex couples in California and other states were required to file income as joint property. The complexities of filing RDP/​SSMC income taxes on the Federal level necessitated hiring an accounting firm to do not only our 2010 taxes, but retroactive filings back to 2007. We interviewed a few firms and picked Olsen & Partners and we’re very glad we did.
Even a number of IRS agents had not heard of the legal matter described above and several letters were received from the IRS on the filings dating back to 2007 with incorrect penalties. Olsen & Partners took care of all of it promptly and efficiently. We were able to get back tens of thousands of dollars of taxes paid since 2007. For our 2011 taxes we returned to O&P and worked with the same people we worked with last year. The service was prompt, efficient, accurate, and valuable. Definitely worth the fee charged. Again this year we got a refund of several thousand dollars instead of owing taxes.
If you’re in an RDP or SSMC situation and need help with your taxes, look no further, this is the place to go!

Words to describe Olsen & Partners: Professional, Courteous, Mindful, and Diligent.
I found myself in a horrible situation with someone else doing my bookkeeping and needed to move quickly. I met with Gina, the sweetest person on earth, and explained the situation. Throughout our conversation, I found we were on the same wave. Simply stated, she listened, clarified and understood. It’s really not too much to ask, but makes all the difference.
I hired them to handle the bookkeeping for my business and Angelica is now my day-​to-​day contact. She’s fantastic! She asks questions, makes suggestions and has won me over.
Great location, great people and greatly appreciated.

Gina met with me and reviewed my tax situation for the 2009 tax year. She did a great, timely job and got me money back when i thought i would owe.
Super friendly, professional and top-​notch. I have recommended friends to her, they loved her as well and they even gave me a referral check that i was not expecting!
I will definitely be using them this year and for years to come.