Kristin Shaffer, CPA

I’ve used TurboTax Online for several years and have always trusted it to get us the right answer. This year, after several life changes (getting married, buying a house, etc.) I just didn’t believe TurboTax (or didn’t want to since it was saying I owed a significant amount). After reading these reviews, my wife and I decided to have Kristin do our taxes in hopes that she could review our taxes and provide tax guidance for future years.
Here are the interactions that transpired:
³⁄₂₃ — My wife contacts Kristin, tells her our situation and sets up an appointment.
³⁄₂₆ — We meet Kristin at our first appointment. We bring all the paperwork we believe will be needed, and I explain that I’ve already done our taxes on TurboTax and provide her with the estimates to compare to. At this point, Kristin says she should have our taxes completed by ³⁄₃₁ at the latest. Given that it’s already 3/​26, we’re elated to find out she’ll be able to get it done so quickly.
³⁄₂₆ — Kristin emails us asking for a few other pieces that she needs to complete our return. We email her back the same night with all the documentation.
⁴⁄₄ — Having not heard from Kristin, I call the office and leave a message asking what the status of our return is. Jonathan from Kristin’s office calls us back saying she’s running a little behind and our return should be completed by ⁴⁄₆.
⁴⁄₈ — Kristin emails asking for one more piece of information. We had already provided it at the consultation on ³⁄₂₆; nonetheless, I respond immediately with what she needs.
⁴⁄₁₁ — Feeling a sense of urgency with ⁴⁄₁₅ looming, I call Kristin’s office again to find out if they’ve completed our return.
⁴⁄₁₃ — Jonathan emails us saying our return is almost finished. He says she doesn’t want to speed through the return so she’ll be filing an extension today and asks for one more piece of information. I get right back to him with the info they need. I still don’t know how much I owe and payments are supposed to be submitted with extensions …
⁴⁄₁₅ — Kristin emails our payment vouchers. She then tells me the electronic filing of the extension is failing because of my wife’s info. She says she’ll try it again and worst case will mail the extension. I have to rush to get the money together and mail a check off to the IRS. Ridiculous.
Between ⁴⁄₁₅ and ⁵⁄₂₈ I called 3 times to figure out if she had completed our return. 3 times! The last time I say we just want our stuff back and I’ll file myself.
⁵⁄₂₈ — Kristin emails us saying they had problems with their voicemail system. She says she understands our frustration and we’re welcome to take our stuff and file through some other means.
This whole thing was ridiculous. Why did she take us if she didn’t think she could finish. Why did she keep promising it would be done each weekend? Why did they wait until the 15^th and make me run around? Why were we the people calling her? Wouldn’t she be expected to complete the review in 1.5 months after the filing date?
There were no apologies or attempts to rectify the situation. She basically made us spin our wheels for months and didn’t provide any service at all. If you can’t trust your accountant to be thorough and punctual, how can you trust them to do your taxes? I would never recommend her over TurboTax. Oh and by the way, TurboTax only costs $ 80.

Kristin is very congenial and easy to work with. She makes the tax process painless and takes care of everything for you (that is the point of hiring an accountant, so that you dont have to deal with anything!). She also managed to bring down a penalty that I had incurred so definitely an A+ in my book. I really hope she is able to upgrade to having her own private building/​office someday since right now she is part of a larger financial building that houses many other small businesses. Her pricing is also competitive which in this economy can be a big deal for people looking to cut corners. I am happy with my preparation for 2012 and will continue to use her in the future.

Kristin is extremely friendly and easy to talk to. She is professional and has great attention to detail. If you are looking for a great accountant that will go above and beyond for you, Kristin is the person to work with!

Kristin is very personable and helps you understand what you need to know about your taxes and accounting needs. I am one who asks a lot of questions and likes thorough explanations. Kristin provided me the answers I needed and went above and beyond to make me feel comfortable and secure. I will definitely recommend her to anyone in need of a great, honest and genuine CPA. Thank you Kristin!

We have known Kristin a long time, and so it made sense for us to go to her with our tax return and accounting needs. She’s a CPA in San Jose with personality for miles, and she always goes the extra one to make sure her clients are taken care of. We had a crazy IRS issue that had to be handled with a quick turnaround, and Kristin knew exactly what to do. Not only that, but she handled it quickly, professionally, and for an excellent price! We highly recommend Kristin’s services and plan on (and look forward to!) using her services again in the not-​too-​distant future.

Mrs. Shaffer is very knowledgeable, patient, respectful, and friendly. She also has the best prices around in San Jose for all the certifications to her name. I can tell she really cares about her clients — not just in it for the profit! Love this lady… you will too! Her practice is in a cute little office — very comfortable.