Hiring a Crypto CPA: 6 Things to Settle Before You Sign

Hiring a Crypto CPA: 6 Things to Settle Before You Sign

Hiring a crypto CPA is mostly a question of scope. Two firms can both say they do crypto taxes, and one prepares only this year's return from a report you hand over while the other reconciles your history and stands behind it if a notice arrives.

The six items below are a checklist, not a ranking. The one firm written up is Crypto Tax Made Easy, a New Jersey digital asset tax firm, and it is the answer to item 3. Crypto Tax Made Easy is a vetted Sam's List member and a paying member of our featured program; payment does not buy the language we use or its reviews. You can read how we picked this firm at the end.

1. Settle the Scope When Hiring a Crypto CPA: Return Only, or Past Years Too

Start with what the engagement covers. Some firms prepare the current year's return from the data you provide. Others also review prior years, prepare amended returns or help you catch up on years you did not file crypto activity.

Ask for the scope in the crypto CPA engagement letter, not in a phone call. A good letter names the tax years, the forms and the services included, and says what falls outside it. If you have unreported years, raise them in the first conversation, since the approach depends on the facts.

The limitation: a letter limits what the firm is on the hook for, so a vague one leaves you guessing. Read what is excluded as carefully as what is included.

2. Decide What Records the CPA Needs From You

A CPA preparing a crypto return needs transaction history from every exchange, wallet and platform you used, and often from every year in question. Ask for a list. A firm that cannot tell you what it needs before it starts may be planning to find out after.

Expect to be asked about wallet addresses, transfers between your own accounts, staking or yield, lending, airdrops and any DeFi activity. Gaps are common, since exchanges close and data export windows end. Ask what the firm does when history is missing and whether that changes the fee.

The limitation: a CPA works from the records you give. Missing data usually means estimates or extra time, and your results will reflect it.

3. Ask Who Owns the Cost Basis Reconciliation: Where Crypto Tax Made Easy Fits

Cost basis is the figure that decides your gain or loss, and for crypto it is often the hardest to get right, because coins move between wallets and each platform keeps its own record. Ask who reconciles it: you, a software tool, or the CPA.

That is a question about a firm's specialty, so ask a firm that has one. Crypto Tax Made Easy is a digital asset tax firm based in Little Silver, New Jersey, founded in 2021, with six employees, serving clients nationwide. Its live profile lists Cryptocurrency Investors, Digital Nomads and High Net Worth Individuals as specialties and states no revenue or income minimums.

Crypto Tax Made Easy has 6 verified client reviews on Sam's List. Each review is submitted by an individual who identifies as a client of the firm and rates it on communication, subject-matter knowledge, and overall satisfaction. Reviews reflect those individual experiences and do not represent an endorsement by Sam's List. Crypto Tax Made Easy is a paying member of our featured program, and payment does not buy its reviews. Ratings and rankings are not indicative of future performance or results.

Ask how the firm reconciles basis across wallets and what it does when an exchange history is incomplete. The limitation, plainly: the profile does not describe its reconciliation process or its engagement terms by name, so ask for them. A small firm with six employees may also have capacity limits at filing time, so ask about timing.

4. Know How Notices and Audits Are Handled After Filing

A return is not always the end of the work. The IRS can send a notice, often when its records, such as a broker report, do not match what you filed. Ask whether responding to a notice is covered by the fee, billed separately or not offered.

Ask also what the firm does if the IRS opens an audit or examination. Some firms do not offer representation, and only a CPA, enrolled agent or attorney can represent you without limits, so ask who on the team would sign. Ask before you need it.

The limitation: no firm can promise you will not get a notice, and representation, where available, does not change what the IRS decides.

5. Get the Deadlines the CPA Needs From You

Everything runs on dates: the filing deadline, the extension deadline and the date by which the CPA needs your records to meet them. Ask for the CPA's cutoff in writing, and ask what happens if you miss it. A firm with a busy season may close its intake early, and an extension may be the only choice.

An extension gives more time to file, not more time to pay. Ask the CPA to estimate what you owe before the original deadline so any payment can be made on time.

The limitation: a deadline moves with the calendar and with your situation, so check the current dates with the IRS. Do not rely on last year's.

6. Understand What Hiring a Crypto CPA Costs and What Triggers More

Ask how the fee is set: flat, hourly or by number of transactions or wallets. Then ask what changes it. Common triggers are extra years, large transaction counts, missing data that needs rebuilding, amended returns and notice responses.

We are not quoting prices, since they vary by firm and by the work. Compare firms on what the fee covers, not only on its size. A lower quote that excludes cost basis cleanup can end up costing more than a higher one that includes it.

The limitation: a quote based on an estimate of transactions can change when the real count arrives. Ask how and when the firm tells you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a crypto CPA engagement letter include?

It should name the tax years, forms and services covered, say what is excluded, state how fees are set and what triggers more, and say who handles notices. It should also say what records you must provide and by when. Ask for any gap to be filled in writing.

What records does a crypto CPA need?

Transaction history from every exchange, wallet and platform you used, for each year covered. Also wallet addresses, transfers between your own accounts and records of staking, lending, airdrops or DeFi activity. Ask the firm for its checklist before you start.

Can a crypto CPA fix missing cost basis?

Often a CPA can reconstruct or estimate basis from the records that exist, but results depend on what survives. Ask what method the firm uses, what it documents and whether the extra work changes the fee. Do not expect a missing record to reappear.

Will a crypto CPA handle an IRS notice?

Some do, some bill for it separately and some do not offer it. It depends on the firm and on who holds the credentials to represent you. Ask before you sign, and get the answer in the engagement letter.

Before you call a firm, list every exchange and wallet you have used, the years you traded and any year you did not report. You can browse accountants on Sam's List, including the firm above, and ask each what its fee covers.

How We Picked This Firm

You should be able to check our work, so here is how this post was built.

The pool. The pool is the firm written up here, a vetted Sam's List member in our featured program. This is not a survey of every CPA who works with crypto, and many Sam's List members and other firms not written up here could fit.

How it is organized. The six items are things to settle, not a ranking. Crypto Tax Made Easy is the only firm written up, so there is no order of firms.

What review counts mean here. We cite Crypto Tax Made Easy's verified review count and its date from its profile. A count shows how many clients wrote something down. It does not measure technical quality, and a firm with fewer reviews is not a weaker one.

What payment does and does not buy. Listing on Sam's List is free, and so is being named in this article. The firm written up here is a paying member of our featured program, which is why it gets a write-up. What payment does not buy is the language we use about a firm, its review count, or a promise that it fits you.

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About the author: Kimberly Green is the cofounder of Sam's List, where business owners and high earners find vetted CPAs, financial advisors, and fractional CFOs. She's met one-on-one with 400+ financial professionals and writes from the real data behind thousands of client-advisor matches. Ask her anything about finding an accountant - she's heard it all, including the questions people are afraid to ask.