Haigler CPA Group Review

What Haigler CPA Group Offers

Haigler CPA Group, LLC is a Charleston, South Carolina tax and accounting practice founded in 2023 that serves small businesses, real estate investors, and individuals with more involved returns. Its company page lists seven services:

• Business tax: corporate and pass-through returns, year-round planning, and multi-state compliance.
• Personal tax: Form 1040 preparation, tax-saving strategy, and multi-state or expatriate filings.
• Rental real estate: Schedule E, depreciation, 1031 exchanges, and short-term rentals.
• Mergers and acquisitions tax: due diligence, deal structuring, and exit or succession planning.
• Tax controversy: IRS audits, penalty abatement, appeals, and back-tax resolution.
• Bookkeeping: monthly reconciled books in QuickBooks Online.
• Tax planning and advisory: entity choice, timing, property, and exit decisions planned together.

Haigler CPA Group's industry pages name construction, HVAC and plumbing, electricians, dental and medical practices, veterinary practices, architects, engineering firms, and law firms.

Haigler CPA Group serves Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and Summerville from its one office. Its Charleston location page says Mount Pleasant and Summerville are service areas, served from the James Island office. Its FAQ says federal work is not limited by geography and treats multi-state filings as ordinary work.

Matthew Haigler's CPA Credentials

Matthew Haigler is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in South Carolina since 2022 under license number 10843, according to his profile on Haigler CPA Group's site. He holds a Master of Professional Accountancy from Clemson University (2021) and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs.

Before starting Haigler CPA Group, he was a tax accountant at BDO, preparing large consolidated federal, state, and local corporate returns. His profile also lists work on real estate partnerships, high-net-worth individuals, and tax structuring for stock and asset acquisitions. That background matches the M&A and rental services Haigler CPA Group leads with.

The CPA license gives Matthew Haigler unlimited representation rights before the IRS. The IRS credentials page says CPAs, enrolled agents, and attorneys can represent clients on audits, payment and collection issues, and appeals. You can confirm a CPA's listing in the IRS Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers, which shows the credential next to the preparer's name.

Haigler CPA Group's site names two people. Matthew Haigler handles the tax work, and Sophie Johnson, the administrative assistant, handles intake and scheduling. The FAQ says the tax work stays in-house and is not handed to a subcontractor.

Rental Real Estate at Haigler CPA Group

Rental property owners get the most specific service page on Haigler CPA Group's site. The rental real estate page covers Schedule E preparation, depreciation strategy, passive loss rules, and 1031 exchange planning and deadlines. It also covers whether to hold property personally or through an LLC, partnership, or S corporation.

It also explains the short-term rental rule many investors ask about. When the average guest stay is seven days or less and you materially participate, rental losses may be treated as non-passive even if you are not a real estate professional. The page lists the audit risks too, including the need for contemporaneous hour logs and the effect of using a cleaning service or property manager.

Three tasks stay outside Haigler CPA Group's rental scope:

• Property management and leasing.
• Cost segregation studies, which engineering firms usually perform. Haigler CPA Group coordinates with them and applies the results.
• Serving as qualified intermediary on a 1031 exchange, which has to be an independent party.

Before a consultation, run your property through our rental income tax calculator and read our list of rental property tax deductions, so you arrive with numbers to test.

IRS Audits and Tax Controversy

Haigler CPA Group represents clients in IRS audits, penalty abatement requests, and appeals, and it handles all IRS communication once you sign an authorization. Its tax controversy page also covers installment agreements and offers in compromise, noting that "each has eligibility rules and financial disclosure requirements." Appeals go to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals.

The page states two limits:

• Criminal cases: "Where a case becomes criminal, an attorney should lead and we work alongside them."
• U.S. Tax Court: Haigler CPA Group does not represent clients there, because Tax Court practice requires separate admission. Haigler CPA Group prepares the position and coordinates with counsel.

The page also says "no one can promise an outcome, and be wary of anyone who does."

If your balance is the issue, our tax resolution calculator shows whether an offer, a payment plan, or hardship status fits your numbers before you pay anyone to file one.

What Haigler CPA Group Does Not Do

Haigler CPA Group does not process payroll, give legal advice, or perform audits, reviews, or compilations of financial statements. Its homepage and FAQ state those limits, and its service pages and FAQ add a few more:

• Payroll processing. Haigler CPA Group reconciles payroll that your provider runs and can refer you to one.
• Legal advice, such as LLC liability questions, which go to an attorney.
• Audits, reviews, or compilations, the attest work a lender or investor may require.
• Accounts payable and receivable runs, or controller and CFO-level work.
• Trust and estate returns, and estate work generally.
• Opinions on workers' compensation coverage requirements.

If you need payroll, keep a payroll provider alongside Haigler CPA Group, and its bookkeeping service will reconcile that provider's payroll to your books. If a bank wants reviewed financial statements, that engagement goes to a different CPA firm that offers attest services.

What Haigler CPA Group Charges

Haigler CPA Group does not publish fees for any service. The consultation page says "the initial consultation is free," and the scope and fee are agreed in writing before work starts. Nothing is agreed on that first call.

The written scope covers what the work includes and excludes, plus what Haigler CPA Group needs from you and when. Ask it to state whether the fee covers state returns, quarterly estimate planning, an extension, catch-up bookkeeping, and IRS letters that arrive after filing. Each of those is work that a quote may or may not include.

Bring these to the first conversation, which the consultation page lists as optional:

• Your most recent filed return.
• Any IRS or state notice, in full.
• Your business entity type and the states involved.
• What changed this year and any deadline.

Without a posted price, you cannot compare Haigler CPA Group on cost before calling. The written scope gives you a document to set against other quotes.

How Working With Haigler CPA Group Works

Haigler CPA Group works by appointment, Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., in person on James Island or by video. There is no online self-booking. You send the consultation form or call (843) 214-0631, and Sophie Johnson follows up to schedule.

Documents move through a client portal, and Haigler CPA Group tells clients not to attach tax documents to email. Portal access is set up after an engagement is agreed. If you need to send something before then, ask on the call for a secure route.

The FAQ says extensions are free and take minutes. An extension moves only the filing date, and the IRS still expects any tax owed by the original deadline. If you are self-employed, our quarterly estimated tax calculator shows what to send while the return is on extension.

Haigler CPA Group Pros and Cons

Haigler CPA Group's strength is a licensed CPA with corporate and real estate tax experience doing the work himself. Its weak points are no posted fees and a scope that leaves payroll, attest work, and estates to other providers.

What works in Haigler CPA Group's favor:

• A named South Carolina CPA, license 10843, with an MPAcc and BDO corporate tax experience.
• Rental real estate and M&A tax services written in detail, including what stays outside scope.
• IRS audit, penalty, and appeals representation from the same CPA-led practice that prepares the return.
• A free consultation and a written scope and fee before any work.
• A portal-only document rule that keeps tax records out of email.

What works against it:

• No fee schedule or ranges on Haigler CPA Group's site.
• No payroll processing, audits, reviews, or compilations.
• No trust or estate returns.
• No U.S. Tax Court representation, so a case that reaches Tax Court adds an attorney or admitted practitioner.
• One CPA and one office, so capacity in March and April is a question to ask early.

Who Should Skip Haigler CPA Group

Skip Haigler CPA Group if you want payroll run by the same office that does your taxes. Haigler CPA Group says payroll processing is not a service it offers. A practice that runs payroll, files Forms 941 and W-2s, and prepares the return gives you one point of contact for all three.

Skip it if you need a trust, estate, or gift-tax return, or reviewed financial statements for a lender. Haigler CPA Group lists both as outside its work.

Skip it if your return is one W-2 and a standard deduction. Haigler CPA Group writes its services for owner-operated companies, rental owners, and multi-state filers. A simple return rarely needs CPA-level planning, and our guide on how to choose a CPA or tax adviser covers when a lower-cost preparer is the better match.

What Would Change Our Verdict on Haigler CPA Group

Our verdict on Haigler CPA Group would improve if it published fee ranges for a personal return, an S corporation or partnership return, and monthly bookkeeping. Without them, the recommendation stops at "worth the free consultation."

It would also improve with a stated response time, or a second credentialed preparer to add filing-season capacity beyond one CPA.

The verdict would turn negative if the CPA license lapsed, if the written-scope step went away, or if Haigler CPA Group began promising audit outcomes. Its tax controversy page rules out promised outcomes today.

The Verdict on Haigler CPA Group

Book a consultation with Haigler CPA Group if you own a pass-through business, a rental portfolio, or a stake in a deal, and you live in or near Charleston. You get a licensed CPA with corporate and real estate tax background, a written fee before work, and IRS audit representation from the practice that prepared the return.

Plan to pair Haigler CPA Group with a payroll provider, and with an attorney if a tax case turns criminal or reaches Tax Court. Start with the consultation form or call (843) 214-0631.

Frequently asked questions