GRF CPAs & Advisors - Bethesda, Maryland

Nick B.

Lying, gaslighting, mistakes, like others here have said.

The firm charged me ~3-4x the national average for services then lied and gaslit about it. Missed a filing date then also lied/gaslit about it.

A memorable combination of incompetence and unethical practice. Unfortunately my family didn't read the reviews here before deciding to work with them.

The firm may have more lies or some excuse in response, but every complaint I have has been repeated by others here, which tells you all you need to know.

Ryan M.

EDIT 2: For some reason HR reached out to me about this review, they have not replied since initial contact where I responded with the original email I sent in 2021 for why I left GRF, emails and chat transcripts explaining everything. Why they didn't do anything when I first contacted them about this then, who knows.

AVOID GRF COMPLETLEY. I've been contacted by multiple staff members via LinkedIn also regarding shady business practices and gaslighting by management. Company is very nepotistic and you will go nowhere unless you're related to partners.

EDIT: My review keeps getting removed, I have a feeling it's GRF doing damage control. There is another 5 star review here by a family member of the managing partner.

I worked here in IT for 3.5 years, no issues, then all of a sudden out of the blue the CTO started acting weird, asked me to install tracking software on a partners home, personal computer. Computer did not belong to GRF and had this person's family accounts on it. I hesitated, said I didn't feel comfortable doing this without the user knowing.

Attempted to call the CTO to discuss it, no answer. Emailed him explaining why it was unethical and borderline illegal, was told "you don't get to make that decision, do what you're told, you're getting a negative review this year" despite doing nothing wrong except not allow him to spy on our partners personal computer. He was "disappointed" that I didn't blindly follow orders (have emails to back this up)

Immediately started looking elsewhere for employment, notified HR and left. Can't work for untrustworthy C level employees that have access to everything and apparently felt like spying even more.

If you ever brought a personal computer into this office, you should probably wipe it. No clue what he was looking for or why he decided to track a female partner working at GRF, but was not going to be a part of it. Crazy what those with some power will go to to stalk their coworkers.

When an IT director doesn't want records in writing that's a HUGE red flag, and when your morals outweigh possible illegal actions ordered by your superior, it's "disappointing".

Sara W.

GR&F was literally the worst experience we've ever had with a CPA. Our accountant grossly miscalculated our tax liabilities for 2016, leaving us with a $34,000 tax bill we were not expecting in the spring. It was a simple "math error" that was admitted to be the fault of the CPA. The already-disastrous situation was exacerbated by the fact that we were currently in escrow to purchase a home...which almost cost us the house purchase and the money we had already put down. Luckily, we were able to continue with the home purchase unscathed thanks to the smart thinking of our lender. But to say it was stressful would be a complete understatement. Following that terrible incident, we were assigned another CPA who provided our 2017 estimated payments past due and cost us a few hundred dollars in penalties and interest payment as a result. And in the months following, they did not provide us with timely responses to our very basic questions about tax filing. We are still, and will continue to be, digging ourselves out of the $35,000 they created.

Jason U.

The team at GRF has been an invaluable resource as I've launched, grown and succeeded with my business. David Graling is a consummate professional who is quick to respond to questions with thoughtful and insightful answers. And when he doesn't know, someone else at GRF does -- and they're ready to help. Accounting isn't something I want to worry about; with GRF helping to prepare our taxes and advise on how to handle issues with the IRS, out-of-state entities, and the intricacies of tax law, I know we're in good hands.

Ralph A.

David Graling and the amazing team at the firm our the best!!! David handles all of our business and personal tax work. David is intelligent caring person who will make sure you understand what is going on and how best to handle your tax’s!!! Make sure to put David Graling at the top of your list when you need tax advice and support. It will make the difference

Scott A.

Had my identity stolen about 3 months after filing here. Worst year of my life. Something is going on here where client's information is being given out or stolen. This place is terrible and not recommended at all.

J 0.

These people (or one of their tax preparers) doubled their already high fee from one year to the next after some change in their billable hours. But they didn't disclose this beforehand (as far as I can tell), they just billed me double y-o-y after the fact, when there was no way to avoid it. I complained, but they didn't seem very interested.

Richard S.

Just how totally horrible can you be. It is 8:24 PM on April 14th and we can’t get a response from this firm on our tax return status. No one answers the phone. No one answers an email. Are they dead? Still in business? Just don’t ever use these people.