How CPA ratings work on TaxSimplified
Every star rating on TaxSimplified comes from a verified, real client — not an anonymous submission, not a purchased review, and not a placeholder score. This page explains exactly how we collect, verify, and display ratings, and how CPAs can participate in the process.
Our rating criteria — strict by design
Most online review platforms allow anyone to leave a review with no verification. We do not. TaxSimplified operates a closed review system with the following requirements:
✓ Verified clients only
Only clients who have engaged a CPA for paid tax services can leave a review. We verify this through a review invitation sent to the client's email address after service is completed — the CPA initiates the invitation from their verified dashboard.
✓ One review per client, per CPA, per tax year
A single client cannot leave multiple reviews for the same CPA in the same tax year. If a client works with a CPA for both personal and corporate returns in the same year, that counts as one reviewable engagement.
✓ Content screened for authenticity
All review text is screened before publication. We look for signs of template language, inflated positivity, defamatory content, or competitor interference. Reviews that fail screening are not published and the submitter is notified with the reason.
✓ No anonymous reviews
Reviewers are identified by first name and first letter of last name (e.g., "Alicia M.") and the tax year of service. Full identifying details are stored but not publicly displayed. CPAs can see the full identity of all reviewers on their dashboard.
Why we have a low review count on many listings
You'll notice that some CPAs have only 3–15 reviews even with years of practice. That's intentional. We'd rather show 8 real reviews than 80 unverified ones. A CPA with a 4.8 rating based on 12 verified clients is a stronger signal than a 4.9 from 200 anonymous submissions on another platform.
How the star rating is calculated
Each verified review includes ratings across four dimensions:
| Dimension | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Technical expertise | 35% | Accuracy, knowledge of CRA rules, proactive planning advice |
| Communication | 25% | Responsiveness, clarity of explanations, accessibility |
| Value for money | 25% | Whether fees were reasonable relative to services delivered |
| Would recommend | 15% | Net promoter — would you refer a friend or return next year? |
The displayed star rating is the weighted average of these four dimensions, rounded to one decimal place. A minimum of 3 verified reviews is required before a rating is displayed on a listing.
CPA license verification
Alongside reviews, TaxSimplified independently verifies that each listed CPA holds a current, active license with their provincial CPA body. The "✓ CPA License Verified [year]" badge on a listing means:
- We checked the provincial CPA registry for this individual's license status in the displayed year.
- The license was active (not suspended, revoked, or expired) at the time of verification.
- The CPA holds the designations shown (CPA, CA, CGA, CMA, CFP, etc.).
- Verifications are renewed annually or when a CPA upgrades their listing tier.
| Province / Territory | Registry we check |
|---|---|
| Ontario | CPA Ontario public member directory |
| British Columbia | CPABC member search |
| Alberta | CPA Alberta member directory |
| Quebec | Ordre des CPA du Québec — Tableau des membres |
| Manitoba | CPA Manitoba member directory |
| Saskatchewan | CPA Saskatchewan public registry |
| Atlantic provinces | CPA Atlantic member search (covers NS, NB, NL, PEI) |
| Territories | CPA Canada national registry cross-reference |
Future: automated license checks
We are working toward automated, real-time license status checks through provincial registry APIs where these are available. Once live, a listing's "Verified" badge will reflect current status — not just the most recent manual check. We expect to roll this out for Ontario, BC, and Alberta first, with other provinces to follow as APIs become available.
How CPAs can respond to reviews
CPAs with a verified or featured listing can respond publicly to any review on their profile. Responses are held to the same content standards as reviews: professional, factual, and free of personal client information (which would violate CPA professional conduct rules).
What CPAs can do with reviews:
- Post a public response to any review (appears below the review on their profile)
- Flag a review as potentially fraudulent (we investigate within 5 business days)
- Request removal of a review that contains factually incorrect statements (must provide documentation)
- See the full identity of all reviewers on their private dashboard
CPAs cannot pay to remove legitimate negative reviews. The review remains on the profile until TaxSimplified determines it violates our content policy — the CPA's response is the appropriate public channel for disagreement.
How ratings affect listing order
Listing tier (Featured, Verified, Free) is the primary sort factor on all TaxSimplified CPA directory pages. Within each tier, ratings contribute to ordering as follows:
| Tier | Sort order within tier |
|---|---|
| Featured | Bayesian-adjusted rating score (rating × log(review count)), then alphabetical for ties |
| Verified | Same Bayesian-adjusted score, then alphabetical |
| Free | Alphabetical (ratings shown but do not affect order within free tier) |
The Bayesian adjustment means a CPA with 4.9 stars from 3 reviews does not outrank one with 4.7 stars from 50 reviews — volume matters. This protects against gaming the system by engineering a small number of perfect scores.
Review integrity and fraud prevention
We take review fraud seriously because TaxSimplified ratings are used by Canadians to make financial decisions. Our anti-fraud measures include:
- Closed invitation system: Only CPAs can initiate reviews, and only to clients they've genuinely worked with.
- Rate limiting: A CPA cannot invite more than 20 clients per month — preventing mass solicitation campaigns.
- Pattern detection: If we detect a cluster of reviews arriving in a short window from similar email domains or IPs, we flag and hold them for manual review.
- Negative-review protection: CPAs cannot selectively invite only satisfied clients without also inviting dissatisfied ones (we sample engagement records to verify).
- Competitor reporting: CPAs can report suspected competitor-planted negative reviews with evidence; we investigate.
Are you a CPA? Claim your listing and start collecting reviews
Free basic listings can be claimed by any licensed CPA in Canada. Verified and Featured listings include the ability to invite clients for reviews, respond publicly to reviews, display your license verification badge, and access your review dashboard.
Claim or upgrade your listing