CollectiveReviews of collective.com

I have been very happy with my Mercury account over the years, so much so that I recommended it to my entire network, many of whom have since come back to say they had terrible experiences (No responses from reps, poor bookkeeping, etc.). So I guess I should not have been shocked when I recently experienced a VERY concerning issue with my tax preparation by Collective. In 2025, they began providing individual tax filing, which felt like an easy sell, seeing that they already had been handling my business taxes and keeping it all in one place made sense. The process in Feb 2026 was simple, so I was shocked when my state reached out in August 2026 with an adjustment. When I reached out to my Collective account rep, she was helpful at first, but then went on to tell me I now owe $11,000 in taxes because they forgot to ask about my wife's income. They noted that her W-2 was not uploaded and therefore it was my fault, even though I had provided previous years' returns and tons of other documents that would allow any human to reason that we had always been a two-income household. No responsibility was taken on their part for not following up or asking about the document. The entire reason I use Collective is that they promote taking the stress out of small business ownership however, I would say an unexpected $11k tax bill is the opposite. I plan on discontinuing my Collective services at the end of this cycle.

Sick of this company. Overpromis and Underdeliver. No onboarding. No tutorials. No easy access to a person. I feel stuck. I wish I could have my money back.

Hi - this is the first year I've EVERY operated an LLC with Scorp. You probably mostly have clients who've done if forever, but i'm the newest and dumbest of them all. So i was pretty lost throughout the process. It might help to consider some business tax for dummies videos. Thanks

As single owner/operated business I highly encourage you to look at options elsewhere. I've been with them for almost 2 years. Year 1: they screwed up payroll big time - did some adjustments to help ease the blow but still ended up costing a lot in taxes. They did compensate a few months which was nice. No direct rep. Year 2: I have a direct rep - yay. Was promised they would coordinate with their team. Yet still poor customer service from support team navigating their "wonky" system, general tax help, and individual tax (They are of course outsourcing this as well). Also big change in Year 2 was expecting hefty delays — when I recognized an error on their end they told me they'll expedite it to two weeks. It's been almost 4 months! Likely going to face large penalties because of this. Instead of increased savings I would've gained from using their service. My bottom line has suffered from their subpar service. Seems like they have brought on too many clients and we are just numbers in their system. As a small business owner it really hurts to be valued and treated as such. Especially after giving them the benefit of the doubt after Year 1 Plus: Price is decent because it's all overseas CPA's. Make sure to doublecheck their work — plenty of errors all over the place in forms, bookkeeping, accounting tables and quarterly estimates. Conclusion: Promised a do it yourself turnkey system with support versus a YOU have to literally do everything yourself system with subpar support and 0 accountability on their end. Not worth it.

I signed up for Collective with high hopes, expecting a streamlined, supportive service to manage my S corp and payroll as a self-employed professional. Instead, I experienced confusion, poor communication, and a service that never delivered on its promises. During the sales call, I asked directly whether payroll was included in the subscription and if adding employees would increase the cost. I was told it was included—no mention of third-party fees or markups. I later discovered I was being charged $15/month per contractor through Gusto, and that Collective adds a margin on top of Gusto’s standard pricing. This was never clearly disclosed. The onboarding process was also mismanaged. Despite informing them I’d be abroad and unavailable, I kept receiving emails with deadlines and follow-ups that ignored my availability. It felt like their process took precedence over actual client needs. Even worse, nothing was accomplished during my two months with Collective. No progress on bookkeeping, no tangible setup work—yet I was still charged $797 with payroll. They’ve offered a refund for one month, but I haven’t received it to date. I have wasted time and money. The promise of a “done-for-you” system quickly fell apart. I was expected to manually upload monthly documents and handle key tasks myself. It felt like I was doing the work for their convenience—not mine. My account has since been closed, but I walk away disappointed and misled. I’m writing this not out of resentment, but to caution other self-employed professionals. If you’re looking for real support, transparency, and a service that delivers what it sells—look elsewhere. —Guillaume

I came across Collective in 2021, attracted by its promise to assist small business owners in obtaining their S Corp tax status. Overall, my experience with Collective was rather underwhelming. While they did help me with my monthly accountable plan for employee reimbursements and reminded me to fill out forms and upload bank statements, their service left much to be desired. Recently, I decided to end my membership with Collective due to a significant decline in service quality, coupled with across-the-board rate increases. It was unacceptable to me that they raised prices while lowering the level of service. During a call with a Collective representative, we mutually agreed that my business had outgrown its services, prompting my decision to terminate my investment. One of the recurring issues I faced with Collective was their failure to reconcile my QuickBooks on a regular basis. There were instances where they went three months without reconciling, which was unacceptable. The final straw came when they failed to reconcile my QuickBooks for two months in a row. After calling them out on this, they refunded me for the two months of membership fees, which was appreciated but should not have been necessary if they had fulfilled their responsibilities. While Collective may be helpful for small, one-person businesses looking to convert their status to an S Corp, it's important to be aware that as your business grows, you may outgrow their services and need to seek alternatives.