I tend to balk at paying money to anyone for doing a job I can do myself. I used to feel that way about tax preparation. Then I learned that time really does trump money.

Filing my own returns since high school and producing numerous “tax tip specials” over the course of my working life, I know more than the average bear about the ins and outs of tax code. But in this era of Turbo Tax from Intuit (INTU) and similar software, you don’t even need that.

Still, there’s a reason all tax refunds due me this year landed in my JPMorgan Chase (JPM) account by April 1st. It’s my tax guy.

I first met him about five years back on the advice of my divorce mediator, who I trusted implicitly. He helped me work through the most tax-favorable approach to settlement and threw in a casual observation that immediately helped me with cash flow: Double my withholding exemptions to eight and still owe no tax at the end of the year

For a few years, I stuck with my do-it-yourself approach to filing, which meant I always asked for the extension, then got around to filing my returns sometime in August. With this strategy, I risked misplacing my records and gave Uncle Sam a loan for even longer than deserved, because I typically get a refund.

My reluctance to pay for tax preparation originally stemmed from embarrassment about how badly I managed my money. In my early 20s and well into my 30s, I used credit cards like American Express (AXP) and Visa (V) way more than was prudent. In those days the interest on them was still deductible, but I just didn’t want to face questioning from an outsider about my lax approach to budgeting. In later years, I just couldn’t bother to get all my documentation organized in time to beat the rush.

Fast forward to 2006, when I found myself running a fairly significant sole proprietorship after leaving a job that depleted my spirit. My guy helped me figure out how much I could expect to owe in taxes, schooled me on just how to pay it so I wouldn’t be caught short at the end of the year and even offered to hook me up with his health insurance consultant to procure a good policy for my daughter and me.

By the time I returned to a full-time job, I’d come to value both his advice and the human touch – a little bit of accounting with a large dose of fireside therapy thrown in.

This year I needed my refunds in a big way. I got organized with some color-coded folders from Staples (SPLS) and kept a running record of my incomings and outgoings throughout the year so I could make an appointment and be ready for my tax guy at the very beginning of February.

I’m required to file three different returns because of where I live and work. Within days of my appointment, I had a nice, neat package of returns ready to sign and send, along with a full set of copies for myself. He’d found a few things I would have missed on my own and enclosed a newspaper story he thought I’d find interesting.

I still do the bulk of the grunt work and categorization, so my guy only charges me $350. Money well spent, I now say. Plus, it’s deductible next year.

How do you prepare your taxes? Will you be ready by April 15th? What’s your experience with accountants? Weigh in on The Exchange.