To be responsive!

As a former CPA of 20 years, I was successful when I offered a packaged service at a recurring monthly fee. (no hourly surprises). Before we got to the point, it was important for the client to know that I worked for them and not the IRS. I took the opinion of Judge Learned Hand, that it is the responsibility for the taxpayer to pay as little into the treasury as legally required. If the CPA keeps referring to red flags, RUN! They are overpriced tax preparers and not advisors. CPAs get the bigger bucks because they advise and plan for tax avoidance throughout the year. Too many CPAs in my experience don't know the difference between tax avoidance, which saves you thousands of dollars, and tax evasion, which will get you 5-10 in the federal pen. Bookkeepers will be more detail-oriented and you can go once a quarter or so to your CPA for advice.

Make your clients feel like they are your only client.  It's amazing what will happen to your business.

I have had the same CPA for 30 years and what I like (and find important) is that I have never missed a filing or a deadline and know exactly what to provide for him for him to be able to do the rest. He saves me BOTH time and money.

Someone that has the heart of a teacher and not afraid to ask questions.  Business owners are not accountants and that is why we hire them.  We often need some educating and help understanding so we learn to do things correctly.

I can answer this question as a 40+ year self-employed accountant/bookkeeper: I agree 100% with Todd Drummond. One of the frustrations I have had over the years is clients who have no desire to be proactive and learn what I do for them - They just want me to do it. I picked up a few clients over the years who got burned by their bookkeeper/accountant because they trusted them too much...I had to come in a clean up messes. I started when computerized bookkeeping didn't exist. I transitioned to becoming a teacher when clients were bringing their bookkeeping in house. 

Being responsive. I have fired 2 CPA groups over the past few years for lack of response.

Tanna, what I expect from a bookkeeper and a CPA is honesty, integrity and service.  To understand my business, where & how I want to grow it, how I want to build wealth and how I should do that.  Be timely with reports, P&L's, Balance Sheets etc so I know where my business stands.  I hope this helps.

Biggest Expectation of my Bookkeeper / Controller is that she will "get to know my Business, become a part of it, and understand my Entrepreneurial Vision for growth, providing it the necessary financial underpinnings!"

I'm a Vietnam-era Veteran of US Army CounterIntelligence, an early-out DuPont Co executive, who has had my own Business(es) since 1993, 29 years, when I founded my SamWaltz dot-com strategic business advisory / counsel firm.

3 years ago, I bought another business, CECON dot-com, a global "subject matter expert" business, which actually founded the niche in 1985, and I'm integrating them into a DBA, Expert-Nation dot-com.

Some "art" in the bookkeeping exists to that, and she is integral to what we're doing.

Let me put this subject in a different perspective and put a different spin on it. Yes, having clearly defined expectations is very important, however, I have also experienced that some people will look at the expectations more like the high end of what they are willing to do and not what they can do. Case in point, one of the reasons why my business has been around for as long as it has been is in large part because we have always gone above and beyond the expectations, providing a service that gives our customers more bang for their dollar and in the nearly 23 years of owning my business, we have NEVER advertised, NEVER. The only "advertisement" we have done is a business card, which I have never really viewed as advertisement but rather a means of giving the potential customer a way of contacting us.

So, when expectations are clearly defined, which is not a bad thing, some businesses will look at that and say that for the money they are being paid they ONLY have to do what was defined, nothing more, and that, at least to me, has always bred mediocrity. 

Now, to the point of the question being asked, I would "expect" no less than that which I would do myself, and the reason I have used the same accountant for as long as I have is because they have always gone above and beyond the call of duty, giving me up to the minute information and changes that could affect my business and not just waiting until I call them, they call me. It is always that extra step or extra mile that the customer will always remember, not whether or not you met expectations.