u/CanyonLark

Hello. I've been working on a side project that pulls public data from social platforms like Facebook and X. I just need to track a few metrics for a small client, nothing that huge.

So far, the scraper works fine locally. But once I try running it consistently, it starts getting blocked pretty quickly. That's when I realized I probably need a proper proxy scraper setup. I spent a few nights reading about it here in this community. Ironically, instead of getting answers, I somehow ended up even more confused than when I started.

I'm not even sure if I should be managing rotating proxies myself or using a service that handles everything. There seem to be so many different approaches based on what I've come across so far, so it's hard to tell what actually makes sense for a smaller project.

For those who've built something similar in Python, how did you approach it? Did you implement proxy rotation yourself, or did you end up using an existing tool or service?

My business finances have become a lot more complicated over the past few years.

Revenue is more consistent, there are more moving parts to keep track of, and I'm spending more time researching tax and accounting questions than I'd like.

The problem is that every business accountant I've spoken to seems to offer the same services tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, compliance, tax planning, and general financial advice.

For those who found an accountant they genuinely value, what made them different?

Was there a specific tax strategy, piece of advice, costly mistake they helped you avoid, or insight that made you feel like they more than paid for themselves?

I'm less interested in the list of services and more interested in the moments where you realized hiring a good accountant was actually a great investment.