# What's a nice business gift? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867 "2019-12-14T20:10:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867/1 "2019-12-14T20:10:15Z")
I’ve been away for a long time so I’ll start with a quick question: What would be a good gift to give to a male CPA who’d recently given you helpful financial advice? Something under $100, say. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867/2 "2019-12-14T22:48:34Z")
Restaurant gift certificates are always good. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867/3 "2019-12-14T23:35:59Z")
Find out what his hobbies are and give something relevant. ---
**Author:** ![albino\_manatee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/albino_manatee/32/2_2.png) [@albino\_manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/albino_manatee)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867/4 "2019-12-15T14:12:07Z")
a baseball cap … with company logo embroidered on it. google it: [https://www.google.com/search?q=screen-print/embroider+any+logo+on+any+item](https://www.google.com/search?q=screen-print/embroider+any+logo+on+any+item) ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867/5 "2019-12-15T15:20:32Z")
If you’ve seen his office, try to pick some smallish piece of art or decor that would match. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867/6 "2019-12-15T20:14:58Z")
A nice pen. Even in this digital era, I still like having a few nice pens in my pen and pencil case. I’ll sign a bar tab with the Bic the staff gives me, but for anything else, I prefer a nice one. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867/7 "2019-12-16T22:42:17Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > A nice pen. Even in this digital era, I still like having a few nice pens in my pen and pencil case. I’ll sign a bar tab with the Bic the staff gives me, but for anything else, I prefer a nice one. IME, it is quite rare for most people to care about a pen. I use Pilot G2 gel pens. Give me an expensive pen (and I’ve been given a Montblanc, for Pete’s sake) and I am saddened by the complete waste of money. Harder to hold, write with and poorer quality writing result. Very few people would recognize an expensive pen, fewer still would want one. People like the OP need to think in the opposite direction. Stuff that a _lot_ of people would use. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867/8 "2019-12-17T16:02:50Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Restaurant gift certificates are always good. I’d suggest being very careful about gift certificates. OP doesn’t mention if the receipent is from a large firm or self-employed, or in between, but in many large finance and related area firms, Gift certificates are treated as cash, and accepting cash as a gift is generally a big no no, from an anti-bribery and corruption perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-nice-business-gift/844867/9 "2019-12-17T19:12:00Z")
Where I’ve worked, the rules about accepting cash extend to non-cash gifts, so you’re not allowed to accept a gift unless it’s of “nominal” value, typically under $25.