Filing a return is reporting history. By the time most people meet their preparer, every decision that could have changed the number has already been made. We do the planning in the year it still counts, then file the return that reflects it.
Fixed fees, quoted in writing. Florida licensed CPA.
Most firms sell you the first and call it the second. Here is the difference in practice.
A preparer takes what happened and puts it on the right lines. Done well, that is valuable and necessary.
Entity structure and elections, reasonable compensation, timing of income and deductions, retirement funding, state residency, estimated payments. Each has a deadline, and most of them are not April 15.
The difference between a competent return and a well-planned year is usually not found in the return itself. It is found in decisions made in September that the return simply records.
Individual and business, federal and multi-state.
Form 1040 with the schedules your situation actually requires: Schedule C for self-employment, Schedule E for rentals and K-1s, Schedule A where itemizing still wins, and additional states where you have filing obligations.
S corporations, C corporations, partnerships and multi-member LLCs. Prepared from closed books, with the K-1s coordinated to the owners’ personal returns rather than issued in isolation.
A working session before December where we project the year, model the options and pick the ones worth executing. This is the part that changes the number.
Calculated from actual year-to-date results. Safe harbor when it protects you, actual method when it protects your cash flow.
LLC versus S corporation, when the election is worth the payroll and administrative cost, and what a defensible reasonable compensation figure looks like for your role and revenue.
IRS and state notices answered by the CPA who prepared the return. Most notices are automated mismatches that resolve with a correct response rather than an amended return.
Connected properly, so your books close on live data instead of month-old statements. Where we hold a certification, we say so.
General information, not advice for your situation. Outcomes depend on facts we would need to review with you.
“Philip is more than our CPA, he is part of our team. He is proactive, incredibly responsive, and always thinking ahead about our business and taxes.”
Our prices are published rather than quoted only after a call. A straightforward individual return with W-2 income starts at $400. Rentals, self-employment, K-1s and additional states each add a defined amount. Business returns are priced by entity type and complexity. The quote tool will show you a real starting figure, and a fixed fee is confirmed in writing once we have reviewed your documents.
For most businesses, a session in the third or early fourth quarter, once the year is predictable enough to project but early enough to act. Some decisions, including certain entity elections and retirement plan establishment, have deadlines well before year end, so waiting until December removes options.
Yes, and it is a more common situation than people assume. We start by pulling your IRS transcripts to establish what has actually been assessed and what the agency already has on file, then work forward. Filing voluntarily before the IRS initiates contact generally puts you in a better position, including on penalty abatement.
Yes. We are Florida based, which means many of our clients have no state income tax filing at all, but multi-state situations are routine: property in another state, remote employees, K-1s from out-of-state partnerships, or a move partway through the year.
No. But a return prepared from books we closed ourselves is faster, cheaper and lower risk than one prepared from a file we are seeing for the first time in March.
Most firms make you book a call before they will name a price. Answer a few questions and get a real starting number in about two minutes.
