If you have any questions that you don’t see addressed here, please Contact Us.

Q. Are you accepting new clients?
A. Unfortunately we aren’t currently able to take on new tax preparation work. We do have a limited capacity for monthly bookkeeping, although we aren’t generally able to meet or get bookkeeping up and running during tax season (Jan – Apr).

Q. When do you need my information for tax preparation?
A. Our default request is to get information at least one month before a filing deadline. So for entity returns due March 15th, we need info by February 15th. Or for individual returns due April 15th, we need info by March 15th. After that, we can’t guarantee that we can finish in time. Although we do our best to accommodate all of our clients, so if you let us know up front that you have a deadline less than a month away, we can let you know if we’ll be likely to make it.

Q. What is the normal process for tax preparation?
A. We’re pretty flexible, so we’re happy to work with you however it’s convenient. Often clients will get their information together (W-2s and other tax forms, financial statements for the business, childcare and charitable contributions and other information, etc.) and send it over for us to look at first, and we usually come back with some initial questions. We can set you up a secure portal to send documents, or set up a shared folder on Google Drive or Dropbox, or you can mail, fax, or even drop off hard copies. Or if you’d rather bring everything and meet in person from the beginning, that also works.

Regardless, once we get things wrapped up, we can meet to review things in person if you like, or we can send you a pdf that we can review on the phone/zoom/email, or we can send a copy for you to review/sign electronically,

Q. I’m behind on my taxes; can you prepare multiple years for me?
A. We’re happy to review past returns during preparation of the current year’s return, mainly in order to let you know if anything sticks out as incorrect, if there are any carryforwards to pick up, etc. But unfortunately we’re only able to actually prepare 2023 tax returns for our clients; we don’t prepare 2022 and earlier years.

Q. Do you offer payroll services?
A. We currently offer after-the-fact payroll tax reporting for single employees (usually S-Corporation shareholders), which includes monthly payments to the IRS, quarterly Form 941 and SUTA, and annual W-2 and 940. For those of you with more than one employee who need access to full service payroll, we usually recommend running it yourself, with providers like Gusto, ADP, Quickbooks, etc.

Q. Do you have a fee schedule for tax prep, or do you work by the hour?
A. We don’t have a fixed fee schedule that we stick to, since tax returns can vary quite a bit in the amount of time required. But rather than bill at an hourly rate, we’ll give you a range based on the overall complexity. And if this helps, we’re always happy to take a look at last year’s return, or at your current year’s information, so that we can give you a much tighter range that we’ll honor for the current year.

Generally for preparation of a personal tax return (Form 1040), we charge anywhere from $500 – $1000. Things like state returns, rental properties, messy books that need a lot of cleanup, married filing separately, stock options, etc. tend to move it more toward the higher end. And being less complicated moves it toward the lower end. Note that if you have a sole proprietorship (or a single member LLC without an election to be taxed otherwise), that goes on a Schedule C, which is included with your 1040. And similarly, rental properties usually get reported on Schedule E, which is included with your 1040.

And for preparation of partnership tax returns (Form 1065) and corporations (1120 or 1120S), we usually charge anywhere from $800 – $1200, depending on the complexity, and the amount of cleanup required. That includes preparation of the Texas franchise tax return (or one other state), and the first two K-1s.

Q. Do you offer bookkeeping services?
A. We do; we perform monthly bookkeeping services for many of our business clients. We use our own accounting software, so that you don’t need to log in to classify transactions or anything. And most banks let you set up read-only access for third parties, so that we can log in directly to get bank statements, check images, credit card activity, etc., so that you don’t need to send that to us each month.

And rather than work on an hourly basis, with each client we set up a flat monthly fee that just depends on the complexity (number of bank/credit card accounts, number of transactions, etc.). And then we generally re-assess that once a year or so, to see if things have become more (or less) complicated, and whether any adjustments are need. We’re happy to take a look at some sample statements, or your existing books (if applicable) and give you a specific number. But we have a lot of clients in the $250-$450 per month range. That includes preparing the financials, filing sales tax (if applicable), after-the-fact payroll (if applicable), quarterly tax projections (as needed), and questions/consultations throughout the month.

Q. As a sole proprietor, when are my estimated tax payments due? Can you tell me how much to pay?
A. To avoid a penalty for underpayment of your taxes, quarterly tax estimates should be made on the 15th of April, June, September, and January. Remember that the second and third quarter estimates are due in June and September, before those quarters have even finished. And sure, give us a call if you need some help calculating how much you should be paying. Depending on your prior year liability and a couple of other factors, you may not be required to make any estimated payments.