Tax Preparation

We prepare all types of income tax returns. We also prepare payroll, sales, excise and other types of tax returns. If a particular issue is not in our area of expertise, we have strong relationships with other professionals to find solutions to your needs. We prepare basic and complex returns with a personal approach. You will never be a number to be pushed through or extended without explanation. We will work together to ensure the best results and understanding of your taxes. The tax system has gotten so complex that it is overwhelming to try to navigate it. Our job is always to handle the complexity for you, but it is also to help you understand why you are paying what you pay, and how the process works.

Closeup of financial documents and a calculator

Tax Planning

Tax preparation is after the fact.  Planning is the area where we can add the most value.  Whether your withholdings simply need to be checked and adjusted, or we need to plan for a successful year in your business, tax planning is a vital aspect of minimizing tax liabilities.  Even if you have suffered a job loss or a bad year in your business, there are things we can do to take advantage of the situation and add some silver lining to that cloud.

Business Startup

Starting a business is a daunting task, especially if you are new to the process. We can guide you through the process. The decisions you make at the beginning will affect the life of your business. It’s extremely important to choose the right entity type for your needs, to build a record keeping system that works, and to register for all the taxes that are required. Our group is focused on teaching you what you need to know to be successful from the beginning.

A laptop on a glass table displays accounting software

Accounting System Implementation and Training

We specialize in Intuit QuickBooks products. We can help you purchase the software, design the books, and establish the internal controls for an efficient process. A good accounting system first provides information for you to manage your business. Second is the reporting need. Often a set of books is primarily used for tax preparation purposes in small business. We focus on getting everything we can from an accounting system to provide for the most efficiency and success for your business and for tax reporting. We also provide training in QuickBooks. There are many options out there for training, but we have found the best model is when we design the system and train on its use. This eliminates all the extra details not applicable to your business while providing specific guidance and continuing support you can use.

Accounting System Update

A good accounting system needs regular maintenance. Have you been using the same QuickBooks company file for 20 years? Are you tired of waiting for it to save and close? Maybe it’s time for a new file. A new QuickBooks company file provides the opportunity to clean things up. We eliminate items, names, classes and accounts that are not needed anymore while streamlining the system. You’ll keep the old slow file, so you always have access to it, but you’ll use the new fast one going forward. The efficiency gained by this process quickly outweighs the cost of implementing it. It might also be appropriate for you to consider a cloud based system like QuickBooks Online.

Bookkeeping and Bookkeeping Review

When you have grown your business to the point where you don’t have the time to handle your own bookkeeping, or if it’s just an aspect of your business you want handled by others, we can do it for you. We will record the information in your accounting system and help you to make use of it. Many bookkeeping services do little more than input the information in the software. A good bookkeeper is focused on the results, not just the inputs. We are always looking to ensure that the resulting balances are accurate and complete. We are also thinking about the rest of the process which allows us to efficiently move on to planning and reporting. You might also have an internal staff person who is doing the bookkeeping. Often in smaller businesses, these personnel are doing multiple tasks and may not have an accounting background. In these scenarios we can provide bookkeeping review. The day-to-day activities are handled in house while we take the last step of ensuring the resulting balances are accurate and complete.

Buy/Sell Consulting

When you are looking to buy or sell a business it is important that you have the proper support. As always, we will incorporate other professionals in the process to ensure all aspects are addressed. Our role is to help coordinate these activities and ensure you pay only what you have to for a purchase or get all you can get with a sale. Value estimates, allocations of purchase price, and timing are all extremely important to ensure your goals are met and that tax liabilities are minimized.

Two people reviewing documents at a desk

Management Consulting

It is important to have an adviser who knows you, and your business. We want to be a trusted partner that understands your strengths, weaknesses, goals, and approaches to life and business. Management decisions can be difficult. Having a team member who is just enough outside your business or family to help you with an outside point of view, but is inside enough to know you, can be invaluable. Whether it’s hiring and firing, investing in equipment, managing inventory, or expanding into new markets, we are here to help you make decisions and to bring together a team that can support you on your journey to success.

Hiring Accounting Personnel

If your business has grown to the point where you need to hire in-house accounting personnel, we can help. It can be a challenge assessing the skills and suitability of accounting staff if you do not have an accounting background. We can help screen resumes and perform preliminary interviews to mitigate the likelihood of hiring accounting staff who don’t have the right accounting skills.

Referrals

We can certainly introduce you to attorneys, insurance professionals, financial advisers, and bankers, but our network is not limited to these financial related industries. We strive to know the communities where our clients live and work. We are happy to provide referrals for many business and personal needs. Please don’t hesitate to ask for a referral. When we have contacts we feel good about, we are happy to make introductions. We look forward to knowing you and your business enough so we can offer referrals to you as well. The greatest compliment is not only to refer us, but also to trust in us enough to ask us for a referral to others.