The return is the last step, not the first
By the time a business return is prepared in March, every decision that affects it has already been made. The equipment was bought or it was not. The owner took a salary or took distributions. The retirement plan was funded or it was not. A preparer who sees the numbers for the first time in the spring can only report what happened. An accountant who saw them in November can still change it. That is why our business tax engagements include a year-end planning conversation, and why most of our tax clients are also our bookkeeping clients.
We prepare returns for every common small-business structure: sole proprietors on Schedule C, single-member LLCs, multi-member LLCs and partnerships on Form 1065, S-corporations on Form 1120-S and C-corporations on Form 1120, along with the North Carolina returns and the franchise tax that goes with them. Our clients run restaurants, trucking and logistics companies, construction and trades businesses, cleaning and landscaping services, salons, clinics, retail and real estate. Many are Hispanic-owned, and every part of the engagement, from the questionnaire to the signature, is available in Spanish.
The most valuable conversation we have with a new business client is usually about structure. A profitable LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship may be paying thousands a year in self-employment tax that an S-corporation election would reduce; an S-corporation with an owner who takes no salary is a problem waiting for an audit. We look at the numbers and tell you which structure fits, and we handle the election if it should change.
- Every entity type. Schedule C, 1065, 1120-S, 1120 and the North Carolina returns that go with them.
- Year-end planning included. A fourth-quarter review while there is still time to act on it.
- Owner compensation done right. Reasonable salary, distributions and the payroll that supports them.
- Depreciation and asset decisions. Section 179, bonus depreciation and when to use neither.
- Owner returns prepared together. The K-1 flows to a personal return prepared by the same team.
- Notices handled. A letter about a return we prepared comes to us, not to your kitchen table.
How the engagement works
Books first
A business return is only as good as the books behind it. If we keep your books, the return starts from reconciled financials. If someone else does, or nobody does, we review or clean up the records first, and we tell you what that will cost before we begin.
Fourth-quarter planning
In the last quarter we project the year, estimate the tax and go through the decisions that are still open: equipment purchases, retirement contributions, owner salary versus distributions, timing of income and expenses, and estimated payments.
Preparation, review and filing
The return is prepared, reviewed by a second person, explained to you and e-filed with the federal and state returns. Partnership and S-corporation returns are due in March, a month before personal returns, and we schedule around that so the K-1s are ready when the owners need them.
Why business owners choose us
Books, payroll and tax in one place
The return is prepared by the people who already know the numbers.
Planning, not just reporting
We talk in November, when advice still changes the result.
We know what the IRS looks for
Our resolution division handles the audits and notices other preparers cause.
In Spanish or English
From the questionnaire to the signature page.
Business tax questions
Often, once net profit is high enough that the self-employment tax savings outweigh the cost of running payroll and filing a separate return. The threshold depends on your numbers and the owner salary the IRS would consider reasonable for your work. We run the comparison for you and handle the election if it makes sense.
Partnership (1065) and S-corporation (1120-S) returns are due March 15 for calendar-year businesses; C-corporation returns and Schedule C (with your personal return) are due April 15. Extensions move the dates by six months but do not extend the time to pay.
Yes, after a clean-up. We reconstruct the year from bank and card statements, payment-processor reports and your invoices, then prepare the return from real financials. The clean-up is quoted separately so you know the total before we start.
Yes, if you work in the business. The IRS requires S-corporation owner-employees to take reasonable compensation through payroll before taking distributions. An S-corporation with profit and no owner salary is one of the most reliable audit triggers there is. We set the salary and run the payroll.
An annual tax that North Carolina charges corporations, including S-corporations, based on the company’s net worth, with a minimum amount even for small companies. It is filed with the state corporate return. LLCs taxed as partnerships or sole proprietorships do not pay it, which is one factor in the entity decision.
It depends on the entity type, the condition of the books and the number of owners and states. We quote a fixed fee after seeing your prior return and current financials, and bookkeeping clients receive the return as part of a combined monthly engagement.