You find out in March
The first time anyone quantifies the bill is when the return is drafted, after the year has closed and every lever has been pulled shut.
Tax service
Strategic tax planning
Most tax bills are decided months before the return is filed. We build a multi-year plan, model it against your real numbers, and tell you what to do while there is still time to do it.
The problem
Filing a return is not planning
By the time a return is prepared, almost every decision that affects the number has already been made. These are the three patterns we are called in to fix.
One-year thinking
Deferring income into next year feels like a win until next year arrives with a higher rate, a bigger gain, or a bracket you did not model.
Nobody owns the whole picture
The bookkeeper owns the books, the broker owns the investments, the attorney owns the entity. No one is looking at how they interact on a Form 1040.
What we do
What strategic planning covers
We work from your actual trial balance and prior returns, not a generic checklist.
- Baseline and projection modelA rolling three-year projection of taxable income, effective rate and cash tax across the business and the owners, refreshed each quarter.
- Entity and compensation modelingReasonable compensation, distributions, and whether the current entity form is still the cheapest way to get money to the owners.
- Section 199A / QBI optimizationModeling W-2 wage and UBIA limits, aggregation elections, and the specified-service trade-offs that decide whether the 20% deduction survives.
- Timing and accelerationSection 179 and bonus depreciation, accrual-to-cash analysis, prepaid expenses, and revenue recognition timing under Section 451(b).
- Loss and credit utilizationNOL carryforwards, Section 461(l) excess business loss limits, at-risk and passive activity basis, and credit ordering.
- Estimated payment strategyRight-sizing quarterly payments to safe-harbor thresholds so you stop over-funding the IRS or absorbing underpayment penalties.
- Year-end action listA dated, owner-assigned list issued in October, while the moves are still available, not a summary of what you could have done.
How it works
A process you can follow
Four stages, with a defined deliverable at each one. You always know where the work stands.
1
Diagnostic
We read the last three returns, the current trial balance and the entity documents, then list every open planning lever.
2
Model
We build the projection and run scenarios side by side, so you can see the cash-tax difference between each option rather than a recommendation.
3
Decide
A working session with the owners. You pick the strategy; we document the reasoning and the substantiation each position will need.
4
Execute & monitor
Quarterly check-ins against the model. When the business changes, the plan changes with it, before year-end, not after.
Who it's for
Who this is for
Strategic planning earns its fee once there is enough profit, or enough complexity, for timing and structure to matter. That threshold usually arrives sooner than owners expect.
Profitable S-corps and partnerships $1M–$50M revenue Multi-entity groups Owners taking distributions Businesses with a liquidity event ahead Companies expanding into new states
Deliverables
What you get
- A written three-year tax projection you can hand to a lender or a buyer
- Scenario comparisons with the cash-tax difference quantified for each
- A dated year-end action list with an owner against every item
- Substantiation requirements documented alongside each position taken
- Quarterly reviews so the plan tracks the business, not last year's assumptions
Q3
Planning starts in the third quarter, not at filing
3-yr
Rolling projection horizon
4x
Reviews per year, aligned to estimates
Questions
Frequently asked
Ideally by the end of the third quarter. A great deal can still be influenced in October and November: depreciation elections, retirement plan design, accrual timing, distribution planning. Once 31 December passes, the list of available moves shrinks to a handful, and most of those only affect the following year.
Yes, and the distinction matters. Preparation is a historical exercise: it reports what already happened as accurately as the law allows. Planning is forward-looking: it changes what happens. We do both, but they are separate engagements with separate deliverables.
Often, yes. Some clients keep their long-standing preparer for compliance and bring us in purely for planning. We will need read access to the returns and books, and we will document our positions clearly so your preparer can carry them onto the return.
A fixed fee for the diagnostic and model, quoted after we have seen the returns and trial balance, then an annual fee for the quarterly cycle. We do not bill planning hourly. It discourages the phone calls that make the work valuable.
Related
Often paired with
Entity Structuring & Selection
S-corp, LLC or C-corp: modeled on your actual numbers.
Learn moreOwner, Executive & Succession
Compensation, retirement and exit planned together.
Learn moreR&D and Business Tax Credits
Credits you have earned and can defend on audit.
Learn more