Tax Planning & Advisory for Business Owners

Stop finding out in April.

Your Tax Bill Isn't Decided in April. It's Decided All Year Long.

By the time your return gets filed, the number is already locked in. Everything that could have made it smaller (how your business is set up, how you pay yourself, what you put into retirement, which states you elect into) all had deadlines during the year. Miss those windows and the money is gone.

Most business owners never had someone working on this during the year. Their CPA files the return, tells them the number, and moves on. That is not tax planning. That is tax reporting.

FM Accounting does the work during the year, so April stops being a surprise.

What Real Tax Planning Actually Looks Like.

Every year with FM as your advisor includes:

Four written tax projections so you always know what you're going to owe
One review of your business setup, checking if your entity still fits the business
One review of how you pay yourself, so you're not overpaying payroll tax or triggering an audit
A retirement plan built around your actual cash flow
State tax planning in every state you operate in
A year-end meeting in October or November, when there's still time to move things

It all lands on the calendar the day you sign. You don't have to remember to ask.

Where Business Owners Usually Overpay

Not every one of these applies to every owner. We figure out which ones do, model the dollars, and prioritize the biggest wins.

How your business is set up

LLC, S-corp, C-corp, PLLC, holding company. Each one taxes you differently. Most owners pick a setup early and never revisit it, even as the business grows. We check it every year.

How much you pay yourself

For S-corp owners, this one number affects payroll tax, your retirement contributions, and one of the biggest deductions in the tax code. Get it wrong and you either overpay tax or invite an audit. There is a right answer, and it changes as the business changes.

The 20% deduction most owners don't fully claim

If you own a pass-through business, you can deduct up to 20% of your business income before it hits your tax return. It is one of the biggest deductions available to private business owners, and it interacts with how you pay yourself and how much you put into retirement. Most CPAs never model it.

Your retirement plan

SEP-IRA, Solo 401(k), safe harbor, defined benefit. Different plans let you contribute wildly different amounts. Picking the right one, sized to your actual cash flow, can shelter tens of thousands of dollars a year.

State taxes

Federal law limits how much state income tax you can deduct on your personal return. Most states now let you route that tax through the business return instead, where it stays fully deductible. It has to be elected proactively, on a state-specific deadline. We run the numbers in every state you operate in.

Real estate

If you hold property, real estate is one of the highest-value tax planning categories that exists. Cost segregation, first-year write-offs, professional status, 1031 exchanges. All of it gets built into the annual plan.

Family and estate planning

Charitable giving, lifetime gifting, family wealth transfer. We coordinate with your estate attorney and financial advisor so nothing you do in one place undoes something you did in another.

Who This Is Built For

Not every business needs a tax advisor. Compliance-only tax preparation is fine when the business is small. Advisory becomes worth the fee when the business is profitable enough that decisions actually move the tax bill.

The owners who get the most out of it:

Businesses doing $500K to $10M in revenue with real profit
S-corporation owners juggling salary, distributions, and retirement together
Owners running multiple companies or operating across state lines
Law firm owners (our deepest specialty). Start with tax planning for law firms.
Real estate investors
Owners 12 to 24 months from selling the business
Owners maxing out retirement contributions

If your business is profitable and no one is planning the tax bill during the year, an advisory engagement pays back the fee.

How It Starts

Step 1

Discovery call

Thirty minutes on your business and where planning has been missing.

Step 2

Prior year review

You share your last return and current financials. We look at everything before the next conversation.

Step 3

Planning report

We come back with a written report showing every planning opportunity, the projected dollar savings, and the fee. If the fee doesn’t clearly justify itself, we tell you not to hire us.

Step 4

First projection

Once you sign, your first quarterly projection lands within 30 days. The calendar takes over from there.

Why FM

We show the savings before you sign. Every prospective client gets a written report with the projected savings, the fee, and the ROI before any agreement.

Everything is in writing. No advice that lives only in a phone call.

Bookkeeping, tax prep, and planning are one team. Which means what the planner recommends actually gets done. Most firms split these across three vendors and the planning never fully executes. Ours don't.

Deadlines are our problem, not yours. Quarterly projections, state elections, retirement plan deadlines, and year-end meetings all live on our calendar. You don't chase us.

Fixed monthly fee. No hourly billing. No surprise invoices for quick questions.

What It Costs

Advisory runs between $6,000 and $30,000 a year, depending on the size and complexity of the business, the number of entities, and the depth of planning required.

Every engagement is quoted against projected savings. If your business is likely to save $40,000 a year in tax, a $10,000 fee is a strong return. If projected savings are $5,000, we tell you not to hire us.

Year one covers the base opportunities. Years two and beyond compound: retirement contributions maxed out, entity structure optimized before a sale, real estate positioning stacked across acquisitions. Multi-year advisory relationships typically return 5 to 15 times the annual fee.

FAQ's

Answers to Common Questions

What's the difference between tax planning and tax preparation?

Preparation is compliance. It reports what already happened. Planning is strategy. It changes what happens next. Preparation is a form you file. Planning is a relationship that runs all year.

When should I start?

Before the year ends. Ideally before the year even starts. Waiting until April is too late for almost every meaningful lever.

Will this pay for itself in year one?

Usually, yes. Most first-year engagements save more than they cost. But the biggest returns come from years two and beyond, when the strategies compound.

Do I have to leave my current CPA?

For advisory to actually work, planning and preparation need to be the same team. Most FM engagements include tax prep for that reason.

Do you work with law firms specifically?

Yes. Law firms are our deepest specialty. See accounting for law firms or tax planning for law firms.

Can you work with me if I'm not in your city?

Yes. We serve business owners in all 50 states through a fully cloud-based workflow.

What's a quarterly tax projection?

A written document, four times a year, showing what you'll owe based on how the year is going, plus any moves to make before the next quarter closes.

Did the 2025 tax law change affect me?

Almost certainly. The 20% deduction for business owners is now permanent, real estate write-offs got better, and the state tax workaround still matters. If your CPA hasn't walked you through what changed, ask why.

Do I need to make a lot of money for this to be worth it?

Roughly $500K in business revenue and $200K in personal income is where the levers start to be meaningful. Below that, compliance-only work is usually enough.

Do you coordinate with my financial advisor and estate attorney?

Yes. So nothing you do in one place undoes something you did in another.

Is the fee deductible?

Fees paid by the business, for planning that supports the business, are fully deductible. Fees paid personally for individual planning are not.

Find Out What the Tax Bill Could Have Been.

Every year without a plan is a year of money left on the table. It doesn't come back. Book a free discovery call. We'll look at what you filed last year and show you what a real plan would change.

No commitment. No pressure. Just numbers.