Pricing & engagement

Accepting new clients

Flat retainers, planning included, returns bundled.

Most CPAs bill hourly or charge per form, with planning sold as an extra. We don’t. Pricing starts at a known number, the return is part of the work, and the planning happens quarterly — not in March.

If the only question is “how cheap can I file,” we’re the wrong firm and the free resources will get you further than a sales call would.

Have RSUs, ISOs, or ESPP and no business to file? Jump to the individual plans.

How it works

Free resources

80+ articles, calculators, and worksheets — no gate

Owner Review

Nine questions. See where the gaps are.

Fit call

30 minutes. Honest evaluation — we’ll say no if it doesn’t fit.

Planning Diagnostic

Optional paid first read. $1,500 credits toward a retainer.

Ongoing engagement

Quarterly planning, returns bundled, flat retainer.

Ongoing engagements

Which one are you?

Pick where you fit and see your plans. The return is included in every one.

Not sure which fits? Take the 2-minute Owner Review and we’ll point you to the right one.

Three plans for business owners. The return is included in every one.

Tier 1

Foundations

Solo service or early S-corp owners getting the structure right.

From $800/mo

Flat retainer, billed monthly. Includes business return + one personal return.

Quarterly planning calls — not just filing-time contact
S-corp salary review and quarterly estimates handled together
Business return (1120-S or Schedule C) and one personal 1040 prepared as one picture
Year-end planning checkpoint in October, not March
Email access for in-the-moment questions — no hourly clock

Book a fit call

Tier 2

Most common

Active Planning

Profitable owners ready for a real planning rhythm — not just a return.

Move up when: equity comp, a K-1, or advisor coordination enters the picture.

From $1,500/mo

Flat retainer. Includes business return, one personal return, and quarterly planning meetings.

Everything in Foundations
Formal Q3 planning meeting tied to projected numbers
Distribution strategy: how much, when, and in what form
Retirement plan design (Solo 401(k), SEP, defined benefit where it fits)
Bookkeeper coordination: we review your books so the year-end picture matches the books. We don't keep them.
Multi-state filings and payroll-tax review scoped and priced separately when they apply, and flagged early so you can budget for them.

Book a fit call

Tier 3

Advanced Tax Planning

Established owners with cash building up, or executive-level personal complexity.

From $2,800/mo

Flat tax planning retainer. We coordinate directly with your own investment advisor; any advisory fees are separate and billed by them.

Everything in Active Planning
Equity coordination for owner-execs: RSU, ISO, and concentrated-position strategy lined up with your business and K-1
K-1 and partnership income coordination
Distribution and investment plan run as one decision, not two
Charitable, basis, and trust/estate (Form 1041) coordination where they apply
Direct coordination with your own investment advisor: we line tax up with your portfolio. We don't manage money or earn on your assets.
Annual exit-on-the-horizon check, because exit work runs before the LOI.

Book a fit call

Pricing reflects starting points. Final retainer is set after a fit call based on entity count, state filings, owner count, and complexity of the personal return. Multi-entity or multi-state engagements are quoted directly.

When an existing client’s trust goes irrevocable or an estate needs a fiduciary return, we prepare the Form 1041 and coordinate with your attorney as a scoped add-on, quoted to the situation. We handle the tax filing, not the estate planning itself.

Start here

Not ready for a retainer? Start with a Planning Diagnostic.

Good-fit owners and equity-comp earners who want a concrete, dollars-on-the-table read before committing to a monthly retainer.

It’s a one-time, fixed-fee look that puts real numbers on what’s available to you. Does not include return preparation or the execution of any move identified — that work lives inside a retainer.

$1,500 credits toward your first retainer if you start one within 60 days of receiving your memo. The remaining $1,000 is the value of the analysis itself. If we decline to take you on, we refund the $1,500.

Book a fit call to start

The first call is a free fit call. If it’s a match, we send an engagement letter and the $2,500 is due before the review begins. Optional — if you’re ready to commit, skip straight to a retainer on the same call.

Planning Diagnostic

$2,500

One-time, fixed fee. The paid first step before an ongoing retainer.

Review of your prior-year return(s) and current situation
A written findings memo that quantifies the opportunities — what's on the table and what it's worth
A 60–90 minute meeting to walk through it

What this looks like in practice

What each tier focuses on.

These are composite examples: representative owner profiles and the kind of work each tier covers, with details changed for privacy. What any specific engagement produces depends on your situation.

Foundations

Year 1

A clean first-year S-corp foundation

Solo S-corp consultant, $280k revenue, $85k profit.

First-year setup: S-corp election, a reasonable W-2 and distribution split, Solo 401(k), and quarterly estimates locked in.

S-corp self-employment tax savings
Solo 401(k) retirement deduction
Quarterly estimate precision

Active Planning

Year 1

Proactive planning on a quarterly cadence

Service business owner, $650k revenue, $210k profit.

Moved from a CPA who showed up in February to an October planning meeting plus a quarterly cadence: S-corp salary review, deduction capture, and quarterly estimate precision.

S-corp salary optimization
Deduction capture
Quarterly estimate precision

Advanced Tax Planning

Year 1

Business and equity decisions, coordinated

Owner of a profitable S-corp ($90k K-1) who also holds $150k of RSUs and a $2.2M concentrated position from a former employer.

Quarterly CPA and advisor calls running the business and the equity as one plan: K-1 distribution timing against the company's cash, RSUs coordinated with tax-loss harvesting, and a multi-year wind-down of the concentrated position.

K-1 and distribution timing against the business
RSU and equity coordinated with the K-1
Tax-loss harvesting coordination
Concentrated-position planning
Charitable and basis planning

Composite case studies. Past results don’t guarantee future outcomes; every engagement is scoped to the situation. Tax and accounting services are provided through Matt Reese, CPA.

Project engagement

Exit planning — scoped, fixed-fee, run before the LOI.

The decisions that determine what an owner actually nets from a sale — entity structure, deal structure, QSBS eligibility, installment treatment — are made before the letter of intent. After the LOI is signed, most of these options have closed.

The exit project is a one-time, scoped engagement that runs on a fixed fee set after a fit call. It pairs naturally with an Active Planning or Advanced Tax Planning retainer during the runway to close.

Book an exit-planning call See the exit-planning page

Project fee

$15,000–$50,000+

Scoped to the situation. Fixed fee, agreed to in writing before any work begins.

Pre-LOI tax analysis — run before the deal terms are signed, not after
Entity structure review and conversion timing
Asset vs. stock sale modeling — buyers prefer asset, the seller usually doesn't
QSBS eligibility check (a federal exclusion that can be worth $10M+ if it applies)
Installment sale and earn-out modeling
California exit considerations — the gain is taxed even after a move
Coordination with M&A advisor, attorney, and investment advisor in the same room

What this looked like in practice

Pre-close engagement · composite

+$420k after-tax on a $6.8M deal

Service business owner, 11 years in. $4.5M revenue, ~$1.2M EBITDA. LLC taxed as S-corp; approached by a strategic acquirer with a $6.8M asset-sale offer.

Pre-LOI engagement run before terms were countered. Deal structure, installment election, California PTET in the year of sale, charitable bunching, and earnout taxation all modeled together. Coordinated with the M&A attorney and the client’s investment advisor on post-close cash deployment.

Installment sale on $1.8M of deferred consideration: $145k
Working capital and net-of-debt negotiation: $95k
California PTET election in year of sale: $80k
Charitable bunching via DAF: $65k
Earnout restructured (capital vs. ordinary): $35k

Composite engagement — representative owner profile, real planning levers, with names and identifying details changed. QSBS doesn’t apply to S-corps; for C-corp owners with five-year holding periods, the qualified small business stock exclusion is a separate analysis that can be worth materially more.

How we price

Five rules the pricing follows.

Flat retainer, not hourly.

Hourly billing punishes you for asking questions. A flat retainer means you call when you need to, and the answer is included.

Returns are part of the engagement, not an add-on.

Planning that doesn't include the return ends in a January handoff to someone who wasn't in the conversation. We don't do that.

No commissions on insurance or product sales.

We don't earn on what you buy. Insurance and product recommendations are for fit, not revenue.

We coordinate with your advisor, we don't replace them.

We work alongside your existing investment advisor so tax and portfolio decisions line up. We don't manage money or earn on your assets. Our retainer is flat and separate from anything your advisor charges.

Pricing doesn't drop with discounting.

What it costs is what it costs. If price is the deciding factor, we're not the right firm — and the free resources will get a long way on their own.

How we evaluate fit

We’d rather be honest about fit than sell a bad engagement.

The first call is a fit call, not a sales call. If the answers below don’t match your situation, we’ll tell you on that call — and point you somewhere useful.

Likely a fit

California business owner, $200k–$10M in revenue
High-income professional with equity comp (RSUs, ISOs, ESPP), with or without a business
S-corp, single-member LLC, partnership, or actively considering one
Willing to share both business and personal returns
Wants quarterly planning, not just a March filing

Likely not a fit

The only goal is the cheapest possible return
Not willing to coordinate with an existing advisor or share both returns
Wants exit work after a letter of intent is already signed
Net profit under ~$80k and no near-term path above (resources are a better use of money)

Not a fit yet? The Owner Review and resources cover a lot of what we’d flag on a first call.

Common questions

What people actually want to know.

What's the Planning Diagnostic and how does the credit work?: It's a one-time, $2,500 fixed-fee read for people who want a concrete look before committing to a monthly retainer. You get a review of your prior return(s), a written memo that quantifies the specific opportunities on the table, and a 60–90 minute meeting to walk through it. It doesn't include return prep — execution lives in the retainers. If you start a retainer within 60 days of receiving your memo, $1,500 credits toward it; the other $1,000 is the value of the analysis itself. If we're the ones who decline to take you on after the diagnostic, we refund the $1,500, so you only pay the $1,000. It starts with a free fit call: if it's a match, we send an engagement letter and the $2,500 is due before the review begins.
Why is pricing public when most CPAs hide it?: Because the alternative wastes everyone's time. Owners who fit see what to expect and can decide whether to book. Owners who don't fit can route themselves to the resources without sitting through a discovery call. We'd rather lose a meeting than burn an hour.
Can I just get a return done?: No. Returns are bundled into a planning engagement. If you want a one-shot return with no ongoing relationship, we're not the right fit and we'll say so on the first call.
How does this compare to a typical local CPA?: Most local CPAs bill hourly or charge per form, with planning sold as an add-on if at all. Our retainer covers planning, returns, and access — and the whole point is that decisions get made before December 31, not after.
What if I'm under the Foundations threshold?: Use the resources. The Owner Review tool, the calculators, and the persona guides cover the math for solo service owners and first-year businesses. When net profit clears about $80k–$100k, the conversation usually starts to make sense.
Do you take percentage-of-tax-saved fees?: No. Contingent fees on original tax returns are prohibited under Treasury Department Circular 230 §10.27 and AICPA Statements on Standards for Tax Services. Beyond the rule, the model rewards aggressive positions and creates conflicts on planning decisions. Flat fees keep the advice clean and the engagement defensible.
What does the exit project fee actually cover?: A scoped engagement before any LOI is signed: pre-sale tax analysis, entity and deal structure review, QSBS check, installment modeling, and coordination with your M&A advisor and attorney. The fee is set after a fit call so you know what you're paying before you commit.
Do you handle trust and estate returns?: For existing clients, yes. The fiduciary income tax return (Form 1041) when a trust becomes irrevocable or an estate is being administered. We prepare the 1041, reflect the stepped-up basis on the return, handle beneficiary K-1s and distribution timing, and coordinate with your estate attorney. It's a scoped add-on quoted to the situation, not part of the monthly retainer. To be clear about the line: we do the tax compliance, not the estate planning or the legal documents. That stays with your attorney. We don't take on trust/estate work for people who aren't already clients.

Not sure which tier fits?

Take the Owner Review — nine questions, two minutes. The results show where the gaps are and which tier is the natural starting point.

Take the Owner Review Or book a fit call