FAQ
What is included in the monthly accounting package price?
Our small business packages include bookkeeping, payroll, estimated tax monitoring and filing of tax returns. Our goal is to provide an all inclusive package that takes accounting, payroll and taxes “off your plate” so that you can focus on your business knowing a top notch CPA firm is on top of it.
What is included as far as bookkeeping within the small business package?
Every month all checking accounts, lines of credit and credit card accounts are fully reconciled. Clients have a dedicated bookkeeper assigned to their account and the bookkeeper will get to know the business so that most transactions are accounted for without questions to the client. A short list of transactions we cannot identify will be emailed to you each month. After you send back a quick few words on each transaction your dedicated bookkeeper will update the transactions and close your books for the month. On the 10th day of every month you will receive reports for the prior month and YTD (year-to-date) business activity. Questions via email or phone are supported at no additional charge!
Note our firm does require clients to record deposits and take them to the bank. We are unable to manage depositing of checks at this time.
Are there any banks you do not work with?
At this time our firm works with clients using most major banks.
There are however a few banks we cannot work with because their online banking platforms have failed to keep up with the rapid development of technology. Currently the banks and credit cards we CANNOT work with are:
- US Bank
- City National Bank
- Citibank
- Capital One
- Union Bank
If you would like to work with our firm we would require you to move your banking relationship to another bank with a more robust online banking system. This will allow our firm to more efficiently obtain the transactions and statements we need to make your life easy.
Our firm has found the following banks to have robust online business banking platforms which make clients and accountants happy: Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, American Express and Discover. We work with many other banks as well. If you would like to check please fill out an inquiry in our contact page and we’ll be happy to help!
What is included as far as payroll within the small business package?
Our firm works exclusively with Gusto payroll and requires all clients to use Gusto for payroll service. Our firm will manage ALL migration from other payroll providers to Gusto. We will even create your Gusto account so the transition is seamless and causes no burden on you or your business. Note all migrations must be done at the end of a quarter.
We will have payroll service setup so that you as the business owner only need to log in hours each pay period. If you and your employees are salaried we can “auto pilot” the payroll for you as well. We administrate your Gusto account, ensure all quarterly and annual filings are filed on time and integrate payroll expense into your books accurately. Gusto has some of the most competitive payroll processing rates in the industry. The cost of Gusto payroll service is billed by Gusto directly to the client’s business checking account each month. The rates for payroll processing can be found on Gusto’s website: https://gusto.com/product/pricing
Will I be charged extra for issuance of W2’s ?
No. The cost of preparing and issuing W2’s is included in our monthly package price and the fee you pay to Gusto for payroll processing.
Will I be charged for issuance of 1099’s?
A $5 filing fee will be charged to your credit card for each 1099 filed. This is the fee paid by our firm to our software provider for electronic filing. The time required to format and submit your 1099 data is included in our our monthly small business package fee. So the $5 per 1099 is the total cost.
You as the client will be responsible for obtaining a form W9 from each contractor you pay throughout the year. Our firm will securely store copies of these at end of year for you. At the end of the year our firm will provide you a list of vendors we believe should receive a 1099 to make the process easy for you. The list will have the vendor name and dollar amount paid.
What is included as far as estimated tax monitoring within the small business package?
Most CPA’s meet with their clients once per year to prepare a tax return. At this point the client usually receives estimated payments stubs for the remaining installments of the balance of the current tax year. We find most clients become frustrated with this approach because at the end of the year they can be grossly underpaid or overpaid and nobody likes surprises. Our firm provides estimated tax stubs for quarters 2, 3 and 4 to all of our package clients. At the end of the year if your income has increased or decreased materially upon request we will be happy to revise the quarter 4 stub up or down. This ensures you are aware of your estimated tax liability well before April 15th!
If you choose not to make estimated payments you may be subject to penalties and interest but will be aware of the liability.
What is included as far as business tax return filings within the small business package?
Included in our small business package fee is the preparation of one business tax return. This will cover a corporate tax return, LLC/partnership tax return or a Schedule C if you are filings as a sole proprietor.
What is included as far as personal tax return filings within the small business package?
If the business has a single owner (husband & wife count as a single owner): Included in our business packages is the preparation of one personal tax return including schedules A and B. Schedule C will be included if the underlying business for our package billing is filed on Schedule C. for the business owner if the corporate or partnership tax return is has one shareholder / member. If any client has rental property, other business interests, other Schedule C’s we will need to provide a unique quotation for the additional schedules required on the personal return. The additional fees required will be at the most competitive rate we can offer for each taxpayer’s unique situation.
If there are multiple business owners an individual tax return is not included and the hours which would normally be applied to a single owner return will be applied to accounting and tax work required for business’ with multiple owners. If there are two or more business owners and individual tax return preparation is needed a separate engagement can be created between our firm and each business owner for preparation of personal taxes.
If any client has rental property, other business interests, other Schedule C’s we will need to provide a unique quotation for that personal return at the most competitive rate we can offer for the taxpayer’s unique situation.
What software does your firm use to manage my bookkeeping?
Our firm works exclusively with Quickbooks Online. We maintain this company file internally for our own use. If you would like access to Quickbooks Online for processing of invoices, AR, AP, etc we can create a separate “client accessible” company file for you to use for these purposes. Currently Intuit provides our firm a 50% discount from published Quickbooks Online rates which we will be happy to extend to you.
Do I need to pay for Quickbooks Online if I sign up for a small business package?
Yes. Each client is required to have one Quickbooks Online account which is accessible only by our firm. It will be kept up to date and will be used by our tax team throughout the year to assist you with the tax implications of your business activity. Our firm will complete all of the setup of your Quickbooks Online account, monthly accounting for income, expenses and balance sheet items, and then monthly reporting to you.
The pricing for Quickbooks Online can be found here: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/var/pricing/ however we recommend not purchasing until our firm is engaged. We generally require the “essentials” plan for our firm copy but in some cases the “plus” plan will be required.
What is the cost of payroll service?
Our firm works exclusively with Gusto payroll. The implementation and administration of Gusto payroll is included in our monthly fee. The client is responsible for the Gusto payroll fee which is based on the number of employees. Pricing can be found here: https://gusto.com/product/pricing
Note the client will be responsible for keying in hours each pay period by the cutoff date. If all employees are salary we can also assist with setting up “auto pilot” settings so that you do not need to log in.
Will you help me save on taxes?
Helping our clients save on taxes is our #1 objective! Most CPA firms do not like to manage bookkeeping and payroll service. Our firm embraces it because we firmly believe that if we are involved in your bookkeeping and payroll month by month we can do a MUCH BETTER job of identifying tax saving opportunities (rather than once per year like most CPAs) . Our firm has racked the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations and case law for small business tax deductions so you don’t have to. Each year we review every client account and identify opportunities to save on taxes.
Can you manage accounting and bookkeeping for inventory?
The Internal Revenue Code requires business owners to capitalize inventory when filing tax returns. At the end of every year your dedicated bookkeeper will request an inventory valuation and will make the necessary accounting adjustments to inventory and cost of goods sold. If you would like to see inventory updated on a monthly or quarterly basis we can make the adjustment using an adjusting journal entry for a cost of $20/month. If you have us setup this monthly recurring item you need only email your dedicated bookkeeper with the updated inventory valuation each month or quarter and it will be accounted for so that both inventory and cost of goods sold are accurately presented on your financial statements.
Can you help me if I have failed to filed tax returns or keep up on bookkeeping in the past?
We are experts in bringing new clients current on all accounting, payroll and tax filings. When a new client engages our firm our package pricing will cover accounting and tax work from the engagement date forward. If there are un-filed tax returns or accounting issues to fix our firm will assess your needs and provide a fixed rate price which you know will cover all of the required work from the outset of the engagement.
We hate surprise bills just as much as you do! That is why our firm provides a fixed price for all “catch up” work that needs to be done before we even start.
