Tax Preparation for individuals & businesses in the Springfield, MO area.

Let me take care of the hassle and headache of preparing your tax return!  With tax laws and credits that change all the time, don't leave extra money on the table to be wasted by the government.  We work hard to find each and every deduction that is unique to your situation.  

You should hire a CPA who keeps up to date on the latest in tax law changes.  No more worrying about another IRS letter looking for more money.  No more calling your tax prep chain in the middle of the summer to find out they aren't open outside of tax season.

We prepare tax returns for:

• Individuals (Form 1040) 
• Proprietors (1040 w/ Sch C, E, or F) 
• LLCs & Businesses (1120S, 1120, & 1065) 
• Non-Profits (Form 990) 
• Gift Tax (Form 709)
• Trusts (Form 1041)
   

Should I hire you, do it myself, or go to the local tax prep chain?

Like many things in life, that depends.  If you have a very simple, uncomplicated tax return (think W-2 with a standard deduction) and have the skills, time, and ability to use tax software, you might be best served by preparing your own return.  You can usually prepare both your state and federal return for around $30-$40 bucks and be done in a few hours.

If you are just wanting to bring in all your documents and have someone with a few weeks of training prepare your return, one of the tax prep chains might work out fine.  Some people have the mistaken notion that these chains cost less money than a CPA or EA.  Many times we've found their fees to be even higher than ours.

If you are looking for a CPA who will provide year-round client support, advice and tax planning unique to your situation, with the education and skill necessary to accurately prepare your return, I think you would be best served by using our services.

For a small business owner, I think it is almost mandatory to find a CPA you like and can trust to help guide you through each stage of owning a business.  Taxes are really just a small part of the equation.

If you are unsure of the accuracy from your previous tax prep person, I would be glad to review the previous three years of returns free of charge.  Give my cell phone a call to set up an appointment:  417-379-1076.
 

HOW DOES THE TAX PREPARATION PROCESS WORK?

• I will email or send you a common list of documents needed for us to prepare the return.
• Gather your important tax documents & accounting records.
• Contact us to schedule a meeting.
• We meet to go over your tax information & records.
• You leave the info with us, we then prepare the return.
• After the return has been prepared and reviewed, we send you Form 8879 authorizing us to electronically file the tax return.
• We send you a copy of your tax return for record keeping.
• We let you know of tax savings opportunities for you to take advantage of in the year to come.
   

What is tax planning and how can it help me?

With ever changing laws and regulations comes an opportunity to arrange your affairs to take advantage of tax savings and credits.  If you bring us your information during the tax prep season, there isn't much we can do to help you lower your tax bill.  With a meeting towards the end of the year, we'll plan together to use every available tool to legally minimize your tax burden.

Some common questions that a Tax Planning Meeting will answer include:

• Should I purchase any additional equipment or inventory to reduce my taxes? 
• How much will I owe when you file my taxes next year?
• What retirement vehicles are available and how will that lower my tax burden? 
• How does the impending ACA changes impact my tax liability? 
• Does savings for my children's college fund reduce my tax bill? 
• Should I convert my traditional IRA to a ROTH IRA? 

We'd be glad to review your previous three years of returns to check for any missed planning opportunities or missed deductions.  You'd be surprised how many times tax planning opportunities are missed!  417-379-1076.

Ok, all this sounds great, but how much are your services going to cost me?

Just like with purchasing any product or service, prices can vary drastically depending on the services desired, the complexity and time involved, and the correspondence between you and me.

For individuals

The baseline fee for a 1040 tax return is $100.  This amount will increase for itemized deductions, credits, and anything else that makes the return more complex.  Our average 1040 fee is in the neighborhood of $250.  Most of these returns have itemized deductions, interest and dividends, stock transactions, etc.  A range from highest to lowest could be from $100 all the way up to a few thousand dollars.

For sole-proprietors (Sch C, E, or F)

The baseline fee for a 1040 with a small business included is $250.  If you bring in your documents organized on an excel spreadsheet with nothing to clean up, your fee will be lower.  If you bring in a shoe-box full of receipts, you will be billed for the bookkeeping work necessary plus the cost of preparing the tax return.  The average fee for a sole proprietor return is around $400.  

For businesses (1065, 1120S, 1120)

The baseline fee for a corporate or partnership return is $600.  If you do your own bookkeeping, there is a good chance some cleanup work will be involved (this has been our experience) that will be billed in addition to your tax work.  Please have your books in order and your accounts reconciled if you would like to minimize your fees.  The range of fees for a corporate return can be from $600 all the way up to $5,000+.  The typical small business fee is usually in the range of $800 - $1,500.

If you think I might be a good fit to serve your tax preparation needs, please call me on my cell phone at 417-379-1076 to set up an initial meeting or fill out the Contact Form to let us know how we can help.