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Your tax bill is decided in November, not April.

By filing season, every meaningful lever has expired. Planning clients meet us quarterly — so the return is just the receipt for decisions already made.

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What this can cover.

Tax Planning

Scope is set per client. Not every line below applies to every engagement — some are not necessary at all — and what we take on is agreed with you before any work starts.

130.1Quarterly ProjectionsA live forecast of this year's liability, kept current from your actual numbers as the year develops.
130.2Entity OptimizationLLC, S-corp, C-corp — re-evaluated as you grow, because the right answer changes with the numbers.
130.3Retirement & HSA StrategySolo 401(k), SEP, cash balance plans — the deductible contributions most owners underuse.
130.4Timing MovesIncome deferral, expense acceleration, bonus depreciation — executed in the right year, on purpose.
130.5Year-End ReviewA year-end working session, while the calendar still allows a move to count.

What planning actually changes.

The case

Preparation reports what happened. Planning changes what happens. The difference shows up in real dollars: a retirement plan that shelters six figures, an entity election that cuts self-employment tax, depreciation taken this year instead of over thirty-nine.

Our planning clients get a written strategy each year with the specific moves, dollar impact, and deadlines — then quarterly check-ins to keep the plan synced to how the year actually unfolds.

Planning pays for itself or it doesn't make sense. In the free consultation we'll tell you honestly which one applies to your situation.

TIMELINE

A year of planning

  • Q1 — strategy set, estimates calibrated
  • Q2 — mid-year projection & adjustments
  • Q3 — entity & retirement review
  • Q4 — year-end moves executed
  • April — the return simply confirms it
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The strategy library.

Business & personal

Planning isn't one trick — it's running every strategy you qualify for, every year, and skipping the ones that don't survive the math. A sample of what we model, from the basics to the advanced. Credits & deductions get their own deep dive.

For businesses

Entity & S-corp strategyThe right structure and a defensible owner salary — often the single largest annual saving.
Retirement plan designSolo 401(k), safe harbor, cash balance — turning tax into your own retirement.
QBI optimizationEngineering income, wages, and assets around the Section 199A deduction and its phase-outs.
Credits: R&D, WOTC & stateFederal and state credits most eligible businesses never file for — including Georgia’s Jobs Tax Credit.
Accountable plans & fringeHome office, vehicle, health — owner expenses reimbursed pre-tax, documented properly.
Depreciation strategyBonus vs. Section 179 vs. cost segregation — timed against your bracket trajectory, not just this year.

For individuals & families

Bracket managementMulti-year income timing so no dollar lands in a higher bracket than it must.
Roth conversionsFilling low brackets in the right years — modeled against Medicare and Social Security effects.
Harvesting gains & lossesTax-loss harvesting in down markets, gain harvesting in low-income years.
Charitable strategyBunching, donor-advised funds, QCDs, and appreciated stock instead of cash.
Equity compensationISO exercise timing, RSU withholding, 83(b) elections — before the deadlines pass.
Real estate strategies1031 exchanges, short-term rental rules, and real-estate professional status, run by the book.

FAQs.

Quick answers
When should tax planning start?Ideally in Q1 — every quarter that passes closes a few doors. The hard cutoff for most strategies is December 31; for elections like the PTE tax or an S-election, deadlines land even earlier in the year.
I’m a W-2 earner. Is planning still worth it?Often, yes: equity compensation timing, retirement and HSA maximization, charitable bunching, and loss harvesting are all W-2-friendly levers. The consultation is free, so the answer costs nothing.
What is the PTE elective tax?California, Oregon, and Georgia let a pass-through business elect to pay state income tax at the entity level, converting a capped personal SALT deduction into an uncapped federal business deduction. Eligibility, rates, and deadlines vary by state — we model whether it wins for you before electing.
How much can planning actually save?It depends entirely on income and structure. The first conversation is where we look at yours and say what we think is realistic — including when the honest answer is 'not much.'
When should I start?Now. Every quarter that passes retires another set of options; the worst time to start planning is December of a big year.
Is this just for businesses?No — equity compensation, real estate sales, retirement transitions, and inheritance years all reward individual planning.

The levers we actually pull.

Method

Tax planning is not a November scramble — it is a short list of levers, worked all year. Timing comes first: accelerating or deferring income and deductions across year-ends, harvesting losses against gains, and choosing when equipment goes into service so Section 179 and bonus depreciation land where they help most.

Entity and compensation is the second lever. The S-corporation salary/distribution split, the QBI deduction’s wage and income thresholds, and — for California and Oregon owners — the elective pass-through entity (PTE) tax that restores a federal deduction for state taxes the SALT cap would otherwise strand. These elections have real deadlines; miss them and the year is simply gone.

Retirement plan design is the biggest single shelter most owners never max: a safe-harbor 401(k), profit sharing, or a cash balance layer can move six figures out of the top brackets — designed jointly with our accounting team so payroll supports it.

Finally, credits: R&D, WOTC, clean-energy, and state incentives are found in the planning season, not at the filing deadline — see our credits & deductions practice for the full list we screen against.

Bring to your first session
  • Last two filed returns (business + personal)
  • Current-year P&L and payroll summary
  • Entity documents and any elections made
  • Retirement plan details, if one exists
  • Big plans: purchases, hires, moves, exits
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Available at every office.

And everywhere else

Work with a local advisor in person, or run the whole engagement remotely — same team, same portals, same standard.

Tax planning in Eugene, OR Tax planning in Salem, OR Tax planning in Ontario, CA Tax planning in Orlando, FL Tax planning in Savannah, GA Tax planning — virtual, all 50 states

Find out what this year's return could have saved.

Book a free planning session