A small firm that answers the phone.
Two accountants, a bookkeeper and a front desk, on the second floor of a brick building in the valley. We keep the books for about ninety small businesses and file returns for three hundred households, and we have never once sent a client to a call centre.
You should know what a return costs before it is written, and who is writing it.
What we do
Most of it is unglamorous and most of it repeats. The list below is the whole of it — if something is not here, we will say so and point you at somebody who does it properly.
| Service | Who it suits | When |
|---|---|---|
| Individual returns | Households, one or two states, rental income, a first year of self-employment | Jan–Apr |
| Small-business books | Owner-operators under about $2M, on QuickBooks or a shoebox | Monthly |
| Payroll | One to about twenty-five on the payroll, including household staff | Weekly / biweekly |
| Sales & use tax | Retail, food service, contractors selling across town lines | Quarterly |
| Entity setup | Anyone about to become an LLC or an S-corp and unsure which | Any time |
| IRS & state notices | Anyone holding an envelope they do not want to open | Same week |
| Year-round planning | Owners whose income moved a lot this year | Jun–Nov |
The tax year, in order
The dates that actually govern the work. The next one is marked, and the counter in the header is reading from this table. When a deadline lands on a weekend or a federal holiday it moves to the next business day, so check the year before you rely on it.
| Deadline | Who it applies to | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Fourth estimate | Quarterly filers, for the year just ended | Jan 15 |
| W-2 and 1099-NEC | Employers and anyone who paid a contractor $600 or more | Jan 31 |
| Partnerships and S-corps | Form 1065 and Form 1120-S, or an extension | Mar 15 |
| Individuals and C-corps | Form 1040 and Form 1120, plus the first estimate of the year | Apr 15 |
| Second estimate | Anyone paying quarterly estimated tax | Jun 15 |
| Third estimate & extended returns | Quarterly filers; extended partnerships and S-corps | Sep 15 |
| Extended individuals | Anyone who filed for the six-month extension in April | Oct 15 |
The office
Second floor, up the stairs beside the awning. There is parking behind the building and a lift at the rear entrance. From January we keep Saturday mornings.
| Monday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Tuesday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Thursday | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Friday | 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Saturday · Jan–Apr only | 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM |
| Sunday | Closed |
—
What clients say
Written as samples, the way a real firm's would read once it had asked. The initials stand in for photographs on purpose — inventing a quote is one thing, inventing somebody's face is another.
“I brought them three years of receipts in a grocery bag and nobody made me feel stupid about it. They had it straight in a fortnight and told me what the next year would cost before they started.”
Dana M. · landscaping, two trucks · sample review
“A letter came from the state and I did not sleep for two nights. I dropped it off on a Tuesday and it was answered by Friday. It turned out to be nothing, which is exactly what I needed somebody to tell me.”
Rosa T. · hair salon · sample review
“We went S-corp on their advice and I was sure it was going to be a headache. They ran the payroll for the first quarter alongside me until I had it, then handed it over.”
Jon K. · HVAC contractor · sample review
“Same person every year. She remembers the rental property and she remembers which kid is in college. That sounds small until you have had the other kind.”
Amara P. · individual return, eleven years · sample review
How it runs
Four steps, and you know the price at the second one.
| Step | What happens | Takes |
|---|---|---|
| A conversation | Twenty minutes, no charge, in the office or on the phone. Bring last year's return if you have it. | 20 min |
| A written number | A fixed fee for the work, in writing, before anything starts. It does not move unless the scope does. | 2 days |
| The work | One named accountant, start to finish. You will have their direct line. | Varies |
| The handover | We go through it together and tell you plainly what to do differently next year. | 30 min |
Twenty minutes, no charge
Book the conversation.
Tell us roughly what you have — a return, a set of books, a letter you do not want to open — and we will tell you whether we are the right firm for it. January to April the phone is fastest; the rest of the year email gets a same-day answer.
Request a call See the deadlinesButtons are inert on this demonstration — there is no real firm to reach.