Tax planning ยท Orange County small businesses
Tax planning so April is a formality, not a shock
Most of the tax you pay is decided by choices made during the year, not by how carefully the return is filled in. We look at your numbers before year end and tell you what to do while it still counts.
- Entity review: sole proprietor, LLC or S corporation
- Quarterly estimated payments sized to your actual income
- Retirement and benefit contributions that reduce the bill
- Purchase and payroll timing before December 31
- A written plan you can hand to your bookkeeper
Call (714) 462-8098 or use the form.
Book a free consultation
Tell us a little about your business. Kathy or a team member replies within one business day.
By the time a return is being prepared, almost every number on it is fixed. Tax planning is the work done before December 31, when choices about how you pay yourself, what you buy, and what you put away for retirement still change the outcome.
What a planning engagement covers
Entity and compensation review
Sole proprietor, LLC or S corporation, and if S corporation, what a reasonable salary looks like against distributions. We run your real numbers both ways and show the difference in dollars.
Estimated payments
Quarterly federal and California estimates sized to the income you are actually earning, so you are neither underpaid and penalized nor lending the government money interest-free.
Retirement and benefits
SEP IRA, Solo 401(k), SIMPLE IRA and health-related deductions, chosen for your profit level and whether you have employees, with the contribution deadlines mapped out.
Timing before year end
Equipment purchases, prepaying expenses, collecting or deferring income, bonuses to staff, and the California-specific items that often get missed.
- Q3 startThe best time to plan is August to October, with a check-in before December. Earlier is fine. April is reporting, not planning.
- Written planYou get a one-page plan with the actions, the deadlines, and the estimated saving for each.
- Books requiredPlanning works from current books. If yours are behind, we bring them current first.
- EA-ledKathy Nguyen, IRS Enrolled Agent, prepares the plan and the return, so nothing is lost between the two.
How it works
- ReviewWe take your year-to-date books and last year’s return and project where the year lands if nothing changes.
- OptionsWe model the handful of moves that matter for your situation and show each one’s effect on the federal and California bill.
- Action and follow-throughYou get the written plan. We set the estimated payments, and your bookkeeper (ours or yours) records the moves correctly so the return reflects them.
Who benefits most
Owners whose profit has grown past what they used to make as an employee, businesses still operating as a sole proprietorship at six figures of profit, anyone who received a large balance due or penalty last April, and owners planning a major purchase, a hire, or a change in how the business is structured.
Planning pairs naturally with our monthly bookkeeping, which keeps the numbers current enough to plan from, and with tax preparation, where the plan turns into the return.
Start with a free consultation
Bring last year’s return and your current books, or whatever you have. We will tell you honestly whether planning would save you enough to be worth doing this year. Call (714) 462-8098 or use the form above.
Questions clients ask us
When should tax planning happen?
Ideally in the third quarter, with a check-in before December. By then there is enough of the year to measure and still time to act. Planning in April can only report what already happened.
Do I need bookkeeping for tax planning to work?
Yes. A plan is only as good as the numbers it is based on. If your books are behind, we get them current first, then plan.
Should my business be an S corporation?
Sometimes. It depends on your profit, how you pay yourself, and your other income. We run the numbers both ways and show you the difference before you change anything.
Ready to hand off the books?
Book a free consultation with Kathy Nguyen, EA. We will look at where your books stand today and tell you plainly what it would take to get them current and keep them that way.