Tax Season Information
The Process
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This document outlines our responsibilities to you, your responsibilities to us, and the fee(s) for our services. In order to get the ball rolling, we need each client - except those on monthly Plans - to read and sign this form each year.
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Clients will be notified of the ability to access our tax season calendar in stages, based on their service tier.
Dec. 2nd: Advanced Plan clients
Dec. 16th: Legacy Plan, Growth Plan, & Essentials Plan clients
Jan. 6th: Annual, “tax-only” clients
Notification emails for clients at their respective levels of service will go out automatically, so be sure to check your email inbox on those dates. Alternatively, you are always welcome to call our office on or after your scheduled calendar release date to schedule your appointment over the phone.
If you have any questions, or if you are not certain which level of service you fall under, please do not hesitate to contact our office. Thank you.
Note that Tax Season Appointments are for clients utilizing our Collaborate service.
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We’ll need your tax documents in order to prepare your tax return, so this is the stage where you send us those documents.
The best method is to upload them to our Client Portal, but you can also fax them, email them, or drop them off at the office.
Personal Tax Organizer
Tax Organizers are useful in helping clients remember what documents to send and to organize source documents. However, you are not required to fill them out.
Personalized Tax Organizers, which include data from your prior-year tax return to help you gather documents, will be mailed out in early January. You can also download a generic (non-personalized) copy of the organizer by clicking here.
For a list of commonly requested tax documents, click here.
Business Tax Checklist
2024 year-end balance sheet and profit & loss statement - REQUIRED starting with tax year 2024
Cumulative general ledger for the period 1/1/24 - 12/31/24
Copies of 2024 Forms W-2, W-3, 940, and (for CA clients) Quarterly DE9/DE9-C
Copy of 12/31/24 bank statement(s)
12/31/24 Ending statements for all business loans
2024 year-end collections report, if available
2024 Pension contribution, if applicable
Details/invoices for any business assets purchased or disposed of during 2024
Copies of loan and/or lease documents for all new business loans or leases
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Sit back, relax, and we’ll handle the return preparation. In the event we need more information, you can expect that either the person preparing the return or the person reviewing the return will reach out to you directly.
If you have a tax appointment, we’ll do our best to have your return as close to completion as possible.
If you have any questions during this process, simply contact our office.
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Your tax appointment will be with our Co-Founder & C.E.O., Laura Phillips, E.A.
If it’s your first time coming to our beautifully modern Anaheim office (map), please allow yourself a few extra minutes.
If you’ve chosen a phone appointment, you can plan on Laura calling you at the appointed time.
If you’ve chosen to meet virtually, Laura will start the Microsoft Teams meeting and then admit you from the waiting room. Note that you do not need a Microsoft account in order to use Microsoft Teams (instructions here). If you have any trouble, please contact our office.
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Once we’ve completed your return, we’ll send the return, final invoice (if applicable), and any estimate or payment vouchers to you electronically via our Client Portal as well as using SafeSend.
If you would like us to mail you a paper copy of your return, simply contact our office.
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This step is for you, our clients. Once you receive your return, review it carefully. In the end, you are responsible for the accuracy of your tax returns. We don’t expect you to know the ins and outs of tax law, but we would like you to let us know if something seems off. For example, you wouldn’t believe how many times clients have “approved” returns without remembering to tell us that they had a child or sold their home and moved out of state.
In the event your return needs to be amended for any reason other than a mistake on our part, there will be a separate fee for the amended return.
Once you have reviewed your tax return and all questions have been answered, please sign your eFile Authorization form(s) and return it(them) to our office. All clients will need to sign a federal form, and most clients will also need to sign a state form.
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Once we have received all required eFile Authorization Forms, along with your final fee payment, we will electronically file your tax return.
Note that we will not file returns until all documents have been received and fees have been paid.
On rare occasions, returns will need to be paper filed. We will let you know if this happens to you and why.
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This survey will open to clients in mid-March.
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Receive credit on your next invoice by referring your colleagues, friends, and family. Click here for more information about our Referral Program.
Tax Return Preparation Fees
Collaborate (Adult)
Our Collaborate returns are ideal for those with more complex returns or for individuals seeking a tax season appointment. Unlike our Compliance-only returns, our Collaborate returns also include unlimited year-round email support & advice.
Collaborate returns start at $550, although the final fee varies depending on the complexity of the return. Note, however, that our fees are NOT increasing from last year. If the complexity of your return has not increased significantly, you can expect your fee to remain unchanged as well.
Beginning with the 2024 tax year, we now require a minimum 50% deposit ($375) at the start of the engagement before we commence any work.
As part of the Tax Return Delivery step of the process (see above), we will send you 3-day advance notification of the final invoice. The final payment will then be automatically charged to your payment method on file.
Compliance (Adult)
Our Compliance-only returns are best for those with simple returns seeking only annual tax return preparation without an appointment or ongoing advice. Neither tax season appointments nor year-round support are included in this budget-friendly service offering.
We charge a flat fee of $400 for Compliance returns. This fee includes the individual income tax return preparation and filing for one taxpayer (or two taxpayers, if married and filing jointly), including the federal return (Form 1040) and up to one (1) state return.
Beginning with the 2024 tax year, we now require a minimum 50% deposit ($200) at the start of the engagement before we commence any work.
As part of the Tax Return Delivery step of the process (see above), we will send you 3-day advance notification of the final invoice. The final payment will then be automatically charged to your payment method on file.
Compliance (Child)
As a courtesy to our clients, we will happily prepare their children’s returns, if any, for only $100. This fee is below our own cost (meaning we make no money on them).
Therefore, to qualify, children must meet all three (3) of these criteria at the time of filing:
Be age 27 or younger;
Be unmarried; and
Earn $50,000 annually or less.
This service includes the individual income tax return preparation and filing for one child, including the federal return (Form 1040) and up to one (1) state return. Additional state returns, if applicable, are $50 each.
In return for offering a super low, flat fee for this service, we now require 100% of this fee to be paid at the start of the engagement before we commence any work.
Please note that child returns are not eligible for a tax appointment.
Businesses
Business tax returns - corporations, partnerships, and some LLCs - are charged a flat rate of $1,750. This flat fee includes all states and schedules. It also includes one (1) tax projection appointment in the summer or fall, as well as unlimited year-round email support & advice.
In return for offering a flat fee for this service, we now require a minimum 50% deposit ($875) at the start of the engagement before we commence any work.
As part of the Tax Return Delivery step of the process (see above), we will send you 3-day advance notification of the final invoice. The final payment will then be automatically charged to your payment method on file.
For any business returns that we - in our sole discretion - deem as “minimal activity,” the final payment will be waived.
Businesses that experienced no activity at all during the tax year will be charged only $175. The remaining funds from the deposit will be promptly refunded or applied to future services at your discretion.
Fiduciaries & Estates
As an add-on for current clients, we offer preparation and filing of fiduciary and estate returns at the flat rate of $400 each. This flat fee includes all states and schedules.
In return for offering a flat fee for this service, we now require a minimum 50% deposit ($200) at the start of the engagement before we commence any work.
As part of the Tax Return Delivery step of the process (see above), we will send you 3-day advance notification of the final payment. The final payment will then be automatically charged to your payment method on file.
Please note that fiduciary and estate returns are not eligible for a tax appointment.
Contact us with any questions.
We’re here to make running your practice & understanding your finances easier.
If you have questions or concerns, we’d love to hear them.