Small Business Tax Preparation

Small Business Tax Preparation for Houston Businesses

Small business tax preparation services in Houston can assist with a variety of tax-related concerns, including:

Tax form preparation
Tax return filing
Tax planning

A certified tax accountant helps their small business clients remain tax compliant, minimize their tax liabilities and save time on tax form preparation, all while providing valuable peace of mind. As small business owners oversee every aspect of their business, it’s a challenge for many to just maintain their tax records, much less develop a long-range tax planning strategy. An experienced tax preparation team can streamline their client’s tax compliance and recordkeeping, allowing small business owners to position themselves advantageously in subsequent tax years.

What Do Small Business Tax Preparation Services Include?

Tax prep experts tailor their services to fit their clients’ needs, whether a sole proprietor, an S Corp or an LLC. Those services could include any of the following:

Filling out and filing tax forms – This is the foundation of tax preparation services, and your tax preparer will identify which tax forms you’re required to file and assist with completing them before filing them. Our firm is knowledgeable in all tax forms, including Form 1040s, Form 1120s, Form 1099s, and special forms, like Form 8832 to reclassify an entity.
Assessing tax obligations – If a small business owner is unsure what their company’s tax obligations are, a tax prep service can help assess them. It’s a challenge for many owners to maintain their financial records, let alone accurately calculate and file their taxes. If the company’s bookkeeping is behind or if a business owner is unsure about the accuracy of their financial information, a Houston tax preparer can provide solutions.
Optimizing tax deductions and credits – Your tax professional’s in-depth knowledge of the internal revenue code is primarily used to identify deductions and credits your business may qualify for. If your entity is a pass-through business, it may be eligible for the qualified business income (QBI) deduction, for example. This deduction is worth up to 20 percent of a taxpayer’s income from the business, but there are many restrictions.
Other deductions include the home office deduction, as well as deductions for a variety of supplies and services. Commercial vehicle use, equipment, office supplies, business travel, lease payments, utilities, payments to professional services, insurance premiums and depreciation are potential tax deductions as well.
Providing long-range tax planning – Experienced tax preparation professionals can also provide tax planning services. Tax planning takes a longer-range view of a business owner’s taxes, with the goal to minimize taxes over multiple years. Tax planning tools include choosing the right entity structure, contributing to retirement accounts, accelerating/deferring income or deductions, timing asset purchases, creating certain employee benefit plans and more. There are numerous tax planning strategies available to small business owners. A tax preparation professional can determine which are available to your company.

Tax preparation services are often used for simple tax form filing, but small business accounting experts can do much more. Most importantly, they can help their small business clients stay on track with their tax goals – which can help Houston’s small business owners stay on track with their financial goals.

If your tax prep is offered through an experienced tax accountant, they can provide additional services that may offset tax obligations. For example, a small business tax preparation service can review your entity’s tax structure and determine if switching to another structure would reduce your organization’s tax burden.

How a Certified Accountant Can Help Small Houston Businesses Save Money on Taxes

According to SCORE, a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Association, 40 percent of small business owners consider taxes the worst part of running a company. For many, it’s the cost associated with filing taxes. For others, it’s the time, as 58 percent of small business owners spend at least 40 hours every year just preparing tax forms.

If taxes are an unwelcome distraction from managing your business, here’s how tax preparation services can help:

Minimizing time spent on taxes – More than half of Houston’s small business owners spend at least a full work week (40+ hours) on their taxes. A tax preparation service will reduce that number dramatically. What is the value of a week’s worth of your time? That value can be reinvested back into your business with a tax prep professional managing your tax filing.
Minimizing tax burdens and maximizing deductions – Tax laws are intimidating for many business owners to deal with, to the point where many leave deductions on the table just to avoid researching them. A tax preparation expert knows the internal revenue code inside and out and remains up to date on any reforms to the code. This knowledge is used to identify all the tax deductions and tax credits your organization qualifies for.
Reducing the likelihood of costly filing mistakes – Filing mistakes can trigger costly penalties and make an audit more likely. Tax preparation services fill out and file hundreds, if not thousands, of tax forms every year. Superb accuracy is a prerequisite for the job and is something a reputable Houston tax preparation service will provide to their clients.
Providing protection in the event of an audit – A tax preparation expert will ensure all tax forms are filed correctly and all information is accurately reported. In the event of an IRS audit, a certified public accountant (CPA) can offer a measure of representation to the agency. This includes receiving correspondence from the IRS, providing documentation when necessary, and attesting to the information’s accuracy.

In summary, tax preparation services reduce filing burdens on Houston’s small business owners, save money by reducing tax burdens, and ensure everything is reported properly to the IRS.