Tax planning & strategy
Decisions made while they can still change the answer
A return reports what already happened. Planning is the part that changes what happens, and almost none of it can be done in April.
Entity selection, and re-selection
Sole proprietorship, partnership, S corporation, C corporation. The right answer moves as profit, payroll, ownership, and state footprint change, so the question is worth reopening periodically, not settled once at formation. An S election that made sense at $80,000 of profit may be costing you at $400,000, or the reverse.
Compensation structure
For an owner-operator, the split between wages and distributions drives payroll tax, retirement plan capacity, and the qualified business income deduction at the same time, and those three pull in different directions. Optimizing one in isolation usually costs more than it saves.
Retirement plans as a tax decision
A SEP-IRA, a solo 401(k), a safe harbor 401(k), and a defined benefit plan have very different contribution ceilings, employee-coverage consequences, and deadlines. For a profitable owner with few or no employees, this is often the single largest deduction available, and the one most often left on the table simply because nobody raised it. Some of these plans can still be set up after the year closes; others have to be in place before it does, which is the reason to ask early rather than late.
Timing
Income and deduction timing, installment sales, retirement plan funding, fixed asset placed-in-service dates, and Roth conversion capacity in a low-income year. Most of these affect the year they happen in, so the earlier in the year we look at them, the more of them are still on the table. Anything we miss for this year usually still applies to the next one.
Multi-state exposure
Hiring in a new state, or working from one, can create income tax nexus, payroll registration, and sometimes sales tax obligations at once. Finding out during an acquisition’s due diligence is materially worse than finding out now.
Planning for the exit
How a business is sold (assets or equity, installment or lump sum, and how the price is allocated) can change the after-tax proceeds substantially. The structure has to be planned before a letter of intent is signed, not after.
Planning engagements are scoped and priced separately from return preparation, and the deliverable is written: the options considered, the numbers behind them, and the recommendation, so you can act on it or set it aside deliberately.
Planning works best with time on it
If this year is already closed, the same conversation applies to the next one.