CPA Firms Houston Now Alternative Questions owners actually ask

Who is going to do the work

Steven Palmieri, a Tax CFO and the Entrepreneur's CFO, and the team around that practice. The same people answer the phone and the form, and they are the ones who close the month. The same people who close the month are the people who prepare the return.

We keep the books. Payroll setup here means the accounts and the filing calendar are lined up, and the shop still runs its own payday. We prepare the tax return. We sit with the closed numbers while a decision about equipment, a retirement contribution, or owner pay can still be made. That is the work. A first call is how we find out whether your file needs all of it or only a piece.

We are not going to tell you on this page that a stranger will be assigned later. If the engagement is with this practice, this practice does the work. If we ever need a specialist for a signature we cannot give, we say that before you sign.

Can you start if the books are behind

Yes. Three years behind is a normal kind of start here, as long as we can see the bank records and you can answer what the odd deposits were. We start where it went wrong, not where the folder is tidiest.

Catch up gets a date and a price before anything starts. We will not begin a reconstruction on a handshake and a hope. You should know how many months we are opening, and what done looks like. Done is a reconciled balance sheet, not a stack of uncategorized feeds.

Unfiled returns go in the right order so penalties stop stacking on top of each other. We say which year is first and why. We do not jump to a later year when an earlier year is the one a notice is about.

What do you need from me each month

Answers, while the questions are still small. A deposit you can name this week becomes a mystery in six months. We ask in plain language. You do not need to learn our categories. You need to tell us what happened.

The login stays yours. We work in your software. If you want a report, we prepare financial statements with the wording that fits a practice that does not express assurance. If a lender wants assurance, that request goes to a firm that can sign it.

Once a month we read the closed numbers with you. What you made, what you owe, and what is coming. The read is the part many owners have never had. It is not a packet you are meant to file in a drawer.

A park, and then the work

Every Texan can appreciate Memorial Park, more than a thousand acres with a long trail under the trees. We can enjoy that the same way you do. Then we remember the questions above, because a long trail and an open month are both things that get worse when they are ignored.

Bring the question you actually have. The form is short on purpose. If your question is about a date, say the date. If it is about a year that was never closed, say the year. We would rather a specific question than a perfect one.

Either the footer number or the form reaches the people who keep these dates. Use either one. The replies on this page are about the sales tax 20th, the May franchise report, and the April rendition as this practice handles them. A refund and a balance due come from the closed year, and this page does not guess either figure.

What we will say on the first call

We will say whether the books are current enough for a monthly read, or whether catch up comes first. We will say if payroll setup belongs in the first month or later. We will say if the return can be prepared from the year you have, or if a missing year blocks it.

We will also say when we are the wrong practice. A request for an audit, a review, or a compilation is that moment. We name it and we stop. The rest of the work can still be ours if you want the books and the return from the same people.

You should leave the call knowing the next date that matters and who would watch it. If that person is you, the calendar still helps. If that person is us, the engagement will say so. A date with no name is the thing this site is trying to retire.

Write the question the way you would say it to a partner, and name the date if you know it. A messy question is welcome. A performed question wastes the call. The form is enough to start, and the phone is enough if you would rather talk than write.