5.0 out of 5 based on 41 reviews
Tax Planning Services for Business Owners
By the time your return is being prepared, the decisions that mattered were made months ago. This is the work that happens before then.
24 hoursFinancial health assessment
QuarterlyPlanning sessions
CPAReviewed
★★★★★“Since adding Alex with Stronghold Accounting for our bookkeeping, it has truly been a Godsend for our business. Alex cleaned up a difficult QuickBooks transition and became a game changer for our month-to-month bookkeeping.”Patty LeslieTampa
★★★★★“I like that you're helping me strategize, not just giving me numbers. There were still blind spots that you've been able to uncover for me. I didn't think that was possible.”JoelService-business owner
★★★★★“Alex and his team helped bring the books current and continue to provide monthly support while helping plan for growth.”Dr. MaloneLake Mary
★★★★★“Alex is sharp, detail-oriented, and genuinely passionate about his work. He explains the numbers clearly and helps business owners gain more control over their finances.”Baxter McCoyOrlando
★★★★★“Since adding Alex with Stronghold Accounting for our bookkeeping, it has truly been a Godsend for our business. Alex cleaned up a difficult QuickBooks transition and became a game changer for our month-to-month bookkeeping.”Patty LeslieTampa
★★★★★“I like that you're helping me strategize, not just giving me numbers. There were still blind spots that you've been able to uncover for me. I didn't think that was possible.”JoelService-business owner
★★★★★“Alex and his team helped bring the books current and continue to provide monthly support while helping plan for growth.”Dr. MaloneLake Mary
★★★★★“Alex is sharp, detail-oriented, and genuinely passionate about his work. He explains the numbers clearly and helps business owners gain more control over their finances.”Baxter McCoyOrlando
★★★★★“Since adding Alex with Stronghold Accounting for our bookkeeping, it has truly been a Godsend for our business. Alex cleaned up a difficult QuickBooks transition and became a game changer for our month-to-month bookkeeping.”Patty LeslieTampa
★★★★★“I like that you're helping me strategize, not just giving me numbers. There were still blind spots that you've been able to uncover for me. I didn't think that was possible.”JoelService-business owner
★★★★★“Alex and his team helped bring the books current and continue to provide monthly support while helping plan for growth.”Dr. MaloneLake Mary
★★★★★“Alex is sharp, detail-oriented, and genuinely passionate about his work. He explains the numbers clearly and helps business owners gain more control over their finances.”Baxter McCoyOrlando
What tax planning services are
Tax planning services shape your tax position during the year, before the year closes. That covers entity structure, owner compensation, timing of income and expenditure, and the deductions available to your business specifically. It is separate from preparing and filing the return, which Stronghold does not do.
Planning is not preparation
These get used interchangeably and they are different jobs.
Tax preparation is backward-lookingA preparer takes a finished year and reports it correctly. Skill matters, but the outcome is largely set before they start.
Tax planning is forward-lookingIt changes what the return will say, and it only works while the year is still open.
Tax planning
- Review
- Adjust
- Act
Year-end
Tax preparation
- Record & report
Coordinated handoff
Stronghold handles proactive tax planning and works with an integrated tax-preparation partner for filing. We coordinate the year-end handoff so the books, planning, and return preparation stay connected.
When business owners come to us
You made a large purchase, sale or distribution and asked about the tax treatment afterwards.
You are still a sole proprietor or single-member LLC and nobody has run the S-corp numbers.
Profit is growing and your planning has not changed since the business was half the size.
You are an S-corp owner taking a salary somebody picked once and never revisited.
Your preparer files what you give them and offers nothing else.
Your tax bill surprised you, in either direction.
What business tax planning covers
Entity structureWhether your current structure still fits, and what an S-corp election would actually be worth net of the extra compliance.
Owner compensationThe reasonable-salary question for S-corp owners, documented rather than guessed.
Quarterly projectionsQuarterly projections, so estimated payments are based on the year you are having.
TimingIncome and expenditure moved deliberately where it changes the outcome.
Deduction reviewDeduction review, built from books we work weekly rather than from a shoebox in March.
Retirement and benefitsRetirement and benefit structures considered as planning tools, with specialist coordination when implementation requires it.
Purchase and disposal planningPurchase and disposal planning for equipment and vehicles.
Florida specificsNo state personal income tax, 5.5% corporate income tax where it applies, sales and use tax on the DR-15, and reemployment tax where there is payroll.
Why weekly books change the tax answer
Most planning fails for a mechanical reason: nobody could see the numbers in time.
Stronghold works client files weekly. That means an opportunity surfaces in month four while something can still be done about it, rather than in month fourteen when a preparer finds it. Tax advisory services delivered on top of stale books is guesswork with a confident tone.
By year end it is too late to implement most real strategies. That is the whole argument for doing this work during the year.
A worked example of the timing problemAn S-corp owner takes distributions all year and no salary. In February, the preparer flags it, and by then the year is closed and the exposure is fixed. Caught in April of the same year, the salary can be set, run through payroll across the remaining months, and documented as reasonable. Same facts, same business, different outcome, decided entirely by when someone looked.
Business tax planning works on that principle throughout. Entity elections have deadlines. Retirement contributions have deadlines. Asset purchases have to happen before the year closes to count in it.
How it works
STEP 1Discovery call
STEP 2 · 24 HOURSFinancial health assessmentFinancial health assessment, returned within 24 hours, including any compliance red flags and missed opportunities visible in the current file.
STEP 3Planning sessionsPlanning sessions are quarterly in CPASystem™ and monthly in CPASystem™ Plus.
STEP 4ImplementationImplementation and follow-through, tracked against the monthly numbers.
STEP 5Year-end handoffYear-end handoff coordinated with Stronghold's integrated tax-preparation partner.
What it costs
Included in CPASystem™Tax planning is included in CPASystem™ and CPASystem™ Plus. Essentials does not include tax planning.
See pricing →Why Stronghold
We already see the numbers. A tax strategist working from a year-end file is reacting. We are working from books closed weeks ago.We are clear about the boundary. We plan, your preparer files, and neither of us pretends the other’s job is included.The handoff is part of the service. A preparer who receives a clean close package with the year’s planning decisions documented spends less time on your return and asks fewer questions. Where a client has no preparer, we can point them to one.
Proof
Stronghold's tax-planning work is designed to identify opportunities that can range from $10,000 to $100,000, depending on the business and its circumstances.For a multi-location healthcare business, Stronghold identified and corrected more than $784,000 in accounting misstatements, rebuilt nearly two years of activity, and delivered reliable financial statements in about four weeks.In a separate law-firm engagement, quarterly tax strategy was projected to save ownership about $20,000 annually.Results vary, and every recommendation is based on the client's actual books and tax position.
Alex M. Riccio, CPAFounder & CEO
A licensed CPA does the work. Entity structure and owner compensation are not areas to take advice from someone unlicensed.
Talk to Alex →Related services
Services you'll need with tax planning
Common questions
Tax planning questions
Do you prepare and file tax returns?
Stronghold handles proactive tax planning and works with an integrated tax-preparation partner for filing. We coordinate the year-end handoff so the books, planning, and return preparation stay connected.
What is the difference between tax planning and tax preparation?
Planning changes what the return will say. Preparation reports what it already says.
Should I elect S-corp status?
It depends on profit level, what a reasonable salary looks like in your role, and whether the payroll and compliance cost is worth the self-employment tax saved. It is a calculation, not a rule of thumb, and it is one of the first things we run.
What salary should I take as an S-corp owner?
Enough to be defensible for your role, industry and hours. Too low invites scrutiny, too high gives away the benefit of the election. We document the reasoning rather than picking a number.
Can you help if my books are behind?
Not usefully, not yet. Planning needs accurate numbers. Cleanup comes first.
Do you work with business owners outside Florida?
Yes. Federal planning applies anywhere. Our offices are in Tampa and Lake Mary.
Is tax reduction the same as tax evasion?
No. Planning uses the structures and timing the code allows. If something is not defensible on examination we will not recommend it.
Change the answer while you still can
Book a free discovery call. You will get a written view of your current position within 24 hours.
Book a Free Discovery Call