Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Tax planning · What a three-year review looks like
Three years of returns read next to the books for the same fictional landscaping company. One profit year taxed in full, two loss years, estimates that went short, and a retirement line that never moved. Your review would carry your returns. The method is the same.
Cinder Mesa Landscape LLC is a fictional Southwest landscaping company. Receipts went from $1,080,000 to $800,000. Gross margin went from 51.0% to 40.0% and then to 52.0%. 2023 federal tax on this worksheet is $125,733. 2024 and 2025 are loss years. Federal tax in those years is $0 and $0. Levers and moves are priced from the client's own books and returns.
Levers and moves are priced from the client's own books and returns.
This example does not promise a dollar result.
Payroll on this page is setup only.
Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Put the four estimate dates on one calendar and set payroll up before the next one.
Decide the entity question with the profit in front of you, and the year it would first have paid.
Put the retirement plan in place before December 31 of a profit year.
Match the note interest to its statements before anything is deducted.
Set the three filed returns next to the books and list what to correct before anything is filed.
Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Swipe to see the rest of the table.
Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Swipe to see the rest of the table.
Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Returns, books, payroll setup and the prior preparer's workpapers. The last one only the client can bring.
| Source | What we pull | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Filed returns, 2023 to 2025 | Form 1040, Schedule C, Schedule SE, Form 8995 if it was filed, and the Arizona return | What was filed, what was paid in during the year, and what was left off |
| QuickBooks | Cash profit and loss, the balance sheet, aged receivables, the wage accounts, and the loan accounts | Whether the books and the returns are one set of numbers, and where the cash and the debt sit |
| Payroll setup | W-2s if any exist, Forms 941 if any exist, and the payroll provider's setup pages | Whether principal pay was paid in a year, or only appears in the 2026 wage ledger. We set payroll up. The client runs each payday with the provider they pick. |
| Prior preparer workpapers | The organizer, any depreciation schedule, any S election acceptance, and the loan amortization | Not in the file. These pages have to come from the client. |
Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Tax planning sits on the monthly close. On this company the close turned up a margin drop, $208,400 of invoices over ninety days and $112,000 of note interest. Those are the cash facts the moves sit on. See the Fractional CFO example for the same company.
See the CFO report on this companyIllustrative composite. Not a real client.
The review is the deliverable. The moves are the work. The call is where both start from your own returns.
Bring your books and your last return. Thirty minutes is enough to see what we would pull.