Why it matters: Tax is the word most owners search for, and the station most files skip. It lives next to the close, not in April.
Answer it and see your picture.
What lives here
The company's own returns
Quarterly estimates set from real numbers
The entity choice and when a change would take effect
Sales and payroll tax deadlines
Any letter from the IRS or the state
What good looks like
Every return filed before its date and tied to the books.
The next estimate's amount known before the quarter ends.
The entity checked against how you pay yourself once a year.
What Steven will raise with you
Do this yourself
Find the company's last filed return.
Write down the next estimate date and the amount you expect to pay.
If you do not know the amount, that is the answer to bring.
See it on a company like yours
Here are three years of returns for Cinder Mesa Landscape, the fictional company in our worked examples.
Three years of returns
Illustrative composite. Not a real client.
Item
2023
2024
2025
Return
Schedule C
Schedule C
Schedule C
Receipts reported
$1,080,000
$960,000
$800,000
Gross margin on the return
51.0%
40.0%
52.0%
Schedule C profit
$378,800
-$16,119
-$211,800
Self-employment tax
$30,010
$0
$0
Federal tax on the household return
$125,733
$0
$0
Paid in during the year
$110,644
$19,018
$0
Balance due or refund
$15,089 due
$19,018 refund
$0
Late-payment penalty
$0
$453
$0
Arizona tax
$8,749
$0
$0
Arizona balance or refund
$0
$4,374 refund
$0
Retirement plan contribution
$0
$0
$0
The retirement line is $0 in every year. On the 2023 profit, a SEP would have held $66,000. A solo 401(k) would have held the same $66,000. Before the annual addition limit, 20% of the profit after half the self-employment tax is $72,759. The deferral is $22,500, and it does not raise the cap on this profit. 2024 and 2025 have no profit to put in. On a profit year, the contribution is set from that year's profit before December 31. This example does not promise a dollar result.