We offer a wide range of services to our business and individual clients. Because we are a relatively small firm, you will find it easier to get in touch with the person who can help with your problem. Then you know you are getting personalized, quality, service that is beyond comparison.
This list is by no means all-inclusive. If you do not see what you need, please ask. Many of our people have had broad experience, and to list everything they can do would make the list excessively long. These are just the things we do most often. If you need something that we do not believe we can do the best job for you, we will help you find a firm that can work with you.
Audit, Review, & Compilation Services Entrepreneurial Businesses
Estate Planning Condominium Associations
Estate & Trust Tax Preparation Not-For-Profit Entities
Attorneys, Physicians, and Other
Professionals Tax Planning &
Preparation
Audit, Review & Compilation Services
The basis of Audit Services and Review Services is for the independent CPA to come to an opinion about the accuracy of the client’s financial statements. The difference between Audit Services and Review Services is in the degree of assurance the independent CPA can provide.
In an Audit, the CPA expresses positive assurance, that is, the CPA believes the financial statements are correct and properly stated in all material respects.
In a Review, the CPA expresses what is called negative assurance, that is, the CPA is not aware of any material errors or misstatements in the financial statements.
Of course, for a CPA to express positive assurance, more detailed examination and testing of the records is involved. So, costs for an Audit are considerably more than for a Review.
Our firm has successfully completed over 500 Audit and Review engagements.
A Compilation is a financial report where the independent CPA assembles financial information from the client and presents it in a financial statement format. A Compilation does not provide either positive or negative assurance. A Compilation report only says these numbers are presented in a reasonable format.
In a Compilation there is no formal assessment of an entity’s financial controls, and there may be very little testing or verification of the numbers on the financial statement. Of course, any good CPA firm will make an effort to be sure the numbers bear a close relationship to reality, but the firm is not going to give any assurance.
Estate Planning
Effective estate planning facilitates the orderly transfer of assets to your beneficiaries, provides ease of administration, and can reduce or eliminate any tax due on transfer of ownership of your business and other assets. A formal plan for your estate ensures business continuity and succession of ownership, as you want it to be, with minimal expense and problems for your heirs. We can guide you through the complexities of this process and help you to have your financial affairs in order.
Estate and Trust Tax Preparation
We have extensive experience in preparing Estate Tax Returns, and Income Tax Returns for Estates or Trusts (whether formed by your will or by you while still alive). We can care for these problems for you with a minimum of effort on your part.
Attorneys, Physicians, and Other Professionals
A professional practice can be a challenge to operate effectively. Not only must one know the technical requirements of their profession, and be able to properly care for their clients or patients, but also somehow in those long working days you have to find the time to keep track of the money coming in and going out.
Of course, as a CPA firm, we find ourselves in that same situation. We have many clients who have their own practice, or who are in practice with a group. Each situation brings its own challenges.
Let us take the tax preparation burden away for you so you can concentrate on your practice. Clients and Patients do not want to pay you for being your own bookkeeper. They want to pay you for giving them the professional services you can give.
The individual returns of professionals can be quite straight-forward, or they can be very complex. Many professionals have interests in other businesses beyond their professional practice. Keeping all of these varied interests straight, and making sure they are properly treated on the individual’s return, takes years of experience.
Yes, we have done many professional’s returns. We enjoy the challenge when there are many parts coming together to make sure everything fits in the most advantageous way for the client!
Entrepreneurial Businesses
Entrepreneurial businesses can be very simple – or VERY complex. It all depends on the circumstances. We do not try to fit you into a “one size fits all” model of record keeping. We can tailor our service to just exactly what you need – so that it fits YOU.
Condominium Associations
In contrast to some firms who look upon Condominium Association work as something to fill in “spare time” or as an accommodation to their developer clients who want to build the project, we have invested considerable time, energy, and other resources in the condominium arena.
For over ten years Jim Carlson was a member of, and served as Chairman of, the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) Committee on Common Interest Realty Associations (CIRAs) dealing with the special accounting and tax problems of condominium associations in Florida. This Committee received the Outstanding Committee of the Year award from the FICPA four times during Jim’s tenure on the Committee, including the year he was Chairman.
Jim was active for several years, and served on the Board of Directors, of the North Gulf Coast Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI), a trade group for condominium associations dealing with the special problems of associations in Florida, including finding reliable vendors, emergency preparedness, etc. His responsibilities in this regard included attending annual statewide meetings of the CAI to discuss solutions to problems with association management and accounting.
Jim Carlson has been a repeat speaker at the FICPA Annual CIRA Conference, an advanced conference for CPAs in Florida covering accounting and tax matters for condominium associations.
Kevin Carlson has attended special advanced training for serving condominium associations, and has extensive experience with Condominium Associations. He is currently serving as a member of the FICPA CIRA Section.
Not-For-Profit Entities
Kevin Carlson has served for several years, including one year as chairman, on the FICPA Committee for the Annual Not-For-Profit Conference, an advanced conference for CPAs in Florida working with Not-For-Profit entities.
During the over 25 years our firm has been in public practice, we have performed many services for Not-For-Profit entities, ranging from Form 990 annual reporting to full audited financial statements. These entities have ranged in size from very small, totally volunteer groups, to entities with over 20 million dollars in assets.
Come talk with us to see how we can help your Not-For-Profit do its best job of meeting its goals.
Tax Planning and Preparation
Most CPA firms can accurately prepare regular income tax returns. Where our expertise comes into play is when circumstances become a little more complex, and you have a situation that requires careful planning to minimize the income tax burden.
In recent years LLCs and LLPs have become very popular for business organizations. We can help you decide what is the best structure for your business. Of course, traditional “S” Corporations and “C” Corporations still can have an important role in business structure. It all depends on the circumstances. Come, sit down, and talk with us. Let us see how we can help you improve your business structure.
We have extensive experience with multi-tiered partnership and corporate entities. We also have many individual clients who have multiple entities (Partnerships, LLCs, LLPs, and “S” Corporations) flowing into their individual returns. It takes careful planning and execution to be certain all of these entities fit in their proper place on your return.