About
We are a tax and bookkeeping practice in Sherwood Forest, California, working with small businesses and the people who run them.
Our mission
We keep you up to date with your books and your compliance so you have time to manage other daily responsibilities.
Most small businesses that struggle are not short on ability. They are short on attention. The owner who is good at the work is rarely the person who wants to spend a Sunday reconciling accounts or working out which form a deadline belongs to. That work still has to happen, and it compounds quietly when it does not. Our job is to carry it, so the person running the business can run the business.
What we do
We handle tax preparation for individuals, partnerships and corporations; full charge bookkeeping; payroll; California sales tax; QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online setup and support; 1099 filings; workers compensation reporting; and the general compliance calendar that sits underneath all of it.
Those pieces are usually connected. Payroll feeds the books, the books feed the return, and a 1099 that was never collected in November becomes a problem in January. We would rather see the whole picture than one piece of it in April.
Year-round, not just in filing season
A tax practice that only opens in the spring can only react. Bookkeeping that stays current through the year means the return is a summary of what already happened rather than a reconstruction of it, and it means a question in July gets an answer in July.
If you get a notice, bring us the letter. If you are about to make a decision with a tax consequence, it is cheaper to ask first.
Credentials, and what they do and do not cover
We are a CTEC Registered Tax Preparer, which is the credential California requires of paid preparers who are not attorneys, CPAs or enrolled agents. We hold an IRS Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion, which places us in the IRS Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers. We are an Authorized IRS e-file Provider and a QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor.
AFSP participation carries limited representation rights. For a return we prepared and signed, we can deal with the IRS on your behalf with revenue agents, with customer service, and with the Taxpayer Advocate Service. Those rights do not extend to appeals or collections, and they do not cover a return we did not prepare. Only attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents have unlimited representation rights. We would rather you know where that line sits before you need it.
We would recommend checking any preparer you are thinking of using, us included. Both of these credentials are on public registers, and the IRS keeps its own directory of preparers.
- Verify a California tax preparer (CTEC) (opens in a new tab)CTEC’s searchable database of registered California preparers.
- IRS Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers (opens in a new tab)The IRS’s own directory of preparers with credentials and select qualifications.
- IRS Annual Filing Season Program (opens in a new tab)What the AFSP Record of Completion requires, and the representation rights it carries.
Where we work
We are based in Sherwood Forest, California, in the San Fernando Valley, and we work with clients across the Los Angeles area and well beyond it.
We can prepare returns in most of the country. Only six states require a preparer to hold a credential of their own on top of federal IRS registration: California, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, New York and Oregon. We hold California’s, through CTEC, and New York’s. Everywhere else, no separate state credential applies.
So if you are in one of the other forty-four states, there is nothing in the way. If you are in Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada or Oregon, tell us early and we will be straight with you about whether we can take the return — the thresholds differ, and Connecticut’s permit, for one, only applies above a certain number of returns.
Most of what we do works at a distance. Documents come through the secure client portal rather than email, and we are on the phone during business hours, Monday to Friday.
Frequently asked questions
Are you a CPA firm?
No. We are a CTEC Registered Tax Preparer and hold an IRS Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion — the credentials California and the IRS require of paid preparers who are not attorneys, CPAs or enrolled agents. Whoever you end up using, check them before you hand over a year of records: the IRS keeps a public directory of preparers and their credentials, and it takes a minute. If your situation genuinely calls for a CPA or an enrolled agent, we will tell you.
Can you represent me if the IRS sends a notice?
For a return we prepared and signed, yes, within limits. AFSP participation allows us to deal with revenue agents, customer service and the Taxpayer Advocate Service on your behalf. It does not extend to appeals or collections, and it does not cover a return we did not prepare.
Do you work with businesses outside California?
Yes, in most of the country. Only six states require preparers to hold a state credential of their own on top of federal IRS registration — California, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, New York and Oregon — and we hold California’s and New York’s. In the other forty-four states no separate state credential applies. If you are in Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada or Oregon, ask us first.
Do I have to come to an office?
No. Most of our work is done remotely. Documents go through the secure client portal rather than email, and we are reachable by phone Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Can you take over books that are behind?
Yes, and it is a common reason people call. Catching up prior periods is ordinary work. Bring us what you have.
How should I send you documents with my SSN on them?
Through the client portal, not by email. Email is not a secure channel for tax documents, and we would rather ask twice than have an SSN sitting in an inbox.