Strategic tax guidance for the innovators of Silicon Valley

It depends heavily on stage. A pre-revenue startup usually needs entity selection, a clean chart of accounts, and someone watching the R&D credit and payroll setup before the first hire. A company doing a few million in revenue needs monthly close, accrual bookkeeping, sales tax nexus tracking across states, and quarterly estimates that do not surprise the founders in April. A profitable closely held business needs owner compensation planning, retirement plan design, and multi-year projections so distributions and elections line up. Most accounting firms in Silicon Valley cover some slice of that. We handle tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, entity structuring, and IRS representation under one roof, which matters because those decisions interact. The entity election changes the retirement plan options, and the retirement plan changes the owner compensation math.

Both, and usually together. A large share of our work is the founder or owner whose personal return and business return cannot be separated: an S-corp shareholder taking reasonable compensation, a partner receiving a K-1, a consultant deciding whether to incorporate. Treating those as two disconnected engagements is how people end up over-contributing to a retirement plan or missing a pass-through entity election. On the business side we handle entity formation and structuring, monthly bookkeeping, payroll, 1099 filing, franchise tax, multi-state apportionment, and the annual return. On the individual side we handle equity compensation, multi-state residency, rental property, and foreign account reporting. If you only need one, that is fine too.

We do both, and we prefer doing both for the same client. Bookkeeping done with the tax return in mind is a different exercise than bookkeeping done to close a month. When we keep the books, the categorization already reflects how items will land on the return, the owner distributions are tracked against basis as the year goes, and there is no January scramble to reconstruct a year of transactions. We work in QuickBooks Online primarily, and handle bank and credit card reconciliation, accounts payable and receivable, payroll journal entries, and monthly or quarterly financial statements. If you already have a bookkeeper you like, we are happy to work alongside them and simply review before filing.

No minimum. A meaningful part of our client base is single-owner businesses: consultants, contractors, real estate investors, e-commerce sellers, and professionals who left a W-2 job. Those returns are often where the largest proportional savings sit, because the entity choice, the retirement plan choice, and the home office and vehicle treatment are frequently set once and never revisited. The most common thing we find on a new small business engagement is an S-corp election that was made without running the numbers, or a sole proprietor who should have made one three years ago. We price flat fee so a small engagement does not become an open-ended hourly meter.

Our office is at 2051 Junction Ave, Suite 200, San Jose, CA 95131, and you can reach us at (408) 383-9870. You do not have to come in. Most of our clients across San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Fremont, and Milpitas work with us entirely through the secure client portal and video calls, including document exchange and return signing. That said, some conversations genuinely go better in person, particularly a first meeting about an entity restructure or an IRS notice, and we keep availability for that. We also offer extended hours and weekend appointments during filing season.

Our team includes both Certified Public Accountants and IRS Enrolled Agents. For most of what clients care about, the practical difference is small: both credentials carry unlimited practice rights before the IRS, meaning either can represent you in an audit, an appeal, or a collections matter in any state. The distinction is in how the credential is issued. A CPA is licensed by a state board, with an accounting education requirement and authority to perform attest work such as audits and reviews. An Enrolled Agent is credentialed federally by the IRS, tested specifically on taxation and representation. Having both on the team means a matter gets routed to whoever is strongest on it rather than whoever is available.