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The Business Owner’s Tax Planning Guide

Most business owners meet their accountant after the year is closed, when the only job left is reporting what already happened. This guide covers the decisions that actually move the number, and when each one has to be made.

What is inside

  • 01
    The nine strategy areas every written tax plan should cover
  • 02
    The California-specific rules and elections that change the math
  • 03
    What a quarterly planning cadence actually looks like
  • 04
    A 12-point self-check: the signs you are overpaying

Who it is for. Business owners of profitable businesses who have never had a written tax plan, or who suspect their current CPA is only preparing returns.

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A closer look at each section

What the guide actually covers, section by section.

01

Who the guide is for

Owners of profitable businesses, generally $300k and up in combined business and household income, and high-income households with equity, investments or rental property. Below that level some of the strategies still apply; above it, nearly all of them do.

02

The nine strategy areas

The map of what a written plan should cover, starting with entity structure and moving through owner compensation, retirement design, timing, real estate and the rest. Almost all of the savings come from the same foundational ground, so this section doubles as a checklist of what your current advisor should be raising with you.

03

The California layer

Federal strategy is only half the answer here. California adds its own rules, elections and traps, and advice written for other states routinely gets them wrong. The rule of thumb the guide gives: before acting on anything you read online, ask what California does with it.

04

What a planning year looks like

A quarter-by-quarter cadence. Q1 sets the plan while every option is still open and reviews elections against their windows; Q2 checks the plan against real numbers and recalculates estimates from actuals; Q3 models year-end; Q4 executes before deadlines pass.

05

The twelve-point self-check

Twelve signs you are overpaying, with a scoring key. Zero to two checks means your planning is in good shape; three to five means real money is likely being left behind; six or more means you have a filing relationship, not a planning one.

06

How to work with your CPA on planning

What the clients who get the most out of a plan do differently - the questions they ask, the information they volunteer, and when in the year they raise decisions instead of reporting them afterwards.

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