Tax counsel for counsel.
IOLTA reconciled to the penny. Contingency vs. hourly recognition done right. S-Corp for partners where the math works. Retainer income deferred when the engagement says so.
IOLTA mismanagement is a bar complaint waiting to happen. Cash-vs-accrual elected wrong burns optionality. Contingency income recognized too early is tax paid on money you haven't collected. Solo attorneys without an S-Corp pay SE tax on every dollar.
How we fix it.
IOLTA reconciliation
Three-way reconciliation: client ledger, trust ledger, bank statement. Monthly, in writing, for the bar.
Operating books
Time-and-billing integration (Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther). Realization tracked. AR aged.
Entity + S-Corp
S-Corp election where net clears the threshold. Reasonable comp documented. Partner distributions on a schedule.
Annual return
Federal + state, K-1s, retainer-income deferral, contingency timing. No surprises.
Why us for lawyers & solo firms.
IRS Enrolled Agent, enrolled to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all 50 states, alongside CPAs and attorneys.
Finance training: the math behind every recommendation we make. Currently in law school.
IOLTA — three-way reconciliation, every month.
Every state bar requires IOLTA reconciliation. We do client ledger, trust ledger, and bank statement — tied to the penny, written, dated, signed. It's the most basic thing a bar will ever ask for; we have it ready.
Contingency vs. hourly — different recognition.
Hourly is earned as worked (or as billed, depending on method). Contingency is earned when the fee is collected. Recognizing too early pays tax on money you may never see. We pick the method by case.
S-Corp for solo and small-firm partners.
Solo attorneys are the textbook S-Corp case once net profit clears $100K+. Partner distributions in an existing partnership often have a similar opportunity through an LLC-taxed-as-S-Corp restructure.
Pricing, on the page.
Published prices · Quoted in writing before any work startsHow it works: one annual fee, half paid at engagement and half before your return is filed. Everything past the package baseline is a published add-on at a fixed price, so nobody counts forms. Books, payroll and sales tax are the only monthly items, because they are the only monthly work. See the full grid and every add-on or get your price in a minute.
One practitioner. Every file, personally led.
Cody is an IRS Enrolled Agent with an MBA — a solo practitioner with a small support team, working out of Lakeland, Florida. He is also currently in law school.
Every client engagement is led by Cody personally. The firm stays deliberately small so the work stays deliberately careful — and so when the IRS calls, the person who picks up is the person who filed your return.
Common questions.
If yours isn't here, ask it on the intake — we read every one before the first call.
Do you handle IOLTA properly?
Yes. Three-way reconciliation monthly, written records held seven years per most state bar rules. This is the work; we don't skip it.
When should I S-Corp elect?
Solo: typically $100K+ net. Partnership: usually a restructure conversation. We model.
Cash vs. accrual?
Most law firms are cash-method eligible (under the §448 gross-receipts test). Cash is usually optimal for collections-timing reasons. We elect and document.
Should I have a separate operating account per practice area?
Helpful for partner-comp arithmetic but not required. We can break out reporting either way.
How do I handle case-cost advances?
In a true contingency case, advanced costs may be loans (recoverable), not expenses. Misclassifying them hits both books and tax. We track each case.
Defined-benefit plan for me?
Often a great fit for solo attorneys over 45 with stable income. We model annually.
Related
Lawyers run businesses too. Yours should be ours.
Send your most recent return and current case management export. Quote within the week.