Equipment depreciation done by item. Crew payroll vs. 1099 classified correctly. Quarterly cash flow that respects the rainy-season dip and the spring rush. An accountant who actually understands the work.
Misclassified crew (1099 when they should be W-2) is the single most-audited issue in this space, and in Florida specifically. Equipment expensed when it should be capitalized inflates this year and starves next. Seasonal cash-flow without a tax-reserve discipline is the surprise April letter most owners get every year.
Each crew member, by IRS factors. W-2 employee or 1099 contractor — and the documentation that holds up to the FL Department of Revenue.
Mowers, blowers, trailers, trucks. §179 elections by item, vehicle depreciation by method, fleet maintenance posted to GL.
Tax reserve set on every deposit. Quarterly estimateds sized to the season. No April surprises — the dollars are already separated.
Sch C or S-Corp depending on net profit. Sales tax on retail goods where applicable. Workers comp coordinated with payroll.
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.
FL DOR aggressively audits landscape companies for misclassified workers. Direction of work, supplied tools, set hours, exclusivity — all matter. We document classifications that hold up.
A $14K zero-turn is §179. A $700 trimmer is a supply. We split them, and we time the §179 elections against your profit so the deduction lands when it counts.
Spring and early-fall revenue dwarfs winter. Most owners spend the spring cash and then can't pay April taxes. We set a tax reserve discipline (typically 22-28% of deposits) so the bill is already funded.
How 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.
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.
If yours isn't here, ask it on the intake — we read every one before the first call.
Depends on the facts. If you set their hours, supply the equipment, and direct the work — they're employees. If they bring their own crews and equipment and work for multiple companies — they're contractors. We document either way.
Once net profit reliably clears $60K – $80K, almost always. Below that, the payroll filings eat the savings.
Yes — mileage or actual expenses, plus §179 / bonus depreciation on purchase year. A dedicated work truck typically optimizes under actual expenses with depreciation.
Service revenue is generally not taxable in Florida; retail sales (sod, mulch sold separately) are. We file the right monthly sales-tax return.
Off-road fuel for equipment may qualify for a federal excise-tax credit on Form 4136. Diesel especially. We file it.
Florida requires it once you cross 4 employees in landscape (1 in construction). We coordinate the payroll and the carrier filing.
Send last year's return and a current crew list. We'll confirm the package and the add-ons on the first call.