Services · Running the firm

Taxes handled by someone who has seen a law firm's books before.

A law firm's tax picture has decisions in it: whether an S-corp election makes sense, how owners are paid, how advanced client costs are treated, what the retirement plan should be. Those decisions are worth real money and most general tax preparers never raise them. Our CPA work covers the firm's return, the owners' returns, quarterly estimates, and a planning conversation every year before the decisions are locked in.

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Who this is for

Sound familiar?

A new firm choosing how to be taxed and how to pay its owners.
A firm whose tax preparer has never asked about retainers, advanced costs, or trust.
Owners paying large surprise bills every April.

What is included

The scope of the engagement.

Firm and owner returns

The firm's federal and state returns and the owners' personal returns, prepared together so nothing falls between them.

Entity and compensation planning

The S-corp question, reasonable compensation, distributions, and how a multi-owner firm splits income, revisited each year as the numbers change.

Quarterly estimates

Estimates calculated from the actual books each quarter, not last year's number, so April holds no surprises.

Year-end planning

A conversation in the fourth quarter about retirement contributions, equipment, timing of income and expenses, and anything else still movable.

How it works

From consultation to handoff.

Consultation
Your entity, your owners, last year's returns, and how the books are kept today.
Plan and quote
A flat annual fee covering the returns, estimates, and the planning conversation, or a one-time fee for a single return.
Preparation
Documents requested through a checklist, returns prepared and reviewed with you, and filed electronically.
Through the year
Quarterly estimates sent with the reasoning, and a planning call before year end.

On the platform

Where this hands off into BetterDocket.

The software is a separate subscription and never required. Firms that use it get these handoffs out of the box.

Time and invoicing

Log time on the Case, turn it into a clear client invoice with due-date reminders, and record payments without moving money through BetterDocket.

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Document collection

Ask once. Clients upload from a phone, reminders run daily until each request is answered, and files land on the Case organized by request.

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Speak with an expert

Talk with us to get started.

A short consultation, then a written scope and a number. No retainer, no long-term contract, and nothing starts until you approve it.

BetterDocket is not a law firm, a CPA firm, or an insurance agency, and nothing on this page is legal, tax, or insurance advice. Where a service requires a licensed professional, that work is performed by a licensed professional in your state, either on our team or through a partner we vet. Every engagement is scoped and quoted after a consultation.

Questions.

Is the preparer a licensed CPA?

Yes. Tax returns and tax advice are prepared and signed by a licensed CPA, on our team or a vetted partner, who is responsible for the work under their license.

Should my firm be an S-corp?

Sometimes, and it depends on your income, your state, and how many owners there are. It is the first question we look at in the consultation, with the numbers, rather than a rule of thumb.

Do I need your bookkeeping to use your tax service?

No. We work from whatever books you have. Clean monthly books make the return cheaper and the planning better, which is why many firms combine them.

Who actually does the work?

The BetterDocket team delivers most of this work directly: the technology, web, and search work by the engineers who build the product, and the bookkeeping, tax, and payroll work by the CPA on our team. When a service requires a license we do not hold, or our team is at capacity, we bring in a vetted partner and stay your single point of contact.

What does it cost?

Every engagement is scoped and quoted after a short consultation, and most are flat fees so you know the number before work starts. Ongoing services, such as bookkeeping or SEO, are quoted monthly with no long-term contract.