Tax Planning During the Year, Not After It
Tax planning is not a once-a-year event. It is the process of making decisions during the year, such as entity choice, compensation, timing, and retirement contributions, with their tax effect in view and within the law. Our planning engagements look at those decisions while there is still time to act.
Secure checkout via Stripe. Prepared by an Enrolled Agent. Final scope confirmed in writing before any work begins.
In short: Tax planning is year-round strategy work, not year-end filing: we analyze your income, entity structure, and upcoming decisions, then recommend legal ways to reduce your tax bill while there is still time to act. Engagements include quarterly strategy sessions and ongoing advisory, built for business owners and individuals who would rather plan ahead than react in April.
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What's Included
- A planning engagement scoped to your situation
- Written recommendations you can act on
- A snapshot option is available as an entry point
Timing: Scope and timing are confirmed in writing before an engagement begins.
Not included:
- Executing restructuring
- Entity formation or dissolution filings (separate)
What Happens After You Purchase
- 1Secure checkout via Stripe
- 2Your client portal invitation arrives by email
- 3Upload your documents securely
- 4Prepared and delivered by an Enrolled Agent
"Arc & Ledger provided exceptional service, making my tax preparation seamless and stress-free."
- Christian S.
Planning Before the Year Ends
Most people think about taxes only when they are due. By the time the year is over, many of the decisions that shape the tax bill have already been made. Most deductions and entity changes have to be in place by December 31, and even the retirement contributions that can still be made after year-end have hard cutoffs: IRA contributions by the April filing deadline, SEP contributions by the return due date including extensions.
Physician in California? See our physician guide.
Our planning engagements look for those decisions while there is still time to act: we identify the options that apply to you, estimate their effect, and help you put the chosen ones in place.
Each planning engagement starts with your financial situation, your goals, and the specific levers available to you. From there, we prepare a written plan and help you put it in place step by step.
How Planning Engagements Are Structured
- Structured engagements, not a once-a-year conversation
- Regular check-ins to adjust strategy as your situation changes
- Written recommendations with the estimated effect of each
- An Enrolled Agent who reviews your full picture
- Recommendations made while there is still time to act
- Clear deliverables with every engagement
How a Planning Engagement Works
Every engagement follows a structured process to identify the options that apply to you and deliver written recommendations.
Discovery
We review your tax returns, financial situation, and goals. For Snapshot clients, this happens during the 45-minute session. For full engagements, we conduct a deeper analysis.
Strategy
We identify the specific tax-saving moves available to you: entity changes, retirement contributions, timing strategies, deduction optimization, and more.
Deliverables
You receive a written plan with prioritized recommendations, the tax effect of each one worked through on your own numbers, and clear implementation steps.
Implementation
For full engagements, we help you execute the plan: filing elections, restructuring entities, adjusting estimated payments, and coordinating with your other advisors.
Planning Service Levels
Start with a focused snapshot or go straight to a full engagement. Every tier is scoped to your situation and priced before work begins.
Tax Planning Snapshot
$349
One-time, credited toward engagement
A focused 45-minute session with a written list of the tax-saving options that apply to you. Suits individuals who want a clear starting point before a full engagement.
Who it's for: Individuals and couples who want to understand their options before diving in.
- 45-minute strategy session with an Enrolled Agent
- Written summary of the tax-saving options identified
- Prioritized action items
- Fee credited in full toward a Tax Planning Engagement
Tax Planning Engagement
From $1,497
Per engagement
A comprehensive written tax plan with a review session. Covers entity structure, retirement strategy, deduction optimization, and implementation guidance.
Who it's for: Small business owners, self-employed professionals, and high-income earners who want to plan ahead.
- Detailed written tax plan tailored to your situation
- Entity structure and compensation analysis
- Retirement contribution strategy (Solo 401k, SEP IRA, HSA)
- Review session to walk through the plan and next steps
- Implementation guidance and timeline
- Estimated tax payment optimization
Strategy / Restructuring Project
$2,497 - $4,997
Per project
Restructuring analysis for clients with multiple entities, complex holdings, or significant life changes that call for a tax strategy built from the ground up.
Who it's for: Multi-entity owners, executives with stock options, real estate investors, and clients with international holdings.
- Everything in the Tax Planning Engagement, plus:
- Full entity restructuring analysis and recommendations
- Multi-year tax projection and modeling
- International holdings and compliance review (FBAR/FATCA)
- Stock option and RSU tax planning
- Cost segregation opportunity evaluation
- Real estate professional status (REPS) analysis
Hypothetical Examples
Here are examples of what planning during the year can look like.
The following are hypothetical examples, not results from specific clients. Individual results vary based on income, entity structure, and tax situation.
S-Corp Election
A consultant with $200,000 in net income forms an S-Corp and sets a reasonable salary of $80,000. The remaining $120,000 in distributions is not subject to self-employment tax.
Over $10,000
in annual SE tax savings (hypothetical)
Retirement Plan Contribution
A freelance designer with $150,000 of net self-employment income has no retirement plan. Setting up and funding a SEP IRA generates a deduction of roughly $27,800 in the first year (about 20% of net earnings after the deduction for half of self-employment tax).
Several thousand dollars
in income tax savings, hypothetical (SEP contributions do not reduce self-employment tax)
Cost Segregation
A real estate investor who qualifies as a real estate professional owns a $1M rental property. A cost segregation study generates an additional $200,000 in accelerated depreciation deductions that can offset other income because the passive activity loss limits do not apply.
$64,000
in tax savings in one year (hypothetical)
Savings vary widely with your income, entity structure, and the strategies actually available to you, and no savings amount can be promised in advance. During your discovery call, we walk through the strategies that apply to your facts and give you a realistic range for your situation before any engagement begins.
The Backdoor Roth and Roth Conversions
A high earner's field guide to tax-free retirement growth: the backdoor Roth IRA, the pro-rata rule to plan around, the mega backdoor, and when a conversion makes sense. Current 2026 limits included.
How every engagement is checked
Every engagement runs through the same written procedure. It is the reason the fee is what it is, and you can hold us to it.
- 1Scope and fee in writing before any work begins.
- 2Documents arrive through the secure client portal, not as email attachments.
- 3A second review on a different day, against a written checklist, before anything is filed.
- 4If the IRS writes about a return we prepared, reviewing the notice with you is free. Any response or representation beyond that review is quoted in writing first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this service area.
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Learn MoreQuestions about tax planning?
A discovery call covers which planning decisions apply to your situation and whether a planning engagement is worth doing for you.
Arc & Ledger takes on work selectively. Each request is reviewed for fit with our practice areas, and scope and timing are confirmed in writing before an engagement begins.
“Arc & Ledger provided exceptional service, making my tax preparation seamless and stress-free.”– Christian S., Google Review
A secure Client Portal invitation is sent only after Arc & Ledger accepts the engagement or you purchase an available fixed-scope service. A call, waitlist entry, or contact form alone does not create portal access.