When should we start tax planning for the year?

The most useful checkpoint is a projection in September or October, since that leaves enough time before December 31 to act on retirement funding, purchase timing, or estimated payment adjustments. Waiting until the return is being prepared removes nearly all of those options.

Is tax planning worth it for a small business?

Yes, even a modest S corporation election review or a single well-timed equipment purchase can save more than the cost of the planning engagement itself. The benefit scales with profit, but there is value at almost any size once a company is consistently profitable.

Does tax planning replace tax preparation?

No, planning and preparation are separate services that work together; planning sets the strategy during the year, and preparation files the return that reflects it. Most clients engage us for both so the two stay aligned.

How often should our entity structure be reviewed?

We recommend reviewing it annually alongside your fall projection, since profit levels and payroll costs change year to year and can shift the math on whether an S corporation election is still advantageous. A structure that was optimal two years ago is not automatically optimal now.

Business Tax Services

Business Tax Planning in Clovis, CA

Projections, S corp salary review, and December equipment decisions made while there's still time to act, not after the return is already drafted.

Built for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical contractors running trucks, techs, and service agreements out of QuickBooks Online, ServiceTitan, and Housecall Pro.

Schedule Your Free Strategy Call (559) 203-3450

What sends contractors looking for this

A hot summer blows past our quarterly estimate and we don't find out until the return is done

Without a mid-year check, a shop's first real look at how a strong AC season affected its tax bill is often the finished return the following March. By then the year is closed, so there's no way to fund a retirement plan, buy equipment before December 31, or send in a catch-up estimated payment to soften the penalty.

That turns tax season into pure reporting instead of a chance to actually change the outcome, and it means every option that existed back in July is gone by the time anyone looks at the numbers.

A liability discovered in April with no advance warning can force an owner to draw on a line of credit to cover the tax due on top of the current quarter's estimate, and by then the deadline to fund certain retirement plans for a deduction on last year's return has already passed for good.

We are not sure the owner's salary and benefits are set up right

An S corp saves on self-employment tax by splitting the owner's income into a salary, which owes payroll tax, and distributions, which don't. That savings only holds up if the salary is reasonable compensation, meaning a defensible number for what the shop would pay someone else to do the owner's job. On top of that, owner health insurance premiums and retirement contributions have their own rules for how they're set up through the S corp to actually count as deductible.

Few owners revisit the salary number as the shop grows, and just as few set up health insurance and retirement the way the rules require, which means both the tax savings and the deduction can be smaller than they should be, or built on a number that won't hold up.

A salary set too low to save payroll tax is a well-documented audit trigger, and an IRS reclassification of distributions as wages comes with back payroll taxes, penalties, and interest for every year the number was used, while health insurance or retirement contributions set up incorrectly can simply be denied as a deduction.

We buy vans and equipment in December without knowing the tax impact ahead of time

Loading up on new service vans and diagnostic equipment right before year end is common once a shop sees how profitable the year turned out. Whether that purchase can be fully written off this year under Section 179, a rule that lets you deduct the full cost immediately instead of over five or more years, or bonus depreciation, depends on the total amount spent, your profit level, and how close you are to annual limits that change every year.

When the purchase happens without a tax conversation first, a shop sometimes buys more equipment than it needed for the deduction, or times it in a way that pushes part of the write-off into a future year when it's worth less.

Missing the right timing on a December equipment purchase can push thousands of dollars of deduction into a future year instead of offsetting this year's profit, which for a shop in a strong year can mean paying tax now on income that a properly timed purchase could have sheltered.

How we fix each of those

01
A fall projection that catches a strong summer before it becomes a penalty
We build a projection from your actual year-to-date results every October, showing expected liability so you can adjust the fourth quarter estimate, fund a retirement plan, or make a purchase before December 31, using real numbers instead of what a slower prior year would suggest.
02
Annual salary, health insurance, and retirement review
Each year we recalculate a defensible reasonable compensation figure using comparable trade wage data, confirm owner health insurance is set up through the S corp correctly to count as a deduction, and check whether a SEP IRA or Solo 401(k) contribution makes sense before year end.
03
Tax impact modeling before you buy the van or the equipment
Before a December purchase, we run the numbers on Section 179 and bonus depreciation against your actual profit for the year, so you know exactly what the purchase saves in tax and whether buying now or waiting until January makes more sense.

Everything included

Fall tax projection from year-to-date financials
Quarterly estimate recalculation after a strong season
Reasonable compensation benchmarking for the owner
Owner health insurance and retirement plan setup review
Equipment and vehicle purchase timing analysis
Section 179 and bonus depreciation planning before year end
Multi-year tax scenario comparison

Work that pairs with this

Business Tax Preparation

Accurate, on-time federal and state returns for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical S corps and LLCs, built from books that already match your ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro job data.

View Business Tax Preparation

S Corporation Tax

Form 1120-S preparation, an owner salary number that holds up, and election upkeep for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical shops running through ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro.

View S Corporation Tax

CFO Services

Numbers pulled from ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro and QuickBooks that tell you what a job actually made, whether you can afford another crew, and what happens to cash next quarter, without hiring a full-time CFO.

View CFO Services

Contractors who have already done this

Real Google reviews from owners we work with, next to the engagements behind the numbers.

Google review
As a home services company, I feel that High Velocity Accounting has elevated our business to the next level. We are able to dig deeper into our numbers, report accurately and make adjustments where needed. They are very responsive, detail oriented and an extension of our team.
Cathleen Helin
Owner, Home Services
Clovis, CA
Case study
How a Construction Company Cleaned Up Two Years of Books and Financed New Equipment
Construction · $2.8M - $4.1M annual revenue
Books brought current
22 months
Equipment loan approved
$680,000
Read the full breakdown
Google review
I have been so genuinely pleased with High Velocity Accounting's services. I feel I have an extension of our team in Brett and his team. They always make time for my questions and look for strategic ways to build our businesses mutually. I rest easy knowing our books are kept in good order and our taxes are prepared professionally. I never hesitate to recommend this firm to any service business owners looking for professional book keeping and tax services.
Texas Medley
Owner, Service Contracting
Clovis, CA
Google review
We have been using High Velocity Accounting for a couple years now and are so thankful for their service! They are meticulous, thorough, dependable and always ready to deal with a curveball. Kind, patient, gracious. Thank you for your service and the relationship we've developed together.
Grant Schoenberger
Client, Trades
Clovis, CA
Google review
Brett Neal has been our family's accountant for over six years now, because he is the most dependable professional in this business. We started with Brett as two separate single-filers with simple W-2's and quickly graduated to a married couple having multiple types of complicated business/tax filings. Brett took every shift in stride; every transition has been carried out smoothly and without any hiccups. Trust that this is the guy for all your filing, bookkeeping, and financial consulting needs.
Alyssa Cotrina
Business Owner, Trades
Clovis, CA

Where we do this work

Our office is in Clovis and we work with home services contractors across the Central Valley and nationwide. Pick your city to see how business tax planning works for shops in that market.

Not on the list? We run every engagement over QuickBooks Online, ServiceTitan, and Housecall Pro, so distance does not change the work. Call (559) 203-3450.

Talk to a CPA who will actually pick up the phone

Start with a 30-minute consultation at no cost. You will leave it knowing what the work involves, what it costs, and what happens next.