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Your business shouldn’t find out its tax bill in April

Hockett Tax combines business tax preparation with year-round planning, payroll and bookkeeping so you know where you stand before the year is over — not after it’s too late to make changes.

Business tax returns

1120S, 1065 and 1120 preparation coordinated with your personal return.

Year-round tax planning

Planning before equipment purchases, distributions, retirement contributions and other major decisions.

Payroll & bookkeeping

Keep the numbers current throughout the year so tax planning is based on real information instead of estimates.

Business owners with an S corporation or partnership typically start with our Gold, Platinum or Titanium memberships. View business pricing →

Choosing and changing the entity

A sole proprietorship, an LLC and an LLC that has elected S-corp treatment are taxed in meaningfully different ways, and the right answer changes as the business grows. We look at what you are actually earning, what you take out, and what you plan to do next — then tell you plainly whether a change is worth the extra filing and payroll obligations it brings. Setting up a new entity is on the LLC setup page.

Reasonable compensation, done properly

An S-corporation shareholder who works in the business generally must take reasonable compensation through payroll, subject to employment taxes, before taking non-wage distributions. Too low invites the IRS to recharacterize distributions as wages; too high hands over payroll tax you never owed.

We work the figure out with you against your role, your industry and what the business earns, document how we got there, and revisit it as the business changes. We prepare a great many 1120S returns — this is the number we are asked about most.

Payroll that does not become a problem

Filings, deposits and the payroll taxes themselves, handled — including the state registrations a new employer needs. Details on the payroll page.

Books that feed the return

Categorized and reconciled monthly, so the numbers on the return are the numbers in the books and a mid-year decision can be made on something real rather than a guess. See bookkeeping.

Planning through the year

Equipment purchases, vehicles, retirement plans, hiring, taking on a partner, selling the business: each has a tax consequence that is largely settled by the time it appears on a return. Planning appointments are included in every membership, which is deliberate — a fee per call is what stops owners from calling.

The returns themselves

1120S, 1065, 1120 and the owner’s personal 1040, prepared together so the two sides agree. The Gold membership and above covers a personal return plus one business return; see pricing.

If you are a real estate agent, broker or investor, the real estate page covers the parts specific to your industry.

Not sure where you fit?

Tell us what your return looks like and we will tell you which membership covers it — no obligation.

Book a free consult (623) 257-3048
FAQ

Common questions

When is an S-corp election actually worth it?

When the business profit is consistently high enough that the self-employment tax saved exceeds the cost of payroll, a separate return and the administration around them. There is no universal threshold — it depends on your profit, your role and what you take out. Bring last year’s numbers to the consult and we will run it.

I elected S-corp status but never set up payroll. What now?

Common, and worth fixing promptly. We will look at what has been taken out of the business this year, work out reasonable compensation, and get payroll running correctly — ideally before the year closes, which is when the options narrow.

Do you work with businesses outside Arizona?

Yes. Multi-state work is routine here, including payroll registrations where your employees actually work.

Can you take over mid-year from another accountant?

Yes. We will review what has been filed so far rather than building on numbers we have not checked, and tell you if we find something that needs correcting.

Ready to keep more of what you earn?

A 30-minute consultation is free, and you'll leave it knowing what you'd pay and what we'd change.

Arizona: (623) 257-3048 · Alabama: (251) 202-9789