Business planning
Decisions made while they can still be changed
A tax return reports what already happened. Planning is the work that happens before that: the structure, the cash flow, and the timing decisions that determine what the return will say.
What this covers
Most of our planning clients bring us both sides: the business and the person who owns it. Looking at them together is where the decisions that matter get made, and it is where estate and gift planning enter the same conversation.
1 Understand the whole picture
- A conversation about the decision that is coming, before anything is committed to
- The business return and the personal return looked at as one picture, because for an owner they are
2 Put numbers on the options
- Budgeting, cash flow, and projections you can actually make decisions on
- What each choice costs in tax, worked out before the decision rather than after it
3 Decide and plan ahead
- Choosing the business structure (LLC, S corporation, partnership), and the tax consequences of changing it
- Year-end tax planning while there is still time to change the outcome
- Timing of income, deductions, and retirement plan contributions
- Estate and gift planning, coordinated with your attorney and financial adviser
Why people call
Three moments that start the conversation
-
A big decision is coming
A purchase, a hire, a second location, or a change in how the business is owned. Each one has a tax cost and a cash cost, and both are easier to see before the decision than after it.
-
The business outgrew the plan
A structure chosen years ago for a smaller company is still steering the taxes, the payroll, and the reporting. Nobody has stopped to ask whether it still fits.
-
The business and the personal picture have merged
For most owners the business is the largest asset they hold, which pulls estate and gift planning into the same conversation as the business itself.
Massachusetts
Where this meets the estate picture
For most owners the business is the largest asset they hold, which means business planning and estate planning are the same plan viewed from two angles. Massachusetts makes that overlap sharper than most states, because its estate tax threshold is low enough that a successful small business will often carry an estate past it on its own.
That is why gift planning belongs in the same conversation. Gifts made during life change what the estate holds later, and the decision of when and how to give has tax consequences on both sides. Working through it with the attorney in the room avoids the common outcome where a clean business decision creates an estate problem nobody was looking for.
Questions
Common questions
What does business planning actually cover?
The decisions that shape the numbers before the year closes: structure, cash flow, timing of income and deductions, and how the business picture and the personal picture fit together. Preparing the return reports what happened. Planning is the part that changes it.
When should planning start?
Earlier than most people begin. By the time a return is being prepared, the year is closed and most of the options are gone. The useful conversations happen while the year is still open.
We already have an attorney and a financial adviser. What does a CPA add?
The tax view. The attorney drafts the documents and the adviser manages the assets, and the CPA works out what each decision costs in tax. The three roles work best in the same conversation rather than in sequence.
Do you handle gift planning too?
Yes, alongside estate planning. Gifts made during life change what the estate looks like later, so the two are planned together rather than separately. See our estates and trusts page for the filing side of that work.
Start with a conversation about what is ahead
Most owners arrive with more options than they need. Narrowing them down, before anything is committed to, is usually the first useful step.
Please do not send Social Security numbers, tax records, or bank details through the message form. If documents are needed, the office will provide private secure-upload instructions after speaking with you.