How much should I expect to pay for a good startup-focused accountant? The quotes I'm getting seem all over the place, from $400 to $3000+ for personal tax prep. Is the higher price worth it?

The price range definitely varies based on complexity and location. If you have multiple equity events, secondary sales, or multi-state filing requirements, expect to be on the higher end of that range. In my experience, paying more for someone with startup expertise has saved me far more than the difference in preparation fees. For context, I paid about $800 for a general CPA my first year, who missed several startup-specific deductions. The next year I paid $2200 for a startup-specialized accountant who saved me over $15,000 through proper equity planning and startup-specific tax strategies. Look at it as an investment - the right accountant should identify tax savings that exceed their fee difference.

Omg please dont. I tried using TurboTax last year for my startup situation and it was a COMPLETE disaster. The software kept getting confused by my 83(b) election and couldn't properly handle the reporting of my partial stock sale. Ended up having to hire a professional anyway to fix all the mistakes and file an amended return. Cost me way more in the end.

Good point about state taxes! This varies significantly by state though. When my daughter was in a similar situation, our state (California) had a much lower filing threshold than federal, so she actually did need to file state taxes even though she was exempt from federal. Definitely worth checking the specific requirements for your state.

Omg thank you for mentioning this - I just checked and he did pay state taxes too! About $120 to our state. I'll make sure we look into the state-specific process for requesting that refund as well. Appreciate you bringing this up, I completely overlooked it.

Was the refund just directly deposited, or did they send a check? And did they pay any interest on the amount since it took so long to process?

That's a great point! Are there any major "cliffs" I should watch out for around the $100k income level? I'm currently putting about 10% into my 401k but wondering if I should increase that to stay under certain thresholds.

Around the $100k level, you might start seeing some phase-outs, but most aren't complete cliffs. Student loan interest deduction starts phasing out at about $75k (single filers) and is completely gone by $90k. The Roth IRA contribution starts phasing out around $125k and is fully eliminated around $140k. Increasing your 401k contribution is almost always a good strategy when you're approaching these thresholds. Not only does it lower your taxable income, but you're also increasing your retirement savings. For 2025, you can contribute up to $23,000 to a 401k if you're under 50, which could significantly reduce your taxable income and potentially keep you under these thresholds.

TurboTax's calculator is decent for basic estimates, but it doesn't always let you see the breakdown of how your income is taxed across different brackets. I found TaxCaster (by Intuit, same company as TurboTax) gives a more detailed view of the marginal rates. The IRS also has a withholding calculator on their website that's pretty accurate but not very user-friendly.

Do film tax credits count as income in the year you receive them? I'm getting a small incentive payment from my state film commission next month for a project I completed last year, and I'm not sure if that's 2024 income or if I should have somehow accounted for it in 2023.

The timing of film tax credit recognition generally depends on when you have the legal right to receive the payment. If your production was completed last year but the credit wasn't approved until this year, it's typically 2024 income. However, it also depends on your accounting method. If you're using the cash method (most small productions do), you'd report it as income when you actually receive the payment. If you're using the accrual method, you'd record it when you earned the right to receive it. Since it sounds like the state is just now processing your payment for last year's work, this would likely be 2024 income. But definitely confirm this with your accountant since tax credit treatment varies by state and situation.

That's wild, I never would have thought about credit as compensation! How do you even calculate the value of a film credit for tax purposes? Is there some kind of standard rate card for that?

That's really helpful. So for my invoices, should I format it as "My Full Name dba Business Name" and then just use my SSN on the W9 form? Or should I include both the SSN and FEIN on different parts of the form?

You should format it exactly as "Your Full Legal Name dba Business Name" on your invoices, and then on your W9, check the "Individual/sole proprietor" box, use your personal name on the "Name" line, your business name on the "Business name/disregarded entity" line, and your SSN in part I. You can include your EIN in Part II if you want, but it's cleaner to just use your SSN for everything unless you specifically need the EIN for something like business banking. This way, everything matches what the IRS has on file for you personally, which prevents these verification hiccups.

From my experience (worked in tax prep for 7 years), these kinds of mismatches don't typically trigger audits on their own. They're considered administrative issues rather than compliance problems. The IRS is looking for income reporting discrepancies, not ID formatting issues.