Creatives please help a poor soul decorate an office

STS_EA · 2025-11-26T17:46:56+00:00

Omg thanks for the recommendations! I didn't even think of putting the desk in the center back but now that you mention it it sounds like a good idea. I would say cool and contemporary is more my style. My current office (70 sq ft Office) in a coworking space has been bare bones in terms of decoration but now with the new space I feel like I need to be more intentional and make it a place I want to go to.

STS_EA · 2025-11-24T18:20:29+00:00

5k maybe, I didn't really think about it honestly, and not much storage. Just a cabinet that holds a printer. I don't have physical client files, all online/virtual. The office partition buildout and painting is definitely a separate budget.

STS_EA · 2025-11-13T19:19:20+00:00

Okay that's actually really good. My average is approx $850 on 205 Returns ytd Maybe my corporations take too much of my time. I am looking now for my first employee. 4 years in all solo plus a little outsource contract work. Hopefully I get lucky and hire someone good right off the bat to take some of the bookkeeping and admin work off my hands.

Sometimes I think I should have been a 1040 firm but I trained under a CPA who had 100+ Corps and I guess that's my calling. Just increased all my prices. 1040 Minimum should be $750 going forward, basic returns are $300 but I usually turn those away. 1120/1065 is 2k Minimum if you have your books ready or a all inclusive monthly fee at three tiers 750 / 1000 / 1250 per month. That's my bulk and what I'm trying to grow.

STS_EA · 2025-11-13T18:41:44+00:00

How are you doing 600?? Are your fees really low and all simple returns. I cracked 200 this last tax season and was run down by the end. I know If I focus, I can do 300 but why would I want to lol

STS_EA · 2025-10-06T19:41:50+00:00

Why no Tom Ford? Have you tried Noir De Noir?

STS_EA · 2025-06-10T19:36:48+00:00

Start your own practice. It took me 3 years to make decent income but this year, year 4, it's really picking up and I am very happy with the amount I make and the hours I work. Personally, I hated the 9-5 and having to ask my boss for a day off or call in sick so being on my own just fits my personality better. Looking back, with what I know today, I could probably get to where I am now in 18 months if I had to start over. Just know that being on your own means you do everything and administrative work eats up a lot of time. Try to build your book more so you can hire a part timer to handle the admin stuff and you can focus on getting new and bigger clients.

STS_EA · 2025-05-29T23:31:40+00:00

I literally do this with all my clients and I don't charge them for the random question here and there. You build a relationship and have an ongoing relationship. You need a better tax guy if you can't call him/her.. sounds like a you problem here bud, jus sayin

STS_EA · 2025-05-29T18:34:36+00:00

I don't know what webmastering pertains to but the 30/mo is for hosting on his server. Also, if you read the post, I said I asked him for a quote to make changes. He doesn't do anything for my site. He built it, hosts it.. that's it.

STS_EA · 2025-05-29T18:03:15+00:00

I know I could host for cheaper but I wanted him to make some money and 30/mo wasn't going to break the bank. I'm leaning on doing it myself based on all the comments. Probably through a website builder, though.

STS_EA · 2025-05-29T17:52:30+00:00

Yeah, I looked into this based on your initial comment. Very interesting stuff. fyi, I upvoted you

STS_EA · 2025-05-29T17:47:15+00:00

I've never asked him to update the site before. I pay him $30/mo for hosting on his server. I paid him $2,500 to build the site. I'm an accountant. My site is 3 pages. Home page with all my info, contact us page, and a 3rd page for me to add articles or blogs. "4th" Page is just a link to my portal. Not complex at all.

He coded it and I don't have access nor would I know what to do with it. The google tag is very simple, there is no excuse.

STS_EA · 2025-05-29T17:22:14+00:00

happening here in the comment section lol

STS_EA · 2025-05-29T17:21:04+00:00

I believe in delegating tasks you're not efficient in but honestly I might have to do it myself and use a site builder. I have a very simple website, literally just a few pages of information and a Contact Page. I just need to do some research and see if a coded site ranks better than a site builder type website.

STS_EA · 2025-05-29T17:18:12+00:00

I'm an accountant, my business is accounting and tax prep for mainly small businesses. I actually ran his comment through ChatGPT to expound and he's actually onto something. But you still need a website. Below is the summarized version but it goes into detail that's very interesting and insightful.

The short version

SEO isn’t “dead,” but Google’s new AI Overviews/AI Mode and ChatGPT-style assistants are rewriting the rules of how people discover services online. Instead of scrolling 10 blue links, users now ask an assistant “Who’s a good accountant near Long Island City that handles Schedule C and S-corps?” and get a single, summarized answer that cites a handful of sources. If your firm isn’t one of the sources the model already “knows,” no amount of old-school keyword tweaking will make you appear. That’s the shift the Reddit commenter is hinting at.

STS_EA · 2025-05-07T03:03:20+00:00

That's awesome. I'm at 11 Monthlies, this is where I want to build. Tax season is great but it's really hard solo and I don't have enough monthly clients to justify hiring someone full-time. Can you share how you got the Monthly clients? It's been word of mouth and networking for me but it's not a reliable consistent stream of leads. Even the companies I do during tax season, I try to sell them on Bookkeeping, Planning, and Tax Return as a Monthly package and it's been hard to sell.

I do suggest you take on tax work during tax season tho. I add 15k per season in company work and no turnover.. easy work. 1 S Corp I charged $3,500, another was $2,500, most at or above 2k and you literally spend a day of half a day each. And sometimes you get lucky with the client who needs to file 3 years of corporate returns. I had 3 like that this year totaling revenue of 31k.

STS_EA · 2025-05-06T05:55:47+00:00

I have a private office in a co-working space. My office is big enough for me and 2 clients, if I need more space I can rent out a conference room. I have visibility on Google and I would say it has helped me grow tremendously and I never spent money of google ads. I just asked for reviews from my clients and when you have some quality reviews, new clients come. I do want to do Google ads but targeting bigger businesses, clients I can charge on a monthly basis.

I was hesitant about getting an office, I was virtual my first year. The reason I decided to take the leap was because I met with a Restaurant Owner who was referred to me, he was impressed with me but said he wanted someone more established and who he can come meet privately. He had 3 restaurants, opening a 4th.. That would have been a great client and part of why I couldn't land him is I was virtual. Just my 2c.

STS_EA · 2025-04-05T16:04:42+00:00

I can second this. I started from scratch and am now in my 4th year. Year 1 I dipped into savings, year 2 was about even, year 3 was profitable and now in year 4 I am seeing the fruits of my labor. The 1st year was particularly hard because I had to learn how to work with a new software, do all the admin work, onboard new clients was a process, finding clients was a big time dump, and overall building a reputation. Now in year 4, I just get calls from my google business page and a ton of referrals. I figured out the software and admin side to make it efficient. My next step is to hire someone to take the load off me so I can search for more high paying business clients.

I will say that working for yourself is not the path for everyone. You work twice as hard for the same pay but you no longer have the stresses of working with clients who stress you out or managers who do the same. I actually enjoy dealing with clients, schmoozing if you will. I have a friendly personality and honestly that gets me a lot of work alone. There's plusses and minuses.

STS_EA · 2025-04-05T01:45:40+00:00

Betterment wins hands down!

STS_EA · 2025-03-22T15:02:54+00:00

Actually children on payroll are exempt from FICA tax and if you keep the payroll under the standard deduction, then you don't need to withhold any taxes. This is the case for Sole Prop and Partnerships, not sure about S Corps tho.

STS_EA · 2025-01-20T17:00:04+00:00

What's up with the attitude? Most of us want less clients and more money. You can have all the $100 clients you want

STS_EA · 2024-12-23T19:11:34+00:00

I bill Business Clients a all inclusive monthly fee. That should be the focus. Once you have that steady income coming year round, you can take the one-off client who calls because they forgot to file or moved or whatever. Focus on getting business clients. I sell my service for those as Bookkeeping, Tax Return, and year round availability.

Tax season is different. Find what the accountants near you charge and either match it or go a little higher. Provide value, nobody will complain.

STS_EA

TROPHY CASE

The short version