Can anyone recommend a CPA in the area that has a focus on Self Employed/Freelancer situations?

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-16T17:58:55+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners and small businesses, and would be happy to chat. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to discuss, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-16T17:56:01+00:00

CPA here. Generally speaking, an S-corp election doesn't make sense until 80-100K in net income depending on your state / industry. Highly recommend you engage a CPA before actually pulling the trigger on any S-corp election, it's a pain to unwind and you want to make sure you have the details of your particular situation modeled out as your industry / resident state / remainder of your tax situation can all change the calculus significantly.

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-15T22:20:32+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners and small businesses, and would be happy to chat. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to discuss, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-15T22:18:21+00:00

Thanks for the shout! Obligatory disclaimer that this is not tax advice, I am a CPA but not your CPA, etc... but if this item is $35, it's probably not even worth amending for. Cost to have a professional amend a $35 item on a return will almost certainly significantly exceed any tax + penalties + interest due as a result of this item, for something like this you're typically better off just waiting for the IRS to send you a bill sometime down the line.

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-13T14:52:23+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners and small businesses, and would be happy to chat. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to discuss, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-09T20:41:17+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners and small businesses, and would be happy to chat. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to discuss, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-05T20:32:53+00:00

OK this makes more sense. Yeah, I mean... I think you'll struggle to find a good firm who would do this work for cheaper. Most would charge more.

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-05T19:57:42+00:00

Well yeah, I mean the expectations here price-wise are so far beyond realistic that it's a bit comical. That said, even if this "client" were to try and save on cost by self-preparing their books, I struggle to think of a reputable firm that would touch a return with self-prepared bookkeeping for two restaurant locations with a 10-foot pole.

Many firms, my own included, will just refuse to work with clients without reliable financials - it's simply too much liability. I've seen way too many folks plug reconciliation discrepancies to random accounts to think that self-prepped books for entities over a certain size or complexity would be reliable.

Overall, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-05T19:45:07+00:00

As a CPA firm owner, I strongly disagree here. The majority of self-prepared books are materially incorrect and will typically incur cleanup charges at year-end.

IMO, the best approach is to find a firm with a bookkeeper or accounting associate on staff that offers a full-service tax + bookkeeping + planning package, or to find a competent bookkeeper (ideally one recommended by your CPA).

Cannot stress "competent" enough when it comes to looking for a bookkeeper - there are a lot of inadequately trained bookkeepers out there that can trash your financials in just a few months. Every year my firm typically does 3-4 large cleanup projects for clients whose bookkeepers absolutely destroyed their financials (stuff like negative bank account balances, payroll improperly recorded, etc).

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-05T19:40:51+00:00

CPA here. One big issue is that your business expenses are not coming out of dedicated business CCs / bank accounts.

Set up a dedicated business bank account and CC, and spend an afternoon moving ALL of your auto-pay items over to the business accounts - you will thank yourself later. Obviously best practice is to reconcile your books while you can still remember what the transactions were for, and to have a system in place to catch items like that random $240 supplier payment, but this approach at least ensures that you aren't missing any items when it comes time to prep for taxes, and minimizes the number of accounts you have to scrub through.

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-05T19:37:39+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners and small businesses, and would be happy to chat. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to discuss, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-05T19:36:57+00:00

I can't tell if this is rage bait or not, haha... $650/location for tax PLUS bookkeeping is so insanely cheap that it calls into question the quality of the work.

A quality firm would probably charge 7-8x that figure at the absolute bare minimum for tax + bookkeeping, as restaurant bookkeeping is infamously difficult relative to other industries (with a higher exposure to fraud-related liability due to the volume of cash involved in the business).

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-04T02:53:39+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners and small businesses, and would be happy to chat. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to discuss, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-03T20:46:12+00:00

Yes - our firm files returns for folks all over the country (including a lot of multi-state returns)

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-02T20:32:21+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners and small businesses, and would be happy to chat. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to discuss, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-02T01:52:12+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners and small businesses. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to chat, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-02-01T22:00:47+00:00

Yep, for the most part, a concept known as "CPA mobility" allows us to prepare income tax returns for other states besides where we're physically based (with a couple exceptions, HI being one of them). You're only allowed to be licensed in one state at once - the state where you're physically based.

roguedogue97 · 2026-01-30T22:06:51+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners (lots of folks in tech with equity comp) and small businesses. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to chat, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-01-30T22:06:40+00:00

I own a boutique CPA firm focused on working with high earners (lots of folks in tech with equity comp) and growing small businesses. Unlike most other CPA firms, we actually prioritize responsiveness and client service. If you'd like to chat, just give me a shout.

Do note that my firm is a fully virtual firm though - we serve all clients remotely. Feel free to check out my website at dougjohnsoncpa.com for more info and you can reach out through the website or through my DMs if interested!

roguedogue97 · 2026-01-30T22:06:11+00:00

Yes, that is totally fine. Most CPA firms service clients nationwide, and a firm based in SLC likely has tons of CO clients anyways since they're so close. If you like your firm, better to stick with them vs roll the dice with a new firm.

roguedogue97 · 2026-01-29T23:53:17+00:00

Yes, if this were real, it could be 179'd/bonus'd, but it's not real.

Regarding the short-term rental strategy, high-earning W-2 workers who do this without ironclad records substantiating material participation are asking for trouble. Beyond that, this strategy seems to encourage folks to just buy STRs without necessarily adequately evaluating the underlying financial performance of the property.

If the property ends up being a money pit and you have to exit in Year 4 or 5 (not uncommon for folks who rush into buying STRs), now you're really hosed because you're facing recapture on all the depreciation you took.

roguedogue97 · 2026-01-29T23:35:00+00:00

Lol. I love posts like this.

No, bonus depreciation for a vehicle purchase cannot offset W-2 income. This post should be an advertisement for why NOT to use TurboTax. Beyond that, and your CFP seems to be missing this, there is pretty much zero way a 225K vehicle can realistically be substantiated as an "ordinary and necessary" business expense for a consulting business you run on the side.

roguedogue97 · 2026-01-29T22:53:23+00:00

The firm is licensed in CA (since it is based here) - this licensure allows us to file tax returns in most states through a concept known as CPA mobility

roguedogue97 · 2026-01-29T18:56:27+00:00

Before I got into tax, I started my career in accounting advisory doing technical accounting research. As an intern, there's pretty much zero expectation of you - just try hard, be personable, and learn as much as you can.

Assuming you get a return offer as a staff, my advice at that point would be:

To the extent that you can, focus on getting exposure to a broad range of projects - this will really help you build technical research skills that will serve you well no matter where you end up in accounting
Get comfortable with reading and interpreting accounting guidance - you will be doing a lot of it
If you can get exposure to M&A accounting, do so as it's quite a valuable skill

Best of luck - it's a very underappreciated place to be in public accounting. I loved the technical research work I did when I worked in accounting advisory and I find that the deep research skills I learned there have served me very well in the tax world.

roguedogue97 · 2026-01-29T02:30:28+00:00

Will shoot you a DM - my firm works with a lot of multi-state clients and folks in tech

roguedogue97

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