Our Services

Tax planning and tax forecasting services for individual and small business clients is a core competency of the firm. Effective tax minimization begins with long-term tax strategizing to establish overall objectives and is maintained with conscientious and consistent annual tax forecasting and mid-year tax planning.

 

Planning is the key to successfully and legally reducing your tax liability. We go beyond tax compliance and proactively recommend tax saving strategies to maximize your after-tax income.

We make it a priority to enhance our mastery of the current tax law, complex tax code, and new tax regulations by attending frequent tax seminars.

Businesses and individuals pay the lowest amount of taxes allowable by law because we continually look for ways to minimize your taxes throughout the year, not just at the end of the year.

We recommend Tax Saving Strategies that help you...

• grow and preserve assets by keeping Uncle Sam out of your pockets.
   
• defer income so you can keep your money now and pay less taxes later.
   
• reduce taxes on your income so you keep more of what you make.
   
• reduce taxes on your estate so your family keeps more of what you've made.
   
• reduce taxes on your gifts so you can give more.
   
• reduce taxes on your investments so you can grow your wealth faster.
   
• reduce taxes on your retirement distributions so you can retire in style.

 
Here's just a few of the Tax Saving Strategies we use...

• Splitting income among several family members or legal entities in order to get more of the income taxed in lower bracket.
   
• Shifting income or expenses from one year to another in order to have them fall where it will be taxed at a lower rate.
   
• Deferring tax liabilities through certain investment choices such as pension plans, contributions and other similar plans.
   
• Using certain investments to produce income that is tax exempt from either federal or state or both taxing entities.
   
• Finding tax deductions by structuring your money to pay for things you enjoy, such as a vacation home.

Remember, we work for you not for the IRS. Many of our clients save many times the fee in reduced tax liability through careful planning and legitimate tax strategies.

Small business tax return preparation and filing instructions is a core service offered to our clients. Whether your company is a C Corporation, S Corp, Limited Liability Company, Partnership or Sole Proprietor a properly prepared tax return can be filed to minimize the tax owed. Over our decades of business we have prepared hundreds of Federal and State tax returns for service, manufacturing, and many other types of small businesses.

Be ready for your tax return appointment or drop-off by using our checklist. We also offer several simple workbooks to help organize information under the business tab on this page.

What to do when a loved one dies?

The death of a loved one is a stressful event. In addition to the emotional turmoil, survivors must deal with a number of financial and tax issues, some of them mundane and some quite complex. Here's a quick guide to help you through this difficult time.

• After a death, you should first try to locate your relative's key legal and financial documents. If he or she had a will, notify the executor(s). In the case of a trust, contact the co-trustee or successor trustee. You should also notify anyone who holds a power of attorney.
• If you have been named as executor or trustee, you will probably need tax, financial, and legal advice. Therefore, one of your first calls should be to obtain this help. You will also want to retain an attorney who is experienced in settling estates. This will often be the person who drafted the decedent's estate planning documents, but you are free to use anyone else you wish.
• If you relied on the deceased for financial support, make sure that you have enough money to cover your expenses for the next few weeks. If you have any doubts, please ask for help.
• Once you have taken the preliminary steps above, you can generally put financial matters out of your mind for a few days. Soon, however, it will be necessary to send notifications to some or all of the parties listed below.
• As executor or trustee, you may be required to oversee the probate of the decedent's estate, file a final income tax return, or file an estate tax return. If so, your next job is to gather all of the decedent's financial records. Working with your attorney, can help identify the documents you need and make sense of them once they are located.
• Depending on the nature of the estate, it may be necessary to hire other experts, such as appraisers, investment advisors, and business valuation specialists. If these people are needed, it helps to get started as soon as possible.

After the death of a loved one, you may need to notify the deceased's -

• Tax Preparer
• Insurance agent
• Employer
• Labor union

 You also may need to notify -

• The Social Security Administration
• The Department of Veteran Affairs
• The state motor vehicle department
• Mortgage and other lenders
• Credit card companies
• Banks, brokerage firms, and other financial institutions
• Utility companies
• Clubs, associations, and other organizations

An integral part of CSL has been the preparation of tax returns for individual taxpayers. We have prepared and filed thousands of State and Federal tax returns for individuals just like you.

Be ready for your tax return appointment or drop-off by using our checklist.

Preparing your own income tax return can be a task that leaves you with more questions than answers. According to a study released by the US Government's General Accounting Office last year, most taxpayers (77% of 71 million taxpayers) believe they benefited from using a professional tax preparer.

Whether we like it or not, today's tax laws are so complicated that filing a relatively simple return can be confusing. It is just too easy to overlook deductions and credits to which you are entitled. Even if you use a computer software program there's no substitute for the assistance of an experienced tax professional.

Here's what you'll get...

• Your tax return will be checked and rechecked by our computer software identifying potential problems the IRS may look at more closely and reviewing the math to limit IRS contacts.
• Your tax return is filed electronically so you will get a refund back quicker.
• Our staff will show you how to adjust your payroll withholding to get more money back each week. Why give the IRS an interest free loan for up to 16 months.
• We will show you potential deductions to limit your tax liability for next year. In addition, we will give you a sheet of commonly overlooked deductions to limit the following year's tax liability.

Books a Mess: No Problem!
If you own a small business and haven't kept up your bookkeeping, don't worry. We can help you. We'll prepare your bookkeeping for the year, prepare a full Schedule C, as well as your personal income tax return. Then we'll help you set up an easy system that allows you to keep your books in tip-top shape next year.

We work our whole life to prepare for the time we can slow down and retire. Everyone may have different goals for retirement but the one thing that will be guaranteed is your tax responsibilities will change.

Let us help you prepare by giving advice on things such as:

• Types of retirement plans
• Possible tax consiquences and how to avoid them
• Budgeting for/during retirement
• Retirement plan distributions
• Social Security distribution options

CSL prepares our clients for the upcoming year by providing tax estimates for the upcoming year. Especially beneficial for our self-employeed clients, we advise tailored quarterly tax payment plans in accorance with IRS standards so they may best avoid unwanted tax consequences at the end of the year.

Timely, efficient bookkeeping services are available for businesses of all sizes. Computerized accounts are prepared, saved and presented for client review on a quarterly, monthly, and/or annual basis. Budgeting and forecasting support is also available. We support all major accounting programs including Quickbooks and Peachtree.

If you own a small business and haven't kept up your bookkeeping, don't worry. We can help you. We'll prepare your bookkeeping for the year, prepare a full Schedule C, as well as your personal income tax return. Then we'll help you set up an easy system that allows you to keep your books in tip-top shape next year.

​When we take care of your books we provide the following services monthly, quarterly, or whenever needed

• Reconcile your bank account
• Generate income statements
• Generate balance sheets
• Organize and maintain your general ledger
• Provide consultations

 

Total payroll services for small business clients have been provided for many years. Services include: Set up and maintenance of all records, time card tabulations, withholdings of tax and benefit contributions, Federal and State tax filings, issuance of checks and preparation of all W-2's and 1099 forms.

 

$125/month for businesses with 1-5 employees includes:

• Free Direct Deposits
• All Federal Returns
• One State Return and One Local Return
• W-2s and other Year-End Tax Forms
• 1099 Contractor Forms & Returns

If your business needs are greater than these, please do not hesitate to contact us for an estimate!

 

 

 

Whether planning for retirement, business expansion or a child's college education, financial planning is the cornerstone for meeting your goal. We help individual and business clients with a full array of planning tools. Our planning also incorporates tax and estate planning.

 

Building and preserving your personal wealth requires specialized attention. You get one-on-one guidance and a comprehensive financial plan that helps manage risk, improve performance, and ensure the growth and longevity of your wealth.

We help you...

• Save enough for a comfortable retirement by identifying your retirement needs, analyzing your assets and sources of retirement income, reviewing estimated shortfalls, and identifying the best ways to save for retirement given your financial situation and risk tolerance.

• Pay for your child's college education by accurately estimating the amount of money you'll need, analyzing your assets, reviewing estimated shortfalls and considering general alternatives and strategies to help address these potential shortfalls, and developing an optimal savings plan given your financial situation and risk tolerance.

• Protect your family in case of you become disabled by ensuring you have enough money in your emergency fund and analyzing your life, disability, health, home, and auto insurance coverage. We also review your will and various powers of attorney designed to take care of your affairs in the event you are incapacitated and can't manage them yourself.

• Achieve your investment goals by identifying the steps needed to maximize your investment returns as well as the steps needed to help minimize your risk while building increased predictability of your investment returns.

• Leave a legacy for your heirs by maximizing the value of your estate by saving tax dollars, professional fees, and court costs. As well as minimizing the costs of probate, creditors, lawyers, and estate taxes, which can negatively impact the value of your estate. We also help you stay in control of your affairs by providing a road map for passing your estate on to your heirs.

Financial Statement preparation for small business clients is a long-standing service of this firm. Depending on the client's needs, monthly, quarterly and year-end balance sheet and detailed operating statements can be prepared and analyzed on a timely basis. The state-of-the-art accounting software used in our office can provide helpful comparisons and calculations for effective, practical business analysis.