Darin Pierson, CPA, reviews your deal and how your business is set up, then writes your year-end tax plan for $4,000. If the plan doesn’t find at least $8,000 in tax savings, we refund the fee.
If you bought a business this year, the purchase itself creates tax decisions you don’t face in a normal year. Several of them are much harder to change once your first return as the owner is filed.
Several choices on your first return are hard or costly to undo later, so it pays to get them right the first time.
The deal is still open on paper
How the purchase price is split, how your acquisition debt is reported and whether your entity still fits all show up on your first return. Some of these can be changed later, but usually with amended returns and extra cost.
Your first-year deductions are the biggest you’ll see
Equipment, vehicles and build-out often make up a big part of what you paid. The elections you make decide whether you write them off this year or over many years. Most deal costs get added to what you paid for the business and are written off over time, so how they’re split matters too.
The calendar runs out on December 31
Equipment purchases and the salary you pay yourself have to happen before December 31. Some retirement and entity choices have a little more time, but planning now keeps all of them open.
What we look at
Here are the areas we review in your plan.
Purchase agreement and price split
We read your purchase agreement and closing statement. If you bought the assets, how the price was split between them shapes your write-offs. If your purchase agreement didn’t set the split, there may still be room. If it did, we plan the write-offs that follow from it.
Entity election
We check whether the structure you bought into, or set up to buy, still fits now that you own the business.
How you pay yourself
We look at salary, distributions or both. The IRS expects a reasonable salary, and the mix also affects your lender’s covenants.
Equipment, vehicles, build-out
We review what came with the business, what you’ve bought since, and the elections that decide when you write them off.
Acquisition debt
We look at the interest, the loan costs and how your SBA loan or seller note is reported on the return.
Estimated payments
If you pay in at least what you owed last year, or a bit more at higher incomes, you generally avoid an underpayment penalty in April.
The rest of your situation
Your house, any rentals and other businesses you own all affect the tax on the new business, so we plan for all of it together.
Your plans
Whether you plan to buy more, sell, bring in a partner or change how you’re paid, the plan should fit where you’re headed.
What we’ve seen work
We compare your situation to clients we’ve helped and to what has held up with the IRS. That experience is hard to get from a software tool.
Year-end offer
Your first-year tax plan is $4,000
The plan has to find you at least twice that in tax savings, or we refund your fee.
$8,000 in savings or your fee back
You pay
$4,000
One written plan for your first year as owner
vs
We find you at least
$8,000
In tax savings, with each move written down
If the plan comes in under $8,000, we refund the full $4,000 and you keep the review anyway.
If we find $8,000 or more
You keep the plan and the savings. Give it to your accountant to file, or stay on with us and the $4,000 is credited toward that work.
If we find less than $8,000
We refund the full $4,000, and you still keep the written review.
Book a free 30-minute callOffer runs through December 31. Refund terms are set out in the engagement letter.
Do you qualify?
If all three of these are true for you, book a call.
You closed on a business in 2026
The business can be any size and in any industry, with or without an SBA loan.
Nobody has planned this year’s taxes
You have an accountant, or the seller’s accountant, but no one has sat down to plan the first return as the new owner.
Your purchase price was over $1 million
At that size there is usually enough income, debt and write-offs for a plan to pay for itself.
Who writes the plan
Darin has bought and sold a business himself
“I spent about nine months searching full-time before I bought an e-commerce business. It ended up losing money and I sold it. That experience is actually what shaped how I work with business buyers now.“Darin Pierson, CPA, founder of Ashford Sky
OwnerDarin bought a business, ran it and sold it, so he knows the buyer’s side.
600+Darin and his QoE partner have completed over 600 quality of earnings reports for buyers and lenders.
11 yrsDarin is a licensed CPA with 11 years of experience, formerly at Ernst & Young.
We write the plan and your accountant files the return. You can keep your current accountant, and we’ll work alongside them.
01
Book the call
The call is free and takes 30 minutes. Tell us about the business and how it’s set up today, and we’ll tell you whether a plan is worth doing.
02
We do the research
We go through your purchase agreement, how the debt was structured, your other income and property, and your plans for the next few years.
03
You get a written plan with the return on each move
The plan lists each move in order, what it should save you and what to do before December 31. You can hand it to your accountant or to us. If it finds less than $8,000 in savings, you get the $4,000 back.
Questions we often get
Do I have to fire my current accountant?
No. The plan is a separate engagement, and you can give it to your accountant to put in place. If you’d rather we handle it, the $4,000 is credited against that work.
I just closed. Isn’t it too early?
Now is a good time to start. Some of the moves that matter, like buying equipment or setting your salary, have to happen before December 31.
How long does it take?
Usually two to three weeks from the day we have your documents. If you’re trying to make moves before December 31, book in October or November.
What do you need from me?
Your most recent business and personal returns, a current P&L and balance sheet, and thirty minutes on the phone.
Book your free 30-minute call
Pick a time that works for you, and bring your closing statement and the seller’s last return if you have them. We’ll tell you whether a plan is worth doing.
The call is free, and there’s no obligation.
On-demand webinar
Buying a business under $2M?
The financial diligence a smaller deal actually needs, with CPA Darin Pierson.
