TennisandSales

Head Of Sales

do you work with a personal accountant? - lower tax, increase take home?

Does anyone work with a personal accountant to make sure they are not paying to much in taxes and taking home as much as they should from salary and commission?

Im incredibly blessed to be making (what i consider) solid money.

and im wondering if im leaving money on the table and if there are things I should be doing differently.

What say the war room!

Additional details:

im married, 2 kids, own a home

Ill clear $200K this year.

All extra money has been going to debt (which is now gone) and just putting money into saving for an emergency fund.

I plan to then start putting money in 401k that has a match.

🐱 Off-Topic

💰 Compensation

💸 Investing

29 comments

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LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

I'm hiring an accountant this year, I made loads last 2 years but had room in tax-sheltered accounts. This year they're maxed out, so I'm going to hit a wall and don't feel like sending away ~42% of my total income to a gov't that gives handouts to people refusing to work.

The accountant said I should consider having my company funnel commissions to a sole proprietorship. I could then leave money in the business, would allow me to claim some assets as a business expense and/or hire my wife as an employee to split income.

I'm also working on a side hustle, so the business might have a second revenue source which would help prevent getting audited.

CatMom

Politicker

Account Executive

Damn ok forget what I said about accountants…this sounds cool. Borderline legal? Hahah but yeah maybe worth it!

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

love this. i feel like we are little far apart in our incomes haha but this is the sort of info i love to hear.

LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

TBH I wish I did it before I hit good earnings, so you're thinking is sound. I'm sure I left money on the table, and establishing something when income is lower will likely mean less chance of being scrutinized once earnings take off.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

this has been our thinking on most things. have good processes in place before they are 100% needed so when they are, we know what we are doing.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I would get on that 401(k) immediately.

Other than that, do not rely on me for financial advice.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Oh for sure. Debt pay down is important but gotta save too!

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

@TennisandSales the degenerates on r/personalfinance made a great flowchart ( https://i.imgur.com/u0ocDRI.png)

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

thank you for saving me the time of having to find this haha.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

totally agree I have solid matching as well so I plan on taking full advantage

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I only regret that I spent the first few years of my adult working life without 401(k). Even though I am not looking at it right now (and I didn't in 2008 either), I do not regret any of those contributions, and wish I would have started sooner.

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

Check out r/personalfinance on reddit, it's a goldmine and you'll get a more pointed answer there. they have a wiki on the sidebar that you can select your age and it has helpful links.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

i normally steer clear of reddit....but ill dive in just because you told me to.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

Sales

Before hiring a tax pro, check what is offered for free from your company benefits. Our company does free quarterly meetings with a financial advisor at our 401k company. It’s not a sales pitch but helps us review our full financial picture. I would check that out first.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

In Canada but I've been wondering about this.

I do pretty well with TurboTax but might hire a pro next year due to increase in income and that I'm now married.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yep ive been a big turbo tax guy for years.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

I've done pretty well with TT, but also don't like leaving money on the table.

If I decide to go the professional route, I'll probably still drop $30 at Costco and do it myself without submitting just to see if it was worth it.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

I used to work with a CPA, but discovered free tax usa and it's helped me a ton.

CPA is helpful if you've got a lot of complicated equity stuff and/or you own your own business.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

If I were you I'd definitely talk to a CPA. What could it hurt?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

probably wouldn't hurt.....but I am skeptical of most financial advisors,CPAs, ect haha

countingmyinterest

Politicker

Account Executive

lawyer + CPA on speed dial at all times.

max out 401k, 529 plans for your kids, mortgage interest. those are low hanging fruit.

ask cpa for structures, maybe trust stuff

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

what are you doing with your mortgage interest???

countingmyinterest

Politicker

Account Executive

you can deduct it up to a certain amount

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

oh right yes!

CatMom

Politicker

Account Executive

Luckily my experience in the payroll industry helped me understand taxes a ton and I literally do mine old school by paper every year. I think CPAs/accountants can be extremely over priced and not as helpful as you’d like. They’re usually better at business taxes than individual. Definitely 401k. Also add to an HSA if your company offers one. If not, check with your bank and see if you can get one through them. Def check out as many free resources like Reddit and other stuff linked below…no offense to CPAs/accountants but I don’t think its the best use of your money. Assuming you’re in the US, the new W4 is designed to make it so you aren’t getting a huge return and so you aren’t owing a ton. It’s designed to try and make you break even with your taxes. There’s a free w4 calculator on the irs website somewhere where you can play around with diff scenarios with income and deductions to see what you would need to put on your W4 to get the result you’re looking for. It can be a lot and a little overwhelming but the irs website has a tonnnn of information!

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

idk if iver heard of a W4 so thats good to know.

And yes I do have an HSA and the company puts money in it but I dont contribute to it yet.

Thats another good reminder!

youngspinach

Valued Contributor

Senior Account Executive, Enterprise

I think it’s the same for everyone in the UK. Idk what you can do. I’m in the highest tax bracket they take 45% income tax. Sad… but true. As a matter of fact I’m posting about this 😂

JustGonnaSendIt

Politicker

Burn Towns, Get Money

I work with a CPA now that my world has gotten more complex. I did my own taxes for like 10 years.

When you get to 200k+ and you have investments to deal with, and maybe equity concerns, paying the CPA really helps save time and cut down on errors.

There is value in outsourcing even if you dont really make a big change on tax liability. Spend time with your kids and let the CPA do paperwork

BTW, sounds like you're on something like the Dave Ramsey plan. Congrats on getting rid of your debt!

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

haha thanks! and yes that has been our methodology for the most part.

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TennisandSales

do you work with a personal accountant? - lower tax, increase take home?

29 comments

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