Do the books have to be current before you call
No. The call is how we find out whether they are current, a month behind, or a year behind. Those are different jobs, and the scope says which one you are hiring. What helps is naming a month you believe already ties. When every month still feels unfinished, tell us that on the call. Looking at the bank together is faster than guessing on a form.
Who runs payday
Payday stays yours. We place the people and the filing dates on a provider before that, and we do it on the company that actually pays them. After the first run you want to make yourself, we step out. We do not sit in the provider every week. If a weekly payroll service is what you wanted, say so on the call and we will tell you it is not this one.
Is the return included
The return we prepare is built from the months already on the books, and filing waits until you have read the draft. A year someone else kept until June still starts in January. The open months are the work that moves. The closed months stay, unless they never tied, in which case they get fixed once. The return we hand you is prepared from those closed months, and the books are the work that comes first. Bring the prior return if you still have it, so this year's draft can see what was already filed.
What if a bank wants a signed report
Then that piece goes to someone who can sign it. Those three signed reports, audit and review and compilation, are handed to a firm that can sign. The books, the statements with no report, payroll setup, and the return stay. We will say which request you are holding.
You can read the longer version on the limit page and the kept wording on the disclosures page.
How many companies is too many
There is no magic count. Two companies with clean banks are simpler than one company with four accounts and a year of unmatched transfers. The scope names the companies. A company that already ties can be left alone. A company that does not is the one that takes the time. If a combined total is what you want to read, it comes after each company closes, not before.
What does a call cost
The call is a talk. The call itself carries no fee, and nothing on this page prints an average. The price is not quoted here, because two companies with one bank each are a different job from a catch-up of a whole prior year. The fee shows up in the written scope, after we have seen enough to name the months. You can say no to the scope. Many people use the call just to learn that the next step is a catch-up, not a strategy session.
The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center is the big hall in the Convention Center District, still what a lot of people call the convention center. When a show week fills it, we feel the extra deposits the same week you do. We put that week in the books. The fee still follows the companies and the months, not the size of the hall. When a show week fills the hall, the deposits land in the company that made the sale.
Do I have to be in the room
No. The bank feed and the file you already keep are enough for the call. A screen share works. You name the companies one by one, and you say the last month you trust. We do not need the statements printed. If a date is close, say which one so the call spends its time there instead of on a general tour of the year.
What if I only wanted the return
The return comes out of the months. If the months are already tied, the draft can start from them. If the months are still open, the draft waits until those months are closed, because the return is prepared from the books. You can still ask. The answer will say whether you are hiring a catch up, a current month, or a draft you want to read before anyone files it.
Can the quiet company wait
The quiet company is often the one that gets skipped, and it is often the one with a May report still open. Leave it off the scope only when it already ties and its filings are done. If you are not sure, name it anyway. A company that already ties can be set aside in an afternoon. A company that does not tie is the work, even when it had a slow year and even when you are sure the tax on it is zero.
