Preparation & Optimization
Tax preparation should be the final step of tax planning, not the first.
Plan › Implement › Prepare › Optimize
OSA combines proactive tax strategy with preparation and optimization. We coordinate planning before deadlines, review completed implementation, and work to reflect supported tax positions accurately on the covered returns.
The difference
More than a filing appointment.
Tax preparation reports what happened. Our preparation process also checks how your implemented strategy, deductions, credits, elections, and supporting information come together before filing, then identifies planning work for the next year.
That is a different sequence from the one most clients are used to. The return stops being the moment you discover the consequence and becomes the moment you confirm one that was designed months earlier.
Preparation covers only the taxpayers, returns, tax years, and jurisdictions identified in the preparation engagement.
Scope
What preparation covers.
Within the taxpayers, returns, years, and jurisdictions the engagement identifies.
Return preparation
Federal and state individual, partnership, business, and other agreed returns for the taxpayers and years identified in the engagement.
Pre-filing optimization
Review available elections, deductions, credits, depreciation, limitations, carryforwards, and reporting consistency before filing.
Strategy-to-return reconciliation
Compare the completed strategy with the return and assemble the relevant calculations and support.
Entity and K-1 coordination
Coordinate entity, trust, and investment reporting with the individual return where included.
Multi-state review
Address agreed state filing, residency, sourcing, credit, and reporting issues.
Payments and next-year planning
Review withholding and estimated payments, then identify carryforwards, basis issues, and next-year planning priorities.
Two ways to work with OSA
Keep your CPA, or bring preparation in.
Both are real options. Neither requires you to move your preparation to work with us.
OSA Strategy + Your Existing CPA
OSA handles the agreed strategy and coordination work. Your preparer evaluates, prepares, and files the returns within that professional's engagement.
OSA Strategy + OSA Preparation
One coordinated process from planning through preparation, filing, and the defined Position Defense benefit for qualifying returns.
Strategy documentation and CPA coordination are part of the agreed advisory scope. Position Defense for OSA-prepared returns does not automatically extend to a return prepared by another professional. Any additional review, notice response, or representation is separately identified in writing.
Before you engage
What is and is not covered.
Preparation and optimization cover only the taxpayers, returns, tax years, jurisdictions, and services identified in the written engagement. An engagement for a partnership return does not include each partner's personal return, and an engagement for a personal return does not include entity-level work, unless the agreement says so.
Not every planning action can be completed at filing time. Tax outcomes depend on the facts, implementation, documentation, timing, and applicable law. No deduction, credit, refund, or other result is guaranteed.
The professional responsible for preparing and signing the covered returns is identified in your proposal and in the preparation engagement, before you commit to anything.
Legal services are separate, require a separate engagement, and are not included in OSA services.
Next step
Bring preparation into the plan.
Preparation through OSA is also what makes a return eligible for the defined Position Defense benefit.
Included for qualifying OSA-prepared returns and Covered Positions, subject to the disclosed protection period, service limits, and exclusions. See the full scope and limits.
Begin
Speak with a principal.
Before a deadline forces the decision for you.
Engagements typically begin at $2M+ of annual income, or a comparable taxable event.