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If the revenue in your med spa’s practice management system does not match the revenue in QuickBooks, your first instinct may be to figure out which number is wrong. Sometimes neither number is wrong. Your practice management system (PMS), bank account, merchant processor, financing platform, and QuickBooks can all be capturing different pieces of the same transactions. The important question is whether you understand why the numbers are different and whether you can reconci

Key takeaways QSBS (Qualified Small Business Stock) can let eligible founders and investors exclude a large amount of gain from federal tax when qualifying C corporation stock is sold — potentially up to $15 million per company. The exclusion is applied at the taxpayer level, per issuer. One investor can use it across multiple qualifying companies. That's the part most people underestimate. Qualification is decided years before an exit — at formation, at each stock issuance,

Key takeaways "LLC vs. S corp vs. C corp" is a bit of a trick question: an LLC is a legal entity, while S corp and C corp describe federal tax treatment. An LLC can even elect to be taxed as either. There's no universally "best" entity. The right structure depends on where the business is going — how owners are paid, whether profits are reinvested or distributed, and whether you expect outside investment or an exit. Profitable owner-operated businesses often lean S corporatio

Key takeaways The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) made QSBS more generous in three ways: a shorter path to the exclusion, a larger exclusion, and a higher company-size ceiling. The new rules apply to qualifying stock acquired after July 4, 2025. Stock acquired on or before that date keeps the old rules. Your acquisition date is now the hinge everything turns on. The biggest shift: you may no longer have to wait five years. A tiered exclusion now gives 50% at three years, 7

If you are planning to sell your business, take on outside investment, or bring in a private equity partner in the next two to five years, your tax records will definitely be reviewed. And in detail by advisors whose job is to identify issues. What they find and how organized it is directly affects your price, your timeline, and in some cases whether the deal closes at all. I have seen this from first-hand experience. Timeline can get impacted since tax typically comes toward

There is a moment in every growing business when the tax setup that worked at $1 million in revenue stops being adequate at $8 million. It rarely announces itself. It shows up in smaller ways like a penalty here, a fire drill there, a question nobody can fully answer. Here are five signs that your business has outgrown its current tax setup, and what to do about it. 1. Nobody Internally Owns the Tax Function Your outside CPA files the returns and your controller handles what

As companies grow, so does tax complexity. A business that once had one entity, one state, one advisor, and a fairly simple tax calendar can quickly become much more complex. New states. New revenue streams. New entities. Acquisitions. Investors. Financing. More people are involved in decisions. More deadlines. More risk. At some point, the way the company has been managing tax starts to feel stretched. Here are some examples: - The controller is tracking deadlines m

14 years of tax strategy and planning experience, including in-house corporate tax leadership. Meliora works with businesses $2M–$20M that need high-value, high-touch tax guidance.

QBI deduction: what business owners should know The qualified business income (QBI) deduction allows eligible owners of sole proprietorships, single-member LLCs, partnerships, and S corporations to deduct a percentage of qualified business income. Under prior law, the deduction was generally up to 20% and was scheduled to expire after 2025. A note for SSTB businesses If you are in a specified service trade or business (SSTB), your structure decision gets more nuanced. SSTBs g

The flip side: cons of an S election A common story I encounter is when a new client comes to me and said that they have already made the S election for their business. At this point I usually cringe a little because they took very general advice from the internet and not usually a qualified CPA who knows their specific facts. The S election is great, but it works better for some fact patterns than others. Let’s dive in to the downsides of making the S election. You will noti

Should You Make an S Corporation Election? Pros, Cons, and Who Benefits Most Choosing your business entity is not just a legal decision, it’s also a tax strategy decision. For many business owners, an S corporation election can reduce taxes, offer reimbursement arrangements (i.e. accountable plan) and create planning opportunities. It also adds complexity. You may need to run payroll and file your payroll taxes, pay yourself as an owner-employee, file a separate business tax

One of the Last Big Tax Opportunities for W‑2 Earners Let me start by answering the question...Yes! I’ve presented on short‑term rental tax strategy to groups of individual investors, and it’s one of the most common topics I’m asked about. Individual clients, high-earning W-2 couples, and real estate agents wanting to help their buyers, all want to understand how these rules can reduce their income. Most people have heard bits and pieces of the rules without ever getting the

What Small Businesses Need to Know (And Why It’s Easy to Miss) Small businesses finally have good news on the R&D front. Thanks to IRS Revenue Procedure 2025‑28, companies with domestic research & experimental (R&E) costs now have a limited‑time opportunity to claim refunds for tax years 2022, 2023, and 2024. This is a major reversal of the mandatory 5‑year amortization rules that blindsided businesses starting in 2022. The capitalization rules from Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (“TCJA

Does your Business Qualify for QSBS Most people assume QSBS, the tax rule that can eliminate up to $15M+ in capital gains, is a Silicon Valley thing. Something for software founders, venture‑backed startups, and tech insiders. But that assumption is wrong. QSBS applies to far more than tech, and many of the industries that qualify most easily are the ones least likely to know about it. If you’re building a consumer brand, manufacturing a product, developing hardware, or creat

Two acronyms can dramatically shape your returns Early‑stage investing is full of acronyms, SAFEs and QSBS. One determines how you invest. The other determines how much of your gain you keep. Understanding how they interact is essential for anyone investing early. This guide breaks it down simply and practically. 1. What Is a SAFE? A SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) is a contract that lets you invest money in a startup today in exchange for equity later, usually when

Oil and gas investments shine through unique tax perks like depletion (deducting resource exhaustion), percentage depletion (a percentage-based ongoing write-off), and IDCs (immediate expensing of drilling intangibles).

Pass-through entities, such as partnerships, LLCs, and publicly traded partnerships (PTPs), can be powerful investment vehicles for individuals seeking to benefit from the tax advantages available in the oil & gas industry.

These provisions: depletion, percentage depletion, and intangible drilling costs (IDCs) are powerful levers for the right investor and can significantly reduce taxable income if applied correctly.

Investing in oil and gas isn’t just about riding the waves of energy markets; it’s also a strategic way to tap into unique tax advantages built directly into the U.S. tax code.

AMT often sneaks up on employees who exercise ISOs The AMT Trap: Why My Dad Got Hit AMT often sneaks up on employees who exercise ISOs because: Regular tax doesn’t recognize income at exercise, but AMT does. If the company’s fair market value has risen significantly, even exercising without selling can create substantial AMT liability. This is why: Timing matters Quantity matters And projections matter a lot Tech Equity Compensation Is Powerful But Only If Tracked Well Most t