Sarasota & Lakewood Ranch resources
Practical tax and accounting guidance for financially complex households, established businesses, and families managing multiple entities.
A note from Tammy
The best financial decisions begin with reliable information and a clear understanding of what is connected. These resources distill more than 30 years of accounting, audit, banking, tax, and executive experience into practical guidance you can use now.
Tammy Thompson, CPA
Stabilize the situation
Start with the deadline, the records, and the facts. The goal is to reduce uncertainty before one problem creates another.
Identify the tax period, notice number, requested action, and response deadline before deciding what to do.
Read the answerDetermine what must be reconstructed before the records can support a return, loan, forecast, or management decision.
Read the answerBuild a reliable foundation
Reliable books and a clear operating structure make tax planning more useful and business decisions easier to defend.
Connect current books, estimated taxes, owner compensation, payroll, and entity decisions before year-end.
Read the answerKeep each entity distinct while coordinating the decisions, cash movement, reporting, and responsibilities between them.
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Coordinate the bigger picture
As income, ownership, property, and family responsibilities grow, planning should connect today’s tax decisions with tomorrow’s goals.
Coordinate income, investments, property, business ownership, and family priorities instead of reviewing each in isolation.
Read the answerCreate a regular review rhythm so decisions are made while there is still time to act—not only when a return is due.
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Answers you can use now
The same rules apply everywhere, but the right answer depends on your records, entities, deadlines, and goals. These are starting points—not recommendations for a specific situation.
Read the notice carefully and identify the tax period, notice number, requested action, and response deadline. Gather the related return, payment records, and prior correspondence. A notice does not always mean the agency is correct, but allowing the deadline to pass can reduce your options.
Source: Taxpayer Advocate Service: Notices from the IRSYes. The first step is to determine which accounts, periods, filings, and entities are affected. Cleanup may include reconciling bank and credit-card activity, correcting classifications, finding missing records, and tying the books to prior returns. The order of work depends on open deadlines and the decisions the records must support.
Source: IRS: RecordkeepingGood planning begins with current books and a realistic projection of income, expenses, owner compensation, and cash needs. Timing decisions, retirement contributions, estimated payments, and entity structure may matter, but each option has eligibility rules and tradeoffs. The right strategy should fit the business—not just produce a deduction.
Source: IRS: Estimated taxesSeparate entities can serve different ownership, liability, operational, or investment purposes. They also create additional returns, accounts, agreements, filing deadlines, and recordkeeping. Before adding an entity, define its purpose, understand the ongoing cost, and confirm how money and services will move between related businesses.
Source: IRS: Business structuresThe answer depends on the entity type, your role, profitability, payroll requirements, and how money is distributed. An S corporation shareholder who performs services may have reasonable-compensation obligations, while a sole proprietor follows different rules. Owner pay should be designed with the books, tax return, and cash flow in view.
Source: IRS: S corporation compensation and medical insurance issuesStart with a balance sheet, profit-and-loss statement, cash-flow information, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and bank reconciliations. The reports should agree with the underlying accounts and be reviewed consistently. Depending on the business, payroll liabilities, project profitability, inventory, debt, and tax-payment schedules may also need attention.
Source: SBA: Manage your financesKeep records that support income, deductions, credits, payroll, asset basis, and property transactions for as long as they may be relevant under the applicable limitation period. Some records should be retained longer than others. A practical retention policy should also account for state rules, insurance, lenders, contracts, and legal needs.
Source: IRS: How long should I keep records?Planning should begin to connect income taxes, investments, real estate, business interests, charitable goals, gifts, and future ownership changes. The CPA, attorney, and investment adviser should understand the same facts and timing. Coordination helps avoid decisions that work well in one area but create an unexpected problem in another.
Source: IRS: Estate and gift taxesLocal insight. Personal service.
Anchor Tax works with established business owners, affluent individuals, and families whose financial lives may cross companies, properties, tax years, and professional relationships. We begin by understanding the whole situation, then define the work it actually requires.
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If a tax issue, unreliable books, or several connected entities need attention, begin by telling Tammy what you already know.
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