PRICING & ENGAGEMENT GUIDE
Clear starting prices. Final scope based on the work.
Website pricing represents the minimum for a clean, ordinary engagement. Final fees depend on complexity, years, entities, record quality, urgency, and the professional effort required. You will know your engagement fee before work begins.
What “starting at ” means
The listed fee is the starting point for a straightforward engagement in that category. Additional schedules, entities, years, cleanup, reconstruction, research, or unusual facts may change the quote.
TAX PREPARATION & COMPLIANCE
Federal tax preparation
State income tax returns are prepared only when connected to a federal engagement and where ZFB is permitted to prepare them.
Simple Individual
$300+
Straightforward federal Form 1040 work, generally wage-earner returns with limited complexity.
Complex Individual
$750+
For business, rental, investment, K-1, crypto, retirement, or similar complexity.
Inactive / Minimal Business
$750+
Dormant or genuinely low-activity Forms 1065, 1120-S, or 1120.
Operating Business
$1,750+
Active partnerships, S corporations, and C corporations.
STATE RETURN ADD-ONS
Individual: first state $150+ • each additional $75+
Business: first state $300+ • each additional $150+
ADVISORY & TECHNICAL SERVICES
Planning, review, and technical analysis
Tax Return Review
$500+
Independent review of a draft or filed federal return prepared elsewhere.
One-Time Consultation
$300+
A defined tax or business question that does not require extensive research or reconstruction.
Strategic Tax Planning
$1,750+
One-time proactive federal tax planning with projections, modeled scenarios, and written recommendations.
Ongoing Tax Advisory
$500+/month
Year-round federal tax guidance, projections, planning, and reasonable tax questions within scope.
Technical Tax Consulting
$2,500+
Primary-authority research and a formal written technical conclusion for defined federal tax questions.
S Corp Compensation Review
$750+
Supportable reasonable-compensation analysis for S corporation owners.
Entity Choice Analysis
$1,250+
Comparison of federal tax treatment across entity structures and S corporation election considerations.
Basis Analysis / Reconstruction
$1,250+
Shareholder or partner basis, contributions, distributions, loans, and suspended-loss analysis.
Other specialized technical engagements — including depreciation reviews, passive-loss analysis, retirement/IRA basis work, QBI analysis, Form 3115 method changes, and historical reconstruction — are quoted based on the defined scope and start at the applicable service minimum.
IRS & STATE TAX CONTROVERSY
Representation when the government has questions
IRS Notice Review
$50
Read-and-explain review for non-ZFB tax-prep clients. Credited if ZFB is retained to handle the same notice.
CP2000 / Correspondence
$1,200+
Analysis, response preparation, supporting package, and IRS communications through the defined matter.
Individual IRS Examination
$3,500+
Fixed-fee representation through administrative resolution for an individual federal examination.
Business IRS Examination
$6,500+
Fixed-fee representation through administrative resolution for partnership, S corporation, or C corporation examinations.
Standalone IRS Appeals
$3,500+
Administrative Appeals representation when the examination was handled elsewhere.
Penalty Review & Abatement
$450+
Review of the penalty and strongest available relief path, with an abatement request when supportable.
State Tax Examination
$3,500+
Accepted state sales/use, income, payroll/employment, or other state tax examinations.
Additional tax years, entities, extensive reconstruction, or materially different issues may require supplemental scope. ZFB does not provide Tax Court representation.
BOOKKEEPING & RECURRING SERVICES
Ongoing financial support
Monthly Bookkeeping
$325+/month
Ongoing categorization, reconciliations, month-end close, financial statements, and ZFB review.
Bookkeeping Cleanup
$750+
Catch-up, reconciliation, reclassification, balance-sheet cleanup, and tax-readiness work.
Full Reconstruction
$2,000+ / entity / year
Rebuild books from bank, credit-card, and source records when no reliable books exist.
Bookkeeping System Setup
$850+
Chart of accounts, feeds, opening balances, rules, equity/loan structure, and reporting setup.
CFO Diagnostic
$750+
A financial-management roadmap before recurring CFO support or for businesses needing a structured diagnostic.
CFO Advisory
$1,250+/month
Financial interpretation, KPI tracking, forecasting, scenario modeling, and decision support without bookkeeping.
Integrated Compliance
$1,000–$1,250+/month
Bookkeeping, ongoing tax advisory, annual federal compliance, and related state returns where permitted.
CFO + Bookkeeping
$1,750+/month
Maintained books plus CFO-level reporting, analysis, forecasting, and review meetings.
CFO + Bookkeeping + Tax
$2,500+/month
Integrated bookkeeping, CFO advisory, tax advisory, and annual federal tax compliance.
RELATED SERVICES & ENGAGEMENT TERMS
Other common engagement starting points
Clean & File — Schedule C
$1,500+
Clean & File — Business Entity
$3,500+
Amendment — ZFB Prepared
Generally 50% of original prep fee
Amendment — Outside Prepared
$750+ individual / $1,250+ business
Payroll & information-return compliance
Form 941
$150+ / quarter
Form 940
$150+ / year
Annual 941/940 Bundle
$650+ / year
W-2 / W-3
$200+
1099 Filing
$300+
Form 941-X
$300+
How pricing and scope work
Recurring commitments
Bookkeeping is month-to-month. Tax Advisory and Integrated Compliance begin with a 3-month commitment. CFO services begin with a 6-month commitment; recurring services are billed monthly in advance.
Rush work
5–7 calendar days after all required information is received: 25% surcharge. 2–4 days: 50% surcharge. Same-day or next-day work is custom quoted and subject to availability.
Scope changes
Additional years, entities, poor records, reconstruction, unusual transactions, technical research, or materially expanded communication needs may require a revised quote.
Federal-first model
No standalone state-only income-tax preparation. State returns are prepared only with a related federal engagement and where ZFB is legally permitted to prepare them.
Clients remain responsible for providing complete and accurate records, reviewing deliverables, and making required tax payments. ZFB does not move client funds or initiate payroll tax deposits.