Community
Reviews of the firms we rank, and open discussion about tax strategy, bookkeeping, fractional CFOs, and charitable giving across the Mountain West.
Discussions
Fractional CFO
Your bank covenant is a forecast problem, not an accounting problem
Watched a healthy company trip a fixed-charge coverage covenant because nobody modeled the new equipment note. Tripping it cost them pricing, not the facility. If you carry debt and do not run a rolling 13-week cash forecast, this thread is for you.
ebitdamus_prime · 7/15/2026 · 4 replies
Bookkeeping
AI categorization: helpful assistant or confident liar?
It codes 80% of transactions correctly and the other 20% with total confidence. That last slice is where your tax position lives. Anyone found a workflow where the review burden is actually lower than doing it manually?
QuickBooksHater · 5/26/2026 · 5 replies
General
Unpopular opinion: the kid savings accounts are the most bipartisan thing in the whole bill
Everybody wants to argue about the rate cuts and the SALT cap and nobody talks about the one part that helps a kid in Kearns exactly as much as a kid in Park City. Flat $1,000, no means test, no application maze. Change my mind.
GOP_Gary_66 · 4/23/2026 · 8 replies
Choosing a Firm
Switching accountants mid-year: how bad is it really?
Everyone warns you not to switch during the year. We did it in August and it was fine — new firm asked for a trial balance, prior returns, and payroll access, and had us clean in six weeks. The dread was worse than the work. Anyone have a horror story to balance mine out?
thatguyfromlehi · 3/19/2026 · 4 replies
General
Finance influencers: which advice actually survives contact with a CPA?
The "write off your G-Wagon" genre has cost my clients real money. On the other hand some of the retirement-account content is genuinely fine. What is the single worst piece of social media tax advice you have had to talk a client out of?
CPAwithaBoat · 1/22/2025 · 8 replies
Tax Strategy
Trump Accounts — anybody actually opened one for their kid yet?
Newborns get the $1,000 seed from Treasury and the rest of us can throw in up to $5k a year after tax. Grows tax deferred, converts to an IRA at 18. I have a 2 year old and a newborn so only one of mine qualifies for the seed money. Say what you want about the guy, free thousand bucks compounding for 60 years is not nothing. Anybody run the math against just using a 529 or a custodial Roth?
PatriotDad_UT · 2/20/2026 · 9 replies
General
What nobody tells you about your first year with real revenue
Sales tax nexus in four states, a 1099 pile, and an estimated payment I did not know existed. The accounting cost me less than the penalties would have. Post the thing you wish someone had told you in year one.
nayeli · 11/30/2025 · 5 replies
Charitable Giving
Private foundation or DAF for about $2M?
Foundation gives control and a legacy vehicle, plus an excise tax, a 990-PF, and real admin. A DAF gives me anonymity and near-zero admin but less control. For families who have done both — what tipped you?
FIREby55 · 1/27/2026 · 4 replies
Tax Strategy
Short-term rental "loophole" in southern Utah — still worth it?
Material participation rules plus a cost segregation study is the whole play, and it only works if you genuinely run the property. Between St. George market saturation and city permitting, I am not sure the tax tail should wag this dog anymore.
moab_mike · 10/14/2025 · 6 replies
Fractional CFO
Outsourced accounting teams: onshore, offshore, or employer-of-record?
We looked at all three. Straight offshore was cheapest and highest churn. Employer-of-record gave us a dedicated person we could actually train. Onshore CPA-led cost the most and caught the most. Curious what mix people landed on and at what size.
dave1984 · 8/5/2025 · 4 replies
Tax Strategy
Roth conversions in a low-income year: how far up the bracket do you fill?
Sold a business, had one strange low-income year, filled to the top of the 24% bracket. My advisor wanted 22%. Five years later I think I should have gone further. How are you modeling this — IRMAA, state tax, or just bracket math?
randy · 6/18/2025 · 5 replies
Bookkeeping
Inventory accounting is where DTC brands quietly die
Cash basis makes a growing inventory business look profitable right up until the credit line is gone. If you sell physical product and your books do not carry landed cost, you do not know your margin. Anyone moved from cash to accrual mid-year — how painful?
shopify_survivor · 4/9/2025 · 5 replies
Choosing a Firm
How do you interview an accounting firm without knowing accounting?
Questions that worked for me: who is actually doing my work day to day, what is your response time in writing, what happens in March when you are slammed, and can you show me a sample monthly package. The sample package filtered out half the candidates immediately.
kimmy.k · 2/14/2025 · 4 replies
General
Idaho and Utah are pulling in companies faster than they are pulling in accountants
Tried to hire a staff accountant in Boise this spring. Three months, two offers declined over comp. Is anybody else just going fractional or outsourced because the local market is empty?
pilotpilatus · 12/3/2024 · 4 replies
Charitable Giving
Donor-advised funds: why would I use one over just writing checks?
Appreciated stock is the whole answer for me — deduct fair market value, skip the capital gain, grant out over several years. But the sponsor choice matters more than people think. Advisor-managed vs. big-box sponsor changes fees, custody, and what assets you can even contribute.
retired_in_2019 · 11/6/2024 · 6 replies
Bookkeeping
Monthly close checklist — post yours
Ours: bank/credit card recs, AR aging review, AP cutoff, payroll accrual, deferred revenue roll, prepaid amortization, inventory tie-out, then a two-page flash report by the 10th. Took years to get to the 10th. What is on yours that is not on mine?
Cheryl · 9/17/2024 · 5 replies
Tax Strategy
S-corp reasonable salary: what is everyone actually paying themselves in Utah?
My CPA and I go around on this every year. Distributions are cheaper, but set salary too low and you are asking for a letter. What ratio have you settled on, and has anyone here actually been challenged on it?
npm_install_life · 7/8/2024 · 9 replies
Fractional CFO
Fractional CFO vs. controller vs. "my bookkeeper is great": what do you actually need?
Founders conflate these constantly. Bookkeeper records what happened. Controller closes the books and enforces process. CFO tells you what to do next and talks to your bank and board. Most seed-stage companies need a solid controller and about six CFO hours a month, not a full-time hire. Disagree?
meghan_the_cfo · 5/20/2024 · 6 replies
Choosing a Firm
At what revenue did you stop doing your own books?
I white-knuckled QuickBooks myself until about $900k in revenue and it cost me a clean year-end. Curious where everyone else drew the line — headcount, revenue, or just the moment you missed a filing?
saltflats_sam · 4/2/2024 · 6 replies
General
OMG the Rich Dad Poor Dad guy declared bankruptcy???
saw this going around again this morning and my group chat lost it. article here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rich-dad-poor-dad-author-robert-kiyosaki-bankruptcy/ . guy sold 40 million books about money and one of his companies files ch11. i know i know "it was an entity not him personally" but come on. what are we all supposed to take from this
dontatme_jared · 3/11/2024 · 8 replies
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