Tax Services for Small Businesses: What You Really Need (and What You Don't)

Published: August 2025

Updated: August 2025

"Tax services” can mean almost anything—from a one-time return to a fully outsourced finance department.

If you’re a small-business owner, it’s hard to know what level of help you actually need—and what’s simply overkill.

Here’s a clear breakdown of core tax services for small businesses, what they include, and how to decide what’s right for you.

1. Core Tax Compliance Services

These are the “must-haves.” If they’re not being handled correctly, everything else is secondary.

Income tax return preparation

• Business returns (Form 1120, 1120-S, 1065, Schedule C)

• Owner-level returns that include pass-through income (K-1s, etc.)

• Multi-state filings where you have “nexus”

Payroll-related tax services

• Payroll tax filings

• W-2s and W-3s

• Guidance on withholdings and employer tax responsibilities

Information reporting

• 1099s for contractors and certain vendors

• Help collecting W-9s and keeping support on file

If your current setup only handles your annual return and ignores payroll and other filings, you may be more exposed than you realize.

2. Proactive Tax Planning

Compliance is backward-looking: it reports what happened.

Tax planning is forward-looking: it asks, “What can we do now to improve next year’s tax picture?”

Examples of planning work:

• Choosing or changing entity type

• Structuring owner compensation (salary vs. distributions)

• Optimizing use of deductions, credits and expensing rules

• Mapping out multi-year strategies around major events (business sale, adding partners, big investments)

3. Sales Tax, Nexus and Multi-State Issues

If you sell products or services across states, you may have sales tax or income tax obligations in more than one jurisdiction.

Good tax services help you:

• Understand where you have nexus (physical, economic, employees, inventory, etc.)

• Register where required

• File the right returns with the right jurisdictions

• Avoid accidental exposure by ignoring state rules

Ignoring this area can be far more expensive than the cost of getting it right.

4. Bookkeeping and Accounting Support

Strictly speaking, bookkeeping isn’t “tax,” but it’s the foundation of everything tax-related.

If your books are a mess, even the best tax preparer can only do so much.

Tax-savvy accounting support can:

• Keep your books current and accurate

• Reconcile bank and credit-card accounts

• Track receivables, payables and owner distributions

• Flag issues early so tax surprises are minimized

This is where a subscription-style relationship really shines: you get ongoing clean-up and oversight, not just a once-a-year rush job.

5. When a Boutique CPA Firm Is the Right Fit

Big national chains are built for volume. They’re fine for very simple situations, but they typically don’t:

• Learn your business deeply

• Integrate bookkeeping, tax and advisory under one roof

• Help you think strategically about the next 3–5 years

A boutique firm like Davis Crawford CPA is ideal if:

• Your business is growing and taxes are no longer “simple”

• You want one partner overseeing books, payroll, tax and planning

• You prefer a higher-touch, more strategic relationship—not a rotating cast of preparers

6. What Working With Davis Crawford CPA Looks Like

For small and mid-sized businesses, our tax services often include:

• Annual business and owner-level tax returns

• Quarterly planning to manage cash and estimated payments

• Sales-tax and multi-state guidance where needed

• Integration with bookkeeping and payroll for a true all-in subscription feel

• Support via secure portals and structured workflows so you’re not chasing paperwork

Want to see if we’re the right fit?

• Complete our Business Tax Quote form for a customized estimate.

• Or Book a Tax Consultation and we’ll talk through your situation and options.