All Posts

Not every business problem needs a full recovery strategy. Some issues are small enough to handle with a single fix. Others are signs of something larger that will keep resurfacing until it's addressed at the root. Here's how to tell the difference. Signs a single fix is enough If you have one clear issue, contained to one area, a targeted fix usually covers it. A missed filing you caught quickly. A bookkeeping question with an easy answer. A compliance renewal you're a few w

Every recovery plan starts the same way, with questions before action. Here are the three we ask on every case, and why each one changes what happens next. What is the real scope of the problem? Business owners often come to us with a narrow version of the story. "I have an IRS notice." That may be true, but it's rarely the whole truth. We ask what else is happening around that notice. Are there other tax years that haven't been addressed? Are the books that would support a r

Most firms start with a form. You fill it out, you check some boxes, and within a week you have a plan. It feels efficient. It also skips the one step that actually matters. We start with an investigation. Why the order matters A business rarely breaks for one reason. An IRS notice is usually the visible symptom, not the actual problem. Underneath it there might be missing records, a payroll issue from two years ago, or an entity that quietly fell out of compliance. Prescribe

Recovery is the beginning. Not the destination. Every business that goes through a compliance recovery engagement faces a choice on the other side. Return to the same informal systems that allowed the gap to open in the first place... or build the infrastructure that makes a future gap unlikely. The Fixer Firm does not just get you back into compliance. We build the framework that keeps you there. What a Compliance-Stable Business Looks Like A compliance-stable business has a

You call them independent contractors. You pay them with a 1099. You do not withhold taxes. You do not pay the employer side of FICA. The IRS and most state labor agencies may disagree with how you have classified them. Worker misclassification is one of the most common and most expensive compliance errors a business can make. And it is frequently discovered not during a routine audit... but during an unemployment claim, a workers' compensation dispute, or a Department of Lab

A compliance audit is not the same as a tax audit. A tax audit examines your reported income and deductions. A compliance audit examines whether your business has met every legal and regulatory obligation it is subject to. Employment law. Payroll tax deposits. Business license renewals. State filings. Workers' compensation coverage. Sales tax registrations. The scope is broader. And in many industries, the consequences of a compliance audit finding are more immediately damagi

It is easy to miss. A renewal notice goes to an old address. The calendar reminder never got set. The person responsible for it left the company. And now your business license has lapsed. Or your professional license. Or the occupational permit that the municipality requires to operate. The consequences range from fines to forced closure depending on your industry and jurisdiction. And in some regulated industries, operating without a current license creates personal liabilit

Sales tax is one of the most overlooked compliance obligations in small business... and one of the most aggressively enforced. States depend on sales tax revenue. They audit businesses specifically for it. And the penalties for non-collection, non-filing, or non-remittance are not gentle. In many states, the responsible party for uncollected or unremitted sales tax can be held personally liable... the same way they can be held liable for payroll tax trust fund violations. The

When a business does not file a required return, the IRS does not simply wait. Using income information reported by third parties... 1099s, W-2s, bank interest reports... the IRS constructs a Substitute for Return on your behalf. They file it under the most unfavorable assumptions available. No business deductions. No credits. No context. Just gross income taxed at the highest applicable rate. The resulting liability is almost always dramatically higher than what an accurate

When someone says your business needs to be in good standing, they are talking about something very specific. Good standing means your business entity has met every obligation required by its state of formation and any states where it operates. Annual reports filed. Fees paid. Registered agent current. Tax filings submitted. No outstanding notices of suspension or administrative action. It sounds like a bureaucratic checkbox. The consequences of losing it are anything but. Wh

State compliance does not get the same headlines as IRS enforcement. But states have their own arsenal... and they use it. Unfiled state income tax returns, sales tax returns, or franchise tax reports trigger their own penalty structures, their own notices, and their own collection mechanisms. In some states, continued non-compliance results in administrative dissolution of your business entity... meaning the state effectively shuts down your legal right to operate. Administr