The Questions We Ask Before We Touch Your Case

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 resolution actually accurate? Is the business entity still in good standing? A notice is one data point. The scope is the full picture, and the full picture is what determines the plan.

How far back does this go?

Problems that show up today usually started earlier than the moment you noticed them. A payroll tax issue from three years ago can still be active. An unfiled return from a slow season can still be sitting there, unresolved.

Knowing how far back an issue goes changes the strategy. A one year problem and a five year problem are not solved the same way, even if they look similar on the surface. We trace the timeline before we build the plan, because the timeline tells us what we're actually dealing with.

Is this one problem, or several?

This is the question that separates a real recovery plan from a quick fix.

Tax issues, bookkeeping issues, and compliance issues often travel together. A business that fell behind on filings is often also behind on records. A business with a compliance lapse is often also carrying a tax issue that hasn't surfaced yet. We look across all three areas before we recommend anything, because solving one and missing the others just means the next fire starts sooner than it should.

Why we ask before we act

These questions take time. They also mean the plan we hand you actually holds up once we start working it. A plan built on partial information looks good on paper and falls apart in practice. A plan built on the real scope, the real timeline, and the real number of issues involved is one you can trust.

That's the difference between a fix and a strategy. We build strategies.