Your clients’ tax returns, handled by a tax specialist who sends them back to you.
For independent bookkeeping firms in New Jersey and New York City that keep clean books but do not prepare returns. We prepare the 1065, 1120-S, 1120 and 1040s, run the quarterly estimates, and send the client back to you with the year-end adjusting entries done. We do not do bookkeeping, and we are not going to start.
Choose how the client relationship works.
Either way, the books stay with you. The only thing that changes is whose engagement letter the client signs.
You introduce the client. We engage them directly.
The client signs an Empower Capital engagement letter and we work with them on the tax side: the business return (1065, 1120-S or 1120), the owners’ 1040s, and quarterly estimates. You keep the books, stay the first call for anything day-to-day, and receive clean year-end adjusting entries back so your file and the return agree.
Best when the client wants a named tax advisor they can call, or has a situation beyond a return — an S-corp election, a multi-state question, an IRS letter.
We prepare under your engagement, at a wholesale schedule.
You remain the client’s point of contact and bill them under your own engagement. We prepare the returns and estimates behind you at a wholesale fee schedule, review with you before anything is delivered, and the client sees one firm. Signing-preparer and disclosure requirements are handled the way Circular 230 and IRC §7216 require, in writing, before the first return.
Best when tax is a line on your service menu that you want to deliver without building a tax department.
No referral fees. Not an oversight — a rule.
Empower Capital does not pay referral fees or revenue shares for client introductions, and does not accept them. A tax advisor whose advice can be influenced by who sent the client is a conflict we will not take on, and Circular 230 sets the standard of independence we practise under. What the partnership is: reciprocal introductions, co-hosted client education, and tight year-end coordination so neither firm is reconstructing the other’s work in March.
What each side gets.
What your clients get
- Business and personal returns prepared together, by an Enrolled Agent–led team, so the K-1s and the 1040 agree
- Quarterly estimates calculated from the books you keep, not from last year’s return
- Entity and S-corp election review when the profit level makes it worth asking
- Representation before the IRS if a notice arrives, without finding a new firm under deadline
- One answer on anything that touches both books and tax — you and we are on the same thread
What you get
- A tax desk for your questions: how to code a transaction, whether something is deductible, what the return will need
- 48-hour answers in season on partner clients
- A year-end tie-out checklist so your close and our return start from the same trial balance
- A co-branded year-end webinar for your clients, hosted together
- Referrals of Empower Capital clients who need bookkeeping — we do not offer it, and we send them to partners
Three steps to a working partnership.
We are taking on a small number of partner firms in New Jersey and New York City first, so coordination stays personal.
1. A 30-minute call
You tell us about your client base, your software and how your year-end runs. We tell you which arrangement fits and what the wholesale schedule looks like.
2. A written partner agreement
Scope, turnaround, confidentiality under IRC §7216, and how client introductions work in both directions. No fees change hands for introductions.
3. First client, then the calendar
We onboard one client together, agree the year-end tie-out format, and put the co-hosted client webinar on the calendar for Q4.
Tell us about your firm.
We reply within two business days with next steps or an honest no if the fit isn’t there. No client names or numbers here, please.
What bookkeepers ask first.
Do you pay referral fees?
No, and we do not accept them. For professional-independence and Circular 230 reasons, no fee or revenue share changes hands for a client introduction in either direction. The partnership is reciprocal introductions, co-hosted client education and year-end coordination.
Will you try to take over the bookkeeping?
No. We do not offer bookkeeping and have no plan to. Partner clients go back to you with the adjusting entries, and Empower Capital clients who need books are referred to partner firms.
Direct referral or white-label — which should I pick?
Direct referral if your clients want a named tax advisor and you want to stay out of the tax conversation. White-label if you want tax on your own service menu and are comfortable being the point of contact. Many firms use both, depending on the client.
Who signs the return under white-label?
The paid preparer who prepares the return signs it, as the rules require, and the client is told in writing who is preparing it. We set this up in the partner agreement before the first return so there is no ambiguity about responsibility or confidentiality under IRC §7216.
What does the tax desk cover?
Questions on partner clients that sit between books and tax: how to code a transaction, whether a purchase is capitalised or expensed, what documentation a deduction will need, whether an S-corp election is worth modelling. In season, answers within 48 hours. It is not a substitute for an engagement when the question is the client’s own return.
Prefer to talk first?
Fifteen minutes with the Managing Partner. We’ll tell you honestly whether the program fits your firm.
Samuel Oduro is an Enrolled Agent, enrolled to practice before the IRS. This page is educational and is not tax, legal or financial advice for your situation.