Marcus Reyes, CPA
Partner, Business Tax
Marcus leads the tax practice and the October planning meetings. His work centres on owner-led companies with more than one entity, Ohio and municipal filings, and the tax side of acquisitions and exits.
01Business tax
Business tax for Columbus companies, planned in October, not discovered in March.
Planning, compliance and state and local filings for owner-led companies with more than one moving part. A fixed fee in the engagement letter, Marcus Reyes on the account, and a Q4 meeting every year with projections in hand.
Prefer to talk? (614) 555-0142
You are usually here because
| 01 | A notice from the IRS or the Ohio Department of Taxation arrived and your current accountant went quiet. |
| 02 | The April bill was larger than anyone warned you about, and nobody can explain why in plain English. |
| 03 | A sale, an acquisition, a second entity or a new state is coming, and you want the tax consequences priced before the decision is made. |
02Scope
What the engagement includes
| Number | Item | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Planning | A fourth-quarter meeting with projections, entity-level and owner-level, with decisions made while there is still time to act. |
| 02 | Federal compliance | Entity returns (1120, 1120-S, 1065) and the owners' returns where they connect, prepared from a closed set of books. |
| 03 | Ohio and municipal | Commercial Activity Tax, municipal net profit returns in every city you operate in, and the pass-through entity tax election evaluated each year. |
| 04 | Entity structure | Whether the structure you have still fits the business you run, reviewed once a year and before any transaction. |
| 05 | Transactions | Purchase price allocation, asset versus stock decisions, and the tax side of buying, selling or bringing in a partner. |
| 06 | Notices and examinations | We open every letter, respond on time and represent you. Matters we did not prepare are scoped separately. |
03How it runs
The October conversation
Every business tax client meets with Marcus or David in the fourth quarter. We arrive with a projection of the year, the entity and owner cash tax, and three or four decisions that are still open: equipment timing, retirement contributions, the pass-through entity tax election, distributions, estimated payments.
You leave knowing your number within a reasonable range and what, if anything, you are going to do about it. The return in the spring confirms the plan; it does not deliver the news.
04Specifics
Ohio specifics we handle every year
- Ohio Commercial Activity Tax (CAT): registration, the exclusion threshold, quarterly or annual filing and gross-receipts sourcing. Read the Ohio CAT guide.
- Municipal net profit tax: filing in each city where you have payroll, property or sales, and the choice between the state-administered return and filing city by city.
- Pass-through entity (PTE) tax election: whether paying Ohio tax at the entity level benefits the owners this year, decided in October with numbers.
- Sales and use tax reviews on equipment purchases and construction contracts, where Ohio's rules surprise manufacturers and contractors most often.
05Who leads it
David Okafor, CPA
Manager, Business Tax
David manages compliance calendars and state and local filings, including the Ohio CAT and municipal net profit returns, for the tax practice.
06Timeline
A typical year
Week 1
Scope and fee letterA 30-minute call, then a letter listing entities, returns, cities, the planning meeting and the fee.
Monthly
Books and estimatesEstimated payments calculated from actual results, not last year's figure.
Q4
The October meetingProjection, open decisions, PTE election, equipment timing. Minutes in the portal the same week.
Feb to Mar
Returns prepared and reviewedFrom a closed year-end, reviewed by the partner, delivered through the portal for e-signature.
By the due date
Filed and explainedA short call on what the return says and what we are watching for next year.
FAQBefore you call
Questions owners ask before they call
01Do you prepare the owners' personal returns as well?
Yes, where the owner's return is driven by the business (K-1s, distributions, basis). Standalone individual returns with no business connection are not a service we offer; we will refer you to a firm that focuses on them.
02What does a fixed fee cover, and what is outside it?
The letter lists every entity, return, city filing and meeting included. Outside the scope are things we cannot foresee at signing: a new entity, an acquisition, an examination of a prior year. Each is priced in writing and approved before we start.
03We missed Ohio CAT or a municipal filing. How bad is it?
Usually recoverable. Penalties and interest depend on how long and how much. We calculate the exposure, file the missing returns and, where the facts support it, request abatement. The first step is a conversation, not a form.
04Can you work with our bookkeeper or controller?
Yes, and we prefer it. We give your bookkeeper a year-end checklist in November and a closing call in January. If you do not have one, our outsourced accounting team can close the books before the return is prepared.
05How is this different from the national firms in Columbus?
Mostly in who you deal with and how fees work. A partner leads your account personally and does not rotate. The fee is fixed before work starts. Technically the work is the same standard; the experience of being a client is not.
→Next step
Tell us what the notice, the bill or the deal looks like.
You will hear from a partner within 48 hours with a scope, a fee and a date.