Start-Up Advisory
Start-Up Advisory
The way a business gets structured on day one affects every tax dollar it pays for years afterward. Pierre helps new and growing owners choose the right entity and build a tax structure meant to scale.
The structure decided in year one sets the tax bill for every year after
New business owners usually come in with a name, an idea, and no clear sense of whether an LLC or an S-Corp actually fits what they're building. Start-up advisory answers that question first, then builds around the answer: entity selection between an LLC, an S-Corp and other structures, formation and registration guidance, EIN and tax account setup, accounting system setup, bookkeeping foundations, and a first year tax strategy that accounts for the entity chosen. None of these decisions sit apart from each other. The entity affects the accounting setup, the accounting setup affects what the first tax return looks like, and getting the order right the first time is the difference between a clean first year and one spent unwinding a structure that never fit.
When to start this conversation
The honest answer is before the business is registered anywhere, but the earlier it happens, the better, because the entity choice affects every tax dollar paid from that point forward. Whether an LLC or an S-Corp is the right call depends on expected profit and how the owner plans to pay themselves, not on which one is more common. Getting that right at the start avoids the costlier fix of restructuring a business that's already running.
Pierre Alcegaire, Chambersburg, PA. Remote nationwide, in person within about 50 miles. Call (717) 331-2154.
Always in this order
3
Discovery, structure, launch. The same three steps, every time.
Skipping ahead to setup before the structure is chosen is exactly how a business ends up with the wrong entity. The order stays the same for every new business, because the order is the part that protects the outcome.
What gets set up
Six pieces that decide how the business runs from year one
Entity selection
Choosing between an LLC, an S-Corp and other structures based on expected profit and how the owner plans to get paid.
Formation and registration
Guidance through the actual filing and registration steps once the entity is chosen.
EIN and tax accounts
The federal and state tax accounts a new business needs before it can legally operate.
Accounting system setup
A system built around the entity chosen, not a generic template applied after the fact.
Bookkeeping foundations
The habits and structure that keep the books clean from the first transaction forward.
First year tax strategy
A plan for the first year's return that accounts for the entity chosen, instead of reacting to it after the year closes.
How the work gets done
Discovery, structure, launch
Step 1
Discovery
Understand the business's goals, expected income and growth plans before anything gets decided about structure.
Step 2
Structure
Choose and form the right entity for tax efficiency, based on what discovery actually found rather than a default recommendation.
Step 3
Launch
Set up accounts, systems and the first year plan so the business opens with its books already in order.
Start-up advisory questions
If the business is already profitable enough that an S-Corp election is worth weighing, see S-Corp Advisory for the salary and distribution side of that decision, or tell Pierre about the business to start with discovery.