Sandpoint CPA, Tax Accountant, Bookkeeping & Advisory Firm

Both. We are based in Coeur d'Alene and meet clients in person for planning sessions and year-end reviews, but most ongoing work happens over secure document sharing and Zoom. Plenty of our Sandpoint clients prefer a quick video call during the week and save in-person meetings for the things that benefit from face time. You get the same CPA-led service either way.

We use fixed pricing, so you know the cost before any work starts. Monthly CPA services for small businesses start at $600/month plus a $1,500 one-time onboarding fee. Growth plans with bookkeeping and payroll start at $995/month plus a $2,500 onboarding fee. Personal tax returns start at $750. Business returns start at $2,000. Tax planning sessions start at $2,500. You can see our current pricing on this page. No hourly billing, and no bill that arrives after the fact.

Yes. Many of our clients are business owners who want one firm handling the business return, their personal return, bookkeeping, and payroll so nothing falls through the cracks. We also work with individuals who just want their personal taxes done right by a CPA. We will tell you honestly which services fit your situation.

Yes, and that is a core part of our Sandpoint practice. Bonner County has drawn remote executives, early retirees, founders with recent liquidity events, and investors who chose Idaho for lifestyle and tax climate. Their returns are rarely a single W-2. We handle multi-state income, equity compensation, investment and rental portfolios, trust and K-1 income, and the planning moves that have to happen before year-end - not after a notice arrives.

Idaho residency is not just a mailing address. The California Franchise Tax Board audits high earners who claim they left, and they look at voter registration, vehicle registration, where your bank accounts sit, professional licenses, and whether community and financial ties to California were actually severed. Getting your domicile date and documentation right before and after the move is how you defend the position. We work with Sandpoint transplants to build that file and coordinate the first Idaho year so you are not paying California on income California should no longer touch.

Equity income is one of the most commonly mishandled parts of a high-income return. Vesting dates, exercise timing, and how income is allocated across California, Washington, Idaho, or other states all change what you owe. Remote executives working from Sandpoint often have wages sourced in multiple jurisdictions in the same year. We coordinate allocation, estimated quarterly payments, and the annual filings so you are not double-taxed or exposed on income that crossed state lines before you arrived in Idaho.

The structure of a sale - asset versus stock, installment terms, earnout treatment - and the timing of distributions, retirement account moves, and charitable gifts all affect what you net. Qualified opportunity zone investments, 1031 exchanges on investment property, and coordination with your estate attorney are on the table when planning starts early. Sandpoint clients with exits or liquidity events come to us before term sheets are signed, because most of the useful tax decisions have to be made before the close, not reconstructed from closing statements in March.

We handle the tax side and work alongside your estate attorney or wealth advisor on the rest. Gifting timelines, trust income reporting, basis step-up planning, and charitable strategies involving appreciated assets all have tax consequences that affect the plan your attorney is building. For high-net-worth households in Sandpoint and Bonner County, getting the tax treatment right protects what you intend to pass on.

The order and timing of distributions from taxable accounts, traditional IRAs, Roth accounts, and deferred compensation directly changes your federal and Idaho bill - often by tens of thousands over a few years. Required minimum distributions, capital gains harvesting, and Roth conversion windows are decisions that have to be modeled across multiple years, not guessed at filing time. We build that sequence for Sandpoint retirees and near-retirees with investment income, rental property, or a spouse still earning.

High-value property brings a different tax picture at purchase, during ownership, and at sale. Cost basis documentation, improvement versus repair classifications, depreciation if you rent part of the year, and passive activity rules all interact. If the property is or becomes a short-term rental, Idaho sales tax at 6 percent and the Idaho Travel and Convention tax at 2 percent apply to lodging revenue, and personal-use days limit deductions. We keep reporting accurate through the year and plan around a sale or 1031 exchange before it closes.

Short-term lodging of 30 days or less is subject to Idaho sales tax and the Idaho Travel and Convention tax. Hosts in the City of Sandpoint also face the Sandpoint Resort City Tax, currently 14 percent on applicable short-term lodging within city limits. Marketplace platforms may remit some state taxes, but direct bookings, occupancy tracking, and local resort tax filings are still your obligation. We set up collection and remittance, track personal-use versus rental days, and build depreciation and expense records during the season so filing is not a reconstruction project.

No - it is exactly the work we do for Sandpoint clients whose wealth is spread across wages, partnerships, trusts, funds, and real estate. K-1 timing, passive loss limitations, alternative minimum tax from incentive stock options, and netting capital gains against losses all require a CPA who reads the documents, not software that imports a CSV and hopes for the best. We reconcile the full picture and plan through the year so April is reporting, not discovery.

Yes. That profile is common here. You may have Idaho residency, Washington wages with no state income tax, California-sourced equity from a prior year, consulting 1099 income, and rental property in Bonner County on the same return. One firm coordinating estimated payments, credits, and each state filing prevents the gaps that happen when a preparer only knows Idaho forms. We file Idaho and every other state your income touches.

Yes. Investors buying and selling in Bonner County need cost basis tracked from day one, depreciation schedules built correctly, and passive activity analysis when W-2 or other income limits rental losses. A 1031 exchange has identification and closing deadlines that do not wait for tax season. We work with your closing team and plan the exchange structure before you list, so the replacement property and timing actually qualify.

Seasonal revenue swings, tipped payroll, inventory bought for ski season versus summer, and the Sandpoint Resort City Tax on applicable lodging and retail sales all add moving parts a generic return misses. Estimated payments tied to cash in the bank - not last year's average - keep a strong December from becoming an April problem. We run books, payroll, and quarterly planning on your real calendar: ski season, lake season, and shoulder months.

When the questions are bigger than whether the return is accurate - whether you can afford a second location, how a liquidity event flows through your entities, what job-level profit looks like in a seasonal business, or how a major purchase affects cash and tax in the same quarter. Sandpoint clients request fractional CFO work more than any other market we serve: growing hospitality and trades companies, founders post-exit, and households managing business interests alongside investment portfolios. You get projections, scenario modeling, and a written plan from a CPA-led team without a full-time finance hire.

Yes. Lodges, restaurants, guide services, and property management firms around Schweitzer and the lake staff up fast for peak weeks. We handle Idaho withholding and unemployment, tipped wage reporting where it applies, new-hire setup for seasonal crew, and year-end W-2s. For companies paying staff who serve resort-taxable lodging, we keep payroll records aligned with sales tax and resort tax reporting so busy season compliance does not unravel in the fall.