What CFO Houston handles, and what needs a licensed firm
Where does a Tax CFO stop and a licensed firm begin?
Looking for a straight answer on what a Tax CFO can do for you and what needs someone else? Here it is. Steven Palmieri is not a CPA. The practice does not audit, review or compile financial statements, and it does not issue reports on them. If a Houston lender, a bond, an investor or a contract asks for that kind of report, it is signed by a licensed firm, and we get your books ready for them.
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What we do
Most of what a growing owner needs sits on our side of the line, and it is a long list. We close the books each month. Your financial statements are prepared from those books, meaning the profit and loss, the balance sheet and the cash view, with no report attached. We build the cash plan and refresh it as months close. We set up payroll on a full-service provider that you run, with the right registrations, your own pay set correctly and the filings watched. The return is ours to prepare, along with the year-end choices that can still be changed.
Ask which parts I need
What belongs to a licensed firm
Audits, reviews and compilations come from a license holder, as a report on a set of statements. Texas law reserves them to licensed firms, and for good reason, since a lender relies on them. You may need one if a bank covenant requires it, if investors ask for it, if a bond or surety company requires it or if a contract spells it out. Many small businesses are never asked for one. If yours is, the licensed firm does that part and does it independently.
When statements we prepared leave our hands, they carry a plain note saying no audit, review or compilation report was issued. That keeps everyone clear about what the paper is.
What we do alongside a licensed firm
The two jobs fit together well. A licensed firm that arrives to work on your statements finds closed books, matched accounts and a clean list of what is open. That usually makes their work faster. We hand over what they ask for and answer their questions, and they do what only they can do.
Payroll and the IRS
Payroll, for us, is setup and never processing. On the payroll side, our job is to line up the right provider with you, get the state registrations in place, set your own pay properly, tie the provider's feed into your books and watch what has to be filed each quarter and each year. The provider runs payday, and you stay the owner of that relationship.
If a notice comes from the IRS, we will help you read it and organize your response. When a dispute with the IRS needs someone to speak for you, that person is an enrolled agent, a CPA or an attorney. If a notice reaches that point, we will tell you so.
A note for Houston owners
The line matters most when a lender or a bond company enters the picture. If you expect one soon, tell us early, because we can set the close calendar to match what they will want. You can read how the monthly work fits together on the page about a fractional CFO in Houston, and the answers to common questions are on the questions page.
Get my books ready
Still not sure which you need?
Ask us on a free Second Look call. We will look at what you have been asked for and tell you straight whether it is ours or a licensed firm's. There is nothing to sign and nothing to pay.
Talk with the Tax CFO
