Our Services
At John S. Fitzgibbons, CPA, P.C., the careful management of your finances is our top priority. We pride ourselves on giving you personalized and thorough service that meets your business or individual needs.
We provide a full range of tax and accounting services for our clients and offer consulting services for special needs.
Tax Services
At John S. Fitzgibbons, CPA, P.C., we assist our tax clients through efficient compliance and effective planning to help them realize substantial savings. We use a team approach and focus on timely communication to provide our clients with excellent service. We stive through education and experience to ensure that our clients receive the most experienced technical expertise we have to offer.
We offer the following tax services:
Federal and State Business Tax Services
Tax Return Compliance
Preparation of federal and state tax returns is the core of our tax services. High-levels of technical and industry specific expertise allow our tax professionals to ensure our clients’ tax returns are prepared efficiently and timely.
Transactional Structuring
We help businesses structure economic transactions in ways that minimize the tax impact by advising them on acquisitions, sales and mergers.
Accounting Method Reviews
We review businesses’ tax accounting methodologies for proper accounting and accounting method strategies to maximize income tax benefits.
Audit & Appeal Representation
We possess the expertise and experience to represent taxpayers before tax authorities. Our tax professionals understand the dispute resolution and appeals process and work diligently to obtain you the most favorable results.
State and Local Tax Specific Services
Nexus Consulting and State Tax Liability Analysis
We can help you understand and navigate where your business is required to file and pay state and local taxes based on multistate activities. Additionally, we will make recommendations of where to file and quantify potential tax liabilities associated with various state and local jurisdictions.
Sales and Use Tax Determination
We can assist you understand the sales and use tax consequences of specific transactions and ensure you meet any filing requirement.
Tax Planning Services
Federal Income Tax Planning
We aid businesses with all aspects of federal income tax planning. This includes implementing federal income tax strategies that maximize savings, increase profits and manage cash flows.
State and Local Tax Planning
Our team understands the structural and transactional underpinnings of state and local regulations in ways that allow us to create solutions that mitigate tax liabilities. We provide state and local tax planning in the following areas:
- Income tax
- Franchise tax
- Sales and use tax
- Property tax
- Other miscellaneous taxes
Other Tax Services
Accounting for Income Taxes
Financial accounting for income taxes can be complex. Our professionals have the technical skills and experience to help our clients navigate through these complex requirements and create efficient income tax accounting and reporting. We also help companies stay up-to-date with regulatory guidance and disclosure requirements. The services we offer allow our clients to minimize year-end surprises and reduce risk related to reporting. These services include:
- Calculation of tax provisions
- Account for uncertain tax positions
- Analyze current and deferred taxes
- Prepare financial statement footnote disclosures
Tax Updates
We keep our clients up-to-date on the latest federal, state and international tax issues through newsletters, website postings and face-face to meetings. By staying ahead of tax issues and we can communicate how they will impact you operations quickly and address them in a timely manner.
Individual Tax Services
When it comes to individual taxes, change provides opportunity. We keep on top of these changes to provide you with the best advice and strategies, especially through planning opportunities. You can depend on us for objective guidance and personal attention. We believe in focusing on your long-term financial goals and steering your current needs in a direction to meet them.
Estate and Trust Tax Services
If you have not considered what will happen to your hard earned assets as you age and eventually pass on you should. Without an estate plan, the wealth you worked your entire life to build will be distributed according to state law and not according to your wishes. Estate planning is crucial if you want to minimize taxes and distribute as much as possible to your preferred beneficiaries.
We will work with you, your estate attorney and other professionals to design an estate plan customized to your particular needs by utilizing a variety of planning vehicles such as family limited partnerships, trusts and charitable entities. Our team can assist you by performing the following:
- Review wills and trust instruments.
- Estimate estate taxes and strategize alternatives that may provide tax savings.
- Review business issues including valuation and the transfer and/or disposition of business interests.
- Identify potential liquidity problems caused by federal and state estate taxes for the continued operation of the family business, probate, administration costs, etc.
- Develop a lifetime gifting program using vehicles such as family limited partnerships, charitable trusts and qualified personal residence trusts
- Prepare estate, gift, fiduciary and non-profit tax returns
- Advise you on the possible use of various trusts structures; including charitable remainder trusts, grantor annuity trusts, personal residence trusts, family partnerships, credit shelter trusts, marital deduction trusts and revocable lifetime trusts.
Looking for a little information right now? View the latest Tax and Financial News article in our Newsletter.
Accounting And Auditing Services
Audits
John S. Fitzgibbons, CPA, P.C., only audits privately held companies. Concentrating on privately held companies means we are free from public company regulations reporting deadlines, disclosure complexities and risk management issues. As a result, we can focus on what really matter to you and your business.
Audits are usually performed because an outside third party requires an auditor’s opinion on the financial statements. Audits are performed for the purpose of expressing an opinion about whether the financial statements are fairly presented and that they conform with generally accepted accounting principles or another financial reporting framework.
Audits are the most comprehensive of all the attest services. Auditing procedures include testing accounting records and examining evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Evidence is obtained through inquiries, analytical procedures, physical inspection, observation, and through independent confirmation. Additionally, audits require an understanding of the entity and its internal controls.
There are certain assurances that audits are not designed to provide. An audit does not provide assurance on or aim to identify deficiencies in internal control. The work performed as part of an audit does give us an understanding of how your company and financial reporting function. This means we may be able to identify issues related to internal controls, processes, inefficiencies, cash flows problems as well as company and industry trends. As a result, the work performed during an audit may allow us to provide you with general business advice based on the insights gained during the engagement.
Audit services are primarily offered to non-profit organizations. Audit for these entities are performed under GAAP, GAGAS and Single Audit regulations,as needed.
Reviews
Reviews are usually performed to satisfy third parties that want to be assured that the financial statements are not materially misstated. They provide a lesser degree of assurance to financial statement users than an audit. Also, unlike an audit, there is no expression of an opinion on the financial statements, testing of controls or financial data. Reviews essentially consist of inquiries of company personnel and analytical procedures applied to financial data.
Compilations
Compilations provide the lowest level of assurance of the financial statements services. They are often required by outside third parties as well internally by companies.
In a compilation we assist management in presenting their financial information as financial statements in the proper form. Compilations also require us to acquire an understanding of the client’s industry and to obtain specific knowledge about the client. Additionally, we read the financial statements and ensure they are free from obvious material errors. They provide no expression of an opinion on the financial statements.
Agreed Upon Procedures
Agreed upon procedures are performed when the parties involved concur that they want the accountant to perform a specific procedure or set of procedures. They can be useful when you or a third party wants some comfort about a specific area such as inventory or cash, but do not need the assurance and related time and expense of a full audit or review. Agreed upon procedures can deal with a diverse variety of subject matter such as the quality of collateral or due diligence related to a business acquisition. In all cases, agreed upon procedures are solely the responsibility of the parties who specify them and they never provide an opinion on the subject matter or financial statements.
Visit our set of Financial Calculators for quick answers on topics such as your IRA, investments, your child's college tuition, and your mortgage or credit card calculations.
Consulting Services
At John S. Fitzgibbons, CPA, P.C., our business is to know and understand your financial situation. We offer services beyond compliance and combine our experience, expertise and knowledge to add value as a trusted advisor to your financial situation.
We recognize that most individuals and small business owners are do it your self type people. We offer a variety of financial calculators, newletters and helpful links to get you started. See our Resoures area.
If you still need help and guidance we are always available.
Financial Institutions and small public companies
Small financial institutions (under 500 million in assets) have limited resources to comply with all the regulatory requirements let alone the volumns of tax rules. We can help by adding 22 yrs of bank tax compliance experiance to your accounting department. See list below of how we can help.
Medium size non-public (over 500 million in assets) and small public financial institutions have the same issues as small financial institutions but have the added burdon of complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). SOX added additonal restrictions on tax and other services that can be provided by their auditor. This now requires the company to prepare certain tax calculations and financial statment disclosures that were previously provided by their audit firm. Since we do not provide financial statemant audit services we can provide the level of tax service you have been accustomed to plus some, without all the additonal pre-approval requirements necessary when certain services are provided by your audit firm.
General services:
Book tax provision and reserve analysis
Deferred tax inventory tracking and analysis
Tax basis fixed asset depreciation calculations
Review of charitable contributions vs. advertising
Officers personal use of auto inclusion calculation
Tax planning
Tax return preparation
Quarterly estimate tax payment calculation
1099 consulting, including but not limited to abandoned property (A), Cancelation of indebtedness (C) and miscellaneous (MISC)
Other
Public company services:
All the above plus-
Consulting for company tax treatment of ESOP plans
Consulting for tax treatment of stock compensation plans (company and personal)
Consulting and tax accounting of incentive stock options(ISO) and non-qualified stock options
Consulting for tax treatment for restricted stock awards
Assistance assembling audit ready tax section work papers and suppport
Analysis of uncertain tax positions
Preparation of tax footnote for financial statments
Consulting and tax preparation for charitable foundations
Other
Premium services:
Consulting on deferred tax treatment of mergers and acquisitions
Consulting on change of control provisions in relation to 280G limitations
State tax opinion letters required for certain reorganization and stock contributions to charitable foundations
Other
The firm is an associate member of Massachusetts Bankers Association, Connecticut Bankers Association and Connecticut Community Bankers Association.
Check out our Newsletter for the latest article on Financial Planning.
Areas of Service: Taxes Chicopee MA, Tax Preparation, Tax Place Near Me, Taxes Holyoke MA, Tax Preparation Holyoke MA, Taxes Springfield MA, Tax Preparation Springfield MA