A tax practice earns most of its year in a few months and pays staff all twelve. Working capital is how many offices hire and equip before the rush rather than during it.
Apply Now →Accounting and tax offices live on a deadline calendar. Individual filing season, extension deadlines and quarterly business filings produce a heavy burst of billable work, followed by lulls where staff still need paying and the lease is still due. A bookkeeping-heavy practice smooths this out with monthly retainers; a tax-prep-heavy one does not.
In New York, where a small office may sit in a Manhattan high-rise, a Long Island strip or an upstate downtown, the fixed costs of space, software licenses and professional insurance exist all year, but receipts are bunched into a few windows.
| Spending | When it hits | Why it is hard to wait on |
|---|---|---|
| Seasonal staff and overtime | Weeks before filing season opens | You have to pay before the first client pays |
| Software, licenses and e-file tools | Renewal cycles, often ahead of busy season | Offices cannot work without them |
| Office space or a second room | When the client list outgrows the current space | Deposits and build-out come first |
| Hardware, scanners and secure storage | Whenever something fails | Client records cannot be left exposed or offline |
| Buying a retiring partner's book of clients | One-time | The cash is due at closing, income follows |
For illustration only: a three-partner office wants to add two preparers and a senior reviewer in January. Payroll and onboarding for the new hires before the first big filing weeks is about $45,000. Fees from those weeks eventually cover it and more, but not until the work is billed and collected. That is a timing gap, not a profitability problem.
These figures are not our terms, and results vary. The point is that the revenue is real and the cash is late.
Practices that grow usually hit three walls in sequence. First comes capacity: the existing team is saturated from February to April and turns away clients. Then comes the services mix: adding payroll, bookkeeping or advisory work evens out the year, but it requires hiring and software before the revenue appears. Finally comes space, since a team of six does not fit in an office built for three.
Each step is an investment that pays back over several months, which is a good fit for working capital and a poor fit for waiting until the busy season produces enough cash. Owners who time it well make the hire in the fall, train in winter and are productive when filing begins.
Another common use is covering the gap when a large business client is slow to pay its own invoices. The office has done the work and billed it, but the cash still has not arrived while salaries come due on the first and the fifteenth.
We fund $25,000 to $5,000,000 and can fund in as little as 24 hours. We consider FICO 500 and up and use a soft credit pull. We do not ask for tax returns, which many preparers find ironic; we ask for about three months of business bank statements. Sole proprietors, including solo CPAs and enrolled agents working under their own name, can apply.
Because collections are lumpy, your statements will probably show a spike. It helps to note which months are busy so the picture is read correctly.
Start the 5-minute application when you have a number in mind. It uses a soft credit pull, and sole proprietors can apply.
Yes. Sole proprietors can apply. We look at business bank statements from about the last three months and consider FICO 500+.
Our process relies on about three months of business bank statements. Tax returns are not required.
Many owners use working capital for staffing, space or acquiring clients. Describe the purpose in your application.
A seasonal pattern is expected for tax practices. Explain the pattern in your application.
No. We use a soft credit pull for the application.
Three months of business bank statements and a 5-minute application. FICO 500+ considered. $25,000 to $5,000,000, funded in as little as 24 hours.
Apply Now →It takes about two minutes and it will not affect your credit score.
No obligation • No impact to your credit score
