Adam Traywick, LLC - Certified Public Accountant

06/12/2026

"I'll just pay it all in April."

This is the most expensive sentence in self-employment.

Q2 estimated taxes are due June 16. Here's what skipping them actually costs:

1️⃣ The underpayment penalty. For 2026, the IRS rate is around 8% annualized. Skip a quarter and the meter starts running on whatever you should have paid.

2️⃣ It compounds. The Q2 amount you skipped accrues interest until you pay it. That's not "next year's problem." That's "today's penalty growing every day."

3️⃣ Safe harbor disappears. Pay 100% of last year's tax (110% if you cleared $150K) and you're protected. Miss it and you owe penalty even if you eventually pay in full.

4️⃣ Stacking quarters. If you skipped Q1 too, the Q2 penalty is added on top. By April, the penalty alone can be $1,500-$4,000 on a $40K tax bill.

5️⃣ The cash flow shock. April hits with a $40K bill plus penalty plus interest, and most owners don't have it sitting in a checking account.

The fix is to pay too much, not too little. Overpaid quarters refund. Underpaid quarters cost.

If you've never run quarterly estimates and your business has grown this year, June 16 is your deadline.

Full breakdown: https://adamtraywick.com/what-happens-if-you-dont-pay-estimated-taxes-2026/

What happens if you don't pay estimated taxes and what to do if you've already missed a quarterly payment in 2026.

06/09/2026

"My friend told me to just use TurboTax. It worked fine last year."

Yeah, until it doesn't. Hair salon owners hear this a lot, and it sounds reasonable until you actually look at the return.

Tax software is excellent at one thing: reporting what already happened.

Here's what it can't do for a salon owner:

1️⃣ Tell you whether you should still be a sole proprietor or switch to an S-corp. The software doesn't know your industry, your margins, or whether the math works at your revenue level.

2️⃣ Catch booth rental income that wasn't 1099'd correctly. Software files what you enter. It can't ask "wait, where's the rest of the booth income?"

3️⃣ Handle the W-2 vs 1099 mess for your stylists. Misclassify and you owe back taxes for everyone, plus penalties.

4️⃣ Plan for the year-end retreat, the new chairs, or the second location.

5️⃣ Pick up the phone in October when your friend tells you about something they heard from their CPA.

Software is a calculator. A CPA is a strategist.

Let's look at an example. A salon owner did her own taxes for four years. We re-ran them and found $11,400 in deductions she'd missed. Year five we filed an S-corp election. Combined annual savings: roughly $8K. The software didn't ask any of those questions.

Full breakdown: https://adamtraywick.com/cpa-vs-tax-software/

CPA vs tax software for personal taxes and pass through income. Learn when DIY filing works and when a CPA can reduce risk and save money.

06/02/2026

"I got an IRS letter."

Six words that ruin a Tuesday afternoon. Here's what most Fort Worth business owners don't know: most IRS letters aren't audits.

They're notices. Different category, different stakes, different response timeline.

The 5 most common letters we see:
1️⃣ CP2000: a mismatch notice. The IRS thinks you forgot to report some income. Usually fixable in writing.
2️⃣ CP501/503: balance due reminders. Pay or set up a payment plan. Don't ignore.
3️⃣ CP90: final notice before levy. This one is real. Respond fast.
4️⃣ Letter 525 (or 30-day letter): proposed audit changes. You have 30 days to disagree.
5️⃣ Letter 2205-A: actual audit notice. Yes, the real one.

The HVAC and trade businesses get flagged most often on three things: vehicle deductions claimed at 100% business use, equipment Section 179 elections that look aggressive, and cash deposits that don't tie to reported revenue.

Most of these are paperwork problems, not crimes. The fix is documentation, not a panic-call to a tax attorney.

If you got a letter, don't ignore it. Don't call the number on TV. Bring it to your CPA.

Full guide to every notice type: https://adamtraywick.com/irs-audit-and-notice-guide/

Complete IRS audit guide for small business owners: audit triggers, types (correspondence, office, field), CP2000 notice handling, response procedures, statute of limitations, and when to hire representation.

05/18/2026

Reminder you didn't ask for: Q2 estimated taxes are due June 16.

If you're a 1099 contractor, an LLC, or a freelancer making more than your W-2 friends and not having anything withheld, this is for you.

Here's what trips people up:

You owe estimated taxes on income, self-employment tax (15.3%), AND state if you're not in Texas. We're lucky on that last one. Most aren't.

You can't just pay last year's tax bill divided by four and call it safe. If your income jumped this year, you'll owe a penalty even if you paid last year's number on time. The safe harbor is 110% of last year's tax liability if you made over $150K, otherwise 100%.

Missing a quarter doesn't just cost you the penalty. It compounds. Skip Q2 and the IRS adds interest until you actually pay it, which is usually April when you file and discover the damage.

Easiest fix: pay too much, get it back. Better than the alternative.

If you've never run estimates and your income changed in the last year, talk to a CPA before June 16. We'd rather you overpay by $500 than underpay by $5,000.

https://adamtraywick.com/get-in-touch/

05/15/2026

A friend in California texted us last week. His plumbing LLC just cleared $1.2M in revenue. He wanted to know what the franchise tax hit would be in Texas.

Zero.

Same business, $1.2M revenue, same two trucks and three employees. In California he's looking at 8.84% C-corp tax plus personal income tax up to 12% plus the $800 minimum on his S-corp. In Texas, the franchise tax doesn't even kick in until $2.47M.

Real estate agents and brokers feel this even harder. Their commissions get taxed twice in California. Once at the entity, once on the personal return. In Texas? Once. That's it.

Sales tax: California 9-10%+ with local add-ons. Texas caps at 8.25%.

Payroll: California has SDI deductions and higher unemployment rates baked in. Texas doesn't.

We're not saying California is bad. We're saying it's expensive. And the move from California to Texas is one of the few business decisions where the math actually beats the marketing.

If you're running a Texas business, you already won this part. The real question is whether you're keeping enough of what you earn.

Full comparison: https://adamtraywick.com/california-vs-texas/

05/12/2026

Crossed $150K in revenue and your tax bill suddenly looks personal? Welcome to the club.

Here's what changes at that revenue level, and what most CPAs forget to mention:

Solo 401(k). If you're self-employed and not maxing this, you're handing the IRS up to $62,000 of pretax space every year. That's roughly $24,500 in tax-deferred savings annually for a $150K consultant. Compare it to a SEP IRA at $37,500 and the math is obvious.

S-corp salary optimization. A tech consultant at $480K running an S-corp can save around $55K in payroll taxes by structuring distributions correctly. Get the salary wrong though and the IRS reclassifies the whole thing.

QBI deduction. Up to 20% off qualified business income. That's a $60K deduction on $300K of business income, worth roughly $14K in tax savings.

Solo 401(k) plus QBI plus a properly run S-corp election is usually the difference between paying full freight and keeping a real chunk of what you earn.

None of these are tricks. They're rules. They've been on the books for years. You just need a CPA who's reading them year-round.

Full breakdown: https://adamtraywick.com/lower-tax-bill-over-150k-revenue/

05/08/2026

If your CPA only calls you once a year, they're not your CPA.

They're your tax preparer.

There's a difference, and it shows up in your tax bill every April.

A real CPA is reactive in March and proactive the other eleven months. They're calling you in July to talk Q3 estimates. They're texting in October about year-end moves. They're answering your "is this deductible?" question before you sign the contract, not after.

Here's how you know it's time to switch:
- You only hear from them when something's due
- They can't tell you what an entity election would save you
- They charge you the same fee whether you grew 10% or 100%
- They don't know what an HVAC busy season cash flow looks like, or what booth rental does to a salon's books

Most owners we meet are leaving $3K to $15K a year on the table. Not because their CPA is bad. Because their CPA is busy.

You don't need a busier CPA. You need a different kind of CPA.

Full breakdown: https://adamtraywick.com/when-should-you-switch-cpas/

05/05/2026

Your CPA might be fine.

That’s usually the problem.

Not bad enough to leave. Not good enough to feel confident.

If that sounds familiar, here are a few signs it’s not just in your head: https://adamtraywick.com/when-should-you-switch-cpas/

Not sure when should you switch CPAs? Watch for these warning signs to prevent costly setbacks and business disruption.

04/30/2026

Most business owners don’t track payroll as a percentage.

They just feel it.

Jobs are coming in. The team is busy. But somehow there’s still not much left at the end of the month.

This is usually why.

When payroll creeps past 30%, margins start getting tight. Once you’re over 40%, you’re not really making money on some of your jobs anymore.

At that point, hiring isn’t the solution. Something else is off.

We broke down what this should look like and how to think about it here: https://adamtraywick.com/can-you-afford-to-hire-this-year/

04/27/2026

Stop falling for S Corp hype 🙃

Every business podcast and YouTube channel tells you to file the election yesterday.

Save on self employment taxes. Unlock hidden wealth. It sounds like the cheat code everybody found except you.

We watch small business owners walk into our office every month who believed this exact advice.

They thought they were being strategic.

Instead they got buried in payroll filings, quarterly compliance, and bookkeeping costs that ate the supposed tax savings for breakfast.

Here's what nobody mentions when they hype S Corps.

You need formal payroll. That means software, filings, and someone who knows what they're doing. You need clean books. Personal and business expenses have to stay separated or the IRS will have questions you don't want to answer.

If your business is clearing fifty or sixty thousand in profit, the administrative cost will outrun the tax benefit.

You'll spend a few thousand on payroll setup and tax prep to save maybe half that.

That's not strategy. That's expensive paperwork.

Stay an LLC until your numbers actually support the shift. Build cash flow first. Pay the self employment tax while you grow. Make the move when the math works in your favor, not because someone on the internet said you're leaving money on the table.

Good tax strategy keeps money in your account.

The best structure is the one that doesn't cost more to maintain than it saves.