Advisory Services

Posted Thursday, May 14, 2026

Advisory Services

Written by Jason Watson, CPA Senior Partner, WCG CPAs & Advisors | Author of Taxpayer’s Comprehensive Guide to LLCs and S Corps | 20+ years advising business owners on tax strategy, business consulting, and real estate planning. Last updated: May 2026

Welcome to our Advisory Services hub — the place where tax planning, business strategy, real estate tax wizardry, and “how do I keep more of my money?” all come together under one roof. Sure, anyone can buy a QuickBooks subscription, file a tax return in April, and cross their fingers. But that’s not advisory. That’s survival mode. And survival mode has a funny way of costing you thousands of dollars in missed deductions, poorly timed decisions, and strategies you didn’t know existed until your buddy bragged about them at a barbecue.

We are consultants first and accountants second. That is not just a tagline we slap on coffee mugs — it drives how we build engagements, how we structure our team, and frankly, how we sleep at night. Whether you are a business owner wondering how to optimize your S Corp salary, a real estate investor trying to navigate the short-term rental loophole, or a high-income earner staring at a six-figure tax bill wondering if there’s a better way — this page is your starting point.

The answer, by the way, is almost always “it depends.” Not super satisfying, but honest. Our job is to make “it depends” actually useful by running the numbers, weighing the trade-offs, and giving you information so you can decide. We are professionally detached like that. We digress.

Who Is This Page For?

This page is for business owners, self-employed professionals, real estate investors, and high-income earners who want more than a tax return. Specifically:

  • You’re paying too much in taxes and you suspect there are strategies you’re not using — but you don’t know which ones actually apply to your situation
  • You have a business and need a CPA who acts like an advisor, not just a number cruncher who shows up in April
  • You own rental properties and want to understand REPS, the STR loophole, cost segregation, and how they all fit together
  • You’re a high-income earner looking for legitimate ways to reduce your taxable surface — retirement planning, Roth conversions, income shifting, and beyond
  • You want ongoing support — someone who knows your financial life and can answer questions without starting from scratch every time
  • You’re not sure which advisory service is right for you — Tax Patrol, Business Advisory, standalone planning, or something in between

If any of that resonates, you’re in the right place. Start with the overview below or jump to the section that matches where you’re at.

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Explore Our Advisory Platforms

Proactive Advisory That Actually Moves the Needle

Here is an uncomfortable truth: the difference between a $40,000 tax bill and a $28,000 tax bill is rarely about aggressive deductions or exotic loopholes. It is almost always about timing, structure, and having someone who knows your situation well enough to flag opportunities before they expire. That is what advisory services are.

At WCG CPAs & Advisors, we have built our practice around the idea that tax preparation is the floor, not the ceiling. Tax returns tell you what happened. Advisory tells you what to do next. And the business owners and investors who engage with us year-round — through Tax Patrol Services, Business Advisory platforms, or standalone planning engagements — consistently pay less in taxes, make better financial decisions, and experience fewer April surprises than those who only show up once a year.

We are not being dramatic. Bad news in August is palatable. Surprises in April are unacceptable. That is a hill we will die on.

Our Advisory Philosophy

We have over 50 full-time professionals including Certified Public Accountants, Enrolled Agents, Certified Financial Planners, and a whole gaggle of wonderful support staff. We serve business owners and real estate investors in all 50 states, primarily in California, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, the Midwest, Florida, and New England. Long distance is a snap.

Our advisory approach boils down to three things:

  • Discover your goals — We need to know where you want to be before we can help you get there.
  • Find the holes — We identify gaps in your tax, business, or financial life that are costing you money or creating risk.
  • Continuously evaluate — Your plan isn’t static. A strategy that worked at $150K in income might not work at $400K. We adjust as your circumstances change.

Anyone can balance a checkbook or put the right numbers on a tax return, but proper consultation and plan execution is necessary to stay ahead of the tax obligations and changing tax code.

Small Business Consulting

Because your CPA should do more than just file your return. Running a small business is complicated enough without wondering whether you are leaving money on the table, structuring your entity wrong, or paying yourself the wrong salary. Our small business consulting services are built around the idea that a good CPA doesn’t wait for you to ask the right question — they bring the questions to you.

We take a consultative approach to our client relationships. We have the experience of a big CPA firm without the stuffiness. WCG will be your advocate by putting you in a position to make informed decisions as you travel through the ebbs and flows of your financial life — sounds like a cheesy intro to a soap opera, right? But so true!

Business Consultation

Our consultation services cover everything from customized business structures and operating agreements to salary optimization and retirement planning. We consult on riveting topics like Section 199A optimization, reasonable shareholder salary, entity selection, and tax reduction strategies — with over 50 professionals on your team ready to dig in.

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Business Advisory & Patrol Services

WCG divides the tax house between Business Advisory (Vail, Telluride, Aspen) and Tax Patrol (Keystone, Copper, Breck) — aptly named after fancy-pants Colorado ski resorts. Advisory is the robust old-fashioned with lots of planning. Tax Patrol is the refreshing vodka-lemonade with streamlined planning. Both include tax prep, planning, and consultation. Choose your speed.

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Small Business Services Portal

Our Business Services portal is your home base for everything from tax preparation and S Corp elections to payroll processing and retirement planning. Need consultation? Questions about putting your kids on payroll? Worried about the Section 199A deduction? It is all here — organized so you can actually find what you need.

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Small Business Tax Deductions

Most CPAs are compliance-oriented and are not client advocates helping owners understand general principles and subsequent business tax deductions. We have several objectives when engaging with business owners — chief among them: put business owners in better IRS-compliant positions to minimize tax consequences and keep more money in their pockets. Revolutionary, we know.

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Real Estate Tax Strategy

Where the loopholes aren’t loopholes — they’re just tax code that most CPAs don’t bother to learn. Real estate is one of the most tax-advantaged asset classes in the Internal Revenue Code, but only if you know how to use the tools available. Depreciation, cost segregation, the short-term rental loophole, real estate professional status, 1031 exchanges — these are not exotic strategies. They are mainstream tools that your average CPA probably hasn’t spent enough time on.

At WCG, many of our team members are landlords themselves. We speak your language — practically and down-to-earth, not just in typical CPA compliance speak. Jason Watson has been a real estate investor and landlord since 1997 and literally wrote the book on it (I Just Got a Rental, What Do I Do?).

Real Estate Professional Status (REPS)

Why designate yourself as a real estate professional? Because passive activity loss limits cap rental deductions at $25,000 annually, phasing out by $150,000 in AGI. REPS removes those caps entirely — and exempts rental income from the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax. You need 750+ hours and more than 50% of your work time in real estate to qualify. Hours must be documented contemporaneously. No fudging.

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Short-Term Rental Tax Loophole

The STR loophole is our number one traffic-driving topic for good reason. If your average guest stay is 7 days or fewer and you materially participate, your rental becomes a non-passive trade or business — meaning losses can offset W-2 income, K-1 income, and investment income without passive loss limitations. Combine it with a cost segregation study and you have a first-year tax deduction that can make your accountant’s eyes water.

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Real Estate Professional Status Deep Dive

Our comprehensive REPS knowledge base article from our rental property book covers everything from material participation tests and time tracking to spousal elections and IRS audit techniques. If you are serious about claiming REPS, this is required reading — all seven material participation tests, plus case law and practical strategies for surviving an audit.

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Cost Segregation Studies

A cost segregation study reclassifies building components into shorter depreciation periods — 5, 7, and 15 years instead of 27.5 or 39. Combined with bonus depreciation, this can generate massive first-year deductions. A $400,000 rental property might yield $50,000+ in accelerated depreciation in year one. Pair it with the STR loophole or REPS and the numbers get very interesting very fast.

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High-Income Earner Planning

Making money is not the problem. Keeping it is the project. When your household income crosses into the $250,000+ territory, the tax code gets meaner. You lose deductions. Phase-outs kick in. The 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax appears like an uninvited guest. And suddenly the standard advice — “max out your 401k” — isn’t enough to move the needle.

High-income earners need layered strategies that work together: retirement plan optimization, income timing, Roth conversion ladders, entity structuring, and real estate investment planning. And they need someone who understands how all these pieces interact, because pulling one lever affects the others.

Financial Planning

Financial planning is much more than plugging a few numbers into a calculator and getting “your number.” It covers three major components — accumulation (the fun part), preservation (the tricky part), and transfer (the necessary evil part). At WCG, we coordinate financial planning with your tax strategy so every dollar works harder. As the quote from The Hunt for Red October goes: “Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan.”

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Turbocharged 401k Plans

A standard 401k caps your contributions at about $23,500 (employee deferral) plus employer match. A Turbocharged 401k — using age-weighted profit sharing, new comparability formulas, or a cash balance pension plan — can push total deferrals to $200,000+ annually depending on your age. A 50-year-old could defer over $200,000 and save roughly $90,000 in taxes. That is not a typo.

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Self-Employed Retirement Plans

Whether it is a SEP IRA, Solo 401k, or a defined benefit plan, self-employed retirement plans are one of the most powerful and underused tax reduction tools for business owners. The right plan depends on your income, age, number of employees, and how much cash you can part with. We help you pick the right structure and maximize contributions without over-engineering things.

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Accelerated Depreciation & Section 179

Accelerated depreciation lets you front-load deductions on business assets and rental properties instead of spreading them over 27.5 or 39 years. Section 179 expensing and bonus depreciation can turn a large capital purchase into an immediate tax deduction. For high-income earners combining real estate with business ownership, this is where serious tax savings live.

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Projections & Optimization

Bad news in August is palatable. Surprises on April 15 are unacceptable. Tax projections are the backbone of everything we do at WCG. Without knowing where you stand mid-year, every other decision is a guess. We create mock tax returns using your projected income so you know — with reasonable precision — what your tax bill will be before it arrives.

But projections are just the starting point. Optimization is where we layer in decisions: Should you do a Roth conversion this year? Should you accelerate or defer income? Should you buy that vehicle for the business now or next year? Is the cost segregation study worth it this year or should you wait? These decisions compound, and getting them right (or wrong) echoes for years.

Periodic Business Review (PBR)

The Periodic Business Review is WCG’s structured consultation framework for small business owners. It covers entity and ownership considerations, tax deductions, retirement planning, salary optimization, and business strategy. A PBR is a living engagement — we can never solve all your problems in one meeting, and today’s objectives evolve over time. Think of it as a financial checkup for your business.

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Section 199A Qualified Business Income Deduction

The Section 199A deduction allows eligible business owners to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income — a massive tax break from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But there are income limits, W-2 wage tests, specified service trade restrictions, and optimization gymnastics that most CPAs gloss over. We run the numbers to maximize your deduction while balancing S Corp salary and self-employment tax considerations.

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Tax Planning Strategies

Our tax planning strategies overview covers the landscape of tools available to business owners and investors — income shifting, retirement plan optimization, entity structuring, charitable giving strategies, and timing-based approaches. This is your menu of options. Our job is to figure out which ones actually apply to you and how to implement them without creating new problems.

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Tax Planning Services

WCG divides tax planning into three categories: Tax Projections (your facts, your tax — $600 standalone), Tax Advisory (decision-focused, $250 quickie sessions or $1,000–$1,500 projects), and Tax Strategy (multi-year, scenario-based, $1,500–$3,000 with a customized plan deliverable). Each has a different scope and purpose. Not everyone needs all three. We help you figure out which level makes sense.

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Advisory Service Levels at a Glance

Here is a side-by-side comparison of WCG’s advisory service levels. This is the big picture — each platform has nuances and customization options, but this gives you a solid starting point for understanding what’s included, what it costs, and who it’s designed for.

Feature Tax Patrol (Keystone) Tax Patrol (Copper/Breck) Business Advisory (Vail) Business Advisory (Telluride/Aspen) Standalone Planning
Individual Tax Return (1040) ✅ Included ✅ Included ✅ Included ✅ Included ❌ Not included
Business Tax Return ❌ Not included (Keystone) ✅ Included (Breck) ✅ Included ✅ Included ❌ Not included
Household Tax Projections ✅ Included ✅ Included ✅ Included ✅ Included $600 standalone
Business Tax Projections / PTET ❌ Not included ✅ Copper & Breck ✅ Included ✅ Included $350 add-on
Payroll Planning & Processing ❌ Not included ❌ Not included ✅ Included ✅ Included ❌ Not included
Proactive Tax Strategy Sessions Limited 2 annually 3 annually Custom $250 per session
Routine Quick Chats ✅ Routine ✅ Routine ✅ Routine ✅ Routine ❌ Per engagement
Business Advisory & Consultation Minimal Moderate ✅ Comprehensive ✅ Comprehensive ❌ Not included
Interfacing with Lenders/Attorneys ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅ Telluride+ ❌
Annual Fee $1,740 $2,400–$3,360 $4,500 $4,980+ Varies
Monthly Payment $145 $200–$280 $375 $415+ N/A
Best For Individuals who want tax prep + light planning Business owners who want tax prep + solid planning Business owners who need comprehensive advisory Complex situations, multi-state, multi-entity One-time questions or decisions
Engagement Style Reactive with proactive touches Balanced proactive/reactive Proactive-first Fully proactive, customized Project-based

All advisory platforms are priced annually and paid as monthly subscriptions, prorated based on your onboarding date. See the WCG Fee Page for complete details. Investor Patrol Services are also available for rental property owners starting at $2,040/year. Learn more about Investor Patrol →

Which Advisory Service Is Right for You?

Use this as a starting point — not a final answer. Every situation has nuances, but this framework covers the most common paths we see. Don’t freak out and snap your pencil if you don’t fit perfectly into one category.

What best describes your situation?

→ I just need my taxes done. No frills. You are looking for a transactional engagement — come in each spring, hand over your documents, and bada bing bada boom you have a tax return and a nice summer. That’s perfectly fine. Check out our individual tax prep or business tax prep pages.

→ I want tax prep plus some planning and the freedom to call when I have questions. Tax Patrol is your jam. Starting at $145/month (Keystone), you get your tax return plus a mid-year tax projection and complimentary quick chats. It’s like ski patrol — you might not use it every day, but you sleep better knowing it’s there. Explore Tax Patrol Services →

→ I have a business and need proactive advisory, salary optimization, payroll, and real tax planning. Business Advisory (Vail) at $375/month includes everything: business and individual returns, payroll planning and processing, three tax strategy sessions, and routine consultation. This is the robust old-fashioned — lots of planning, tax reduction strategies, and business consultation to help you make decisions. Explore Business Advisory →

→ My situation is complex — multi-state, multiple entities, high income, or planning a major transaction. Business Advisory (Telluride or Aspen) is your speed. Telluride adds proactive business-entity tax planning, PTET calculations, and interfacing with lenders and attorneys. Aspen is fully customized for your unique situation. Schedule a consultation →

→ I own rental properties and need a CPA who actually understands real estate investing. Investor Patrol Services — designed specifically for rental property owners. Our CPAs are also landlords who speak your language. Platforms start at $2,040/year (Houses) for up to 3 rentals including tax return preparation, proactive tax planning, and routine consultation. Explore Investor Patrol →

→ I just have one question or need help with a single decision. Start with a Quickie Tax Advisory Session — 40 minutes for $250 with a WCG Partner. It’s a great way to get pointed advice without committing to an ongoing engagement. Or schedule a free 20-minute discovery call to see if we’re a good fit.

How Advisory Services Work in Real Life

Here is a real-world example of how advisory services play out over time. This is a composite scenario based on actual client engagements.

Year 1: The Starting Line Sarah is a physical therapist earning $180,000 through her single-member LLC taxed as a sole proprietor. She files her taxes in April, pays $47,000 in combined federal and state taxes, and wonders why she works so hard. She contacts WCG.

We run an S Corp analysis and determine that an S Corp election with a reasonable salary of $80,000 would save her approximately $12,000 annually in self-employment taxes — net of the additional payroll and compliance costs. She elects S Corp status and enrolls in our Vail Business Advisory platform.

Year 2: Building Layers During her Periodic Business Review, we identify that Sarah is only contributing to a SEP IRA ($20,500). We design a Turbocharged 401k with a new comparability profit sharing plan, pushing her total retirement deferral to $66,000. At a 32% marginal tax rate, that is an additional $14,500 in her pocket.

We also optimize her Section 199A deduction by adjusting her salary — since she is a specified service trade, keeping her taxable income under the phase-out threshold preserves the 20% QBI deduction worth roughly $7,200 in tax savings.

Year 3: Adding Real Estate Sarah buys a short-term rental in Destin, Florida for $375,000. We commission a cost segregation study that identifies $82,000 in accelerated depreciation. Combined with the STR loophole and material participation documentation, the first-year loss offsets a significant chunk of her W-2-equivalent income.

Her total tax savings in year 3, compared to her year-zero approach: approximately $38,000. That is not unusual. That is what proactive advisory does.

The Takeaway None of these were standalone decisions. The S Corp election affected her salary, which affected her 401k, which affected her Section 199A deduction, which affected how we modeled the STR loophole. Everything is connected. And having an advisor who sees the full picture means each decision builds on the last one instead of creating a new problem.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some quickie FAQs to learn more about WCG CPAs & Advisors advisory services, and how we do business-

What’s the difference between tax preparation and tax planning?

Tax preparation is backward-looking — we record what happened last year and report it to the IRS. Tax planning is forward-looking — we project your tax obligations, identify opportunities to reduce your liability, and help you make informed decisions before December 31. At WCG, we split planning into three levels: Tax Projections (your facts, your tax), Tax Advisory (a decision needs to be made), and Tax Strategy (multi-year, scenario-based planning). Not everyone needs all three, but almost everyone benefits from at least one. The clients who manage their tax liability best are the ones proactively managing their “taxable surface” throughout the year. Learn more about tax planning services →

What is Tax Patrol Service?

Tax Patrol is WCG’s mid-tier advisory engagement — think of it as the Goldilocks between our comprehensive Business Advisory platforms and a transactional tax-return-only relationship. It comes in three Colorado ski resort–themed platforms: Keystone ($1,740/year), Copper ($2,400/year), and Breckenridge ($3,360/year), each paid as a monthly subscription. Tax Patrol includes your tax return, a household tax projection, and complimentary quick chats so you can call, text, or email without worrying about being nickeled and dimed. It is specifically designed for those who do not need all the business advisory bells and whistles but want more than an April filing. Explore Tax Patrol →

How does real estate professional status (REPS) reduce my taxes?

REPS removes the passive activity loss limitations that normally cap rental deductions at $25,000 annually (phasing out entirely by $150,000 in modified adjusted gross income). To qualify, you must spend more than 50% of your total working hours in real property trades or businesses and log at least 750 hours. You must also materially participate in each rental activity — or elect to aggregate all your rentals as a single activity. REPS also exempts rental income from the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax, which is a benefit many investors overlook. Hours must be documented contemporaneously — the IRS does not accept estimates. Read more about REPS →

What is a Periodic Business Review?

A Periodic Business Review (PBR) is WCG’s structured consultation framework for small business owners. It covers entity and ownership considerations, tax deductions, retirement planning, salary optimization, business strategy, and industry benchmarking. A PBR is your meeting — if you have specific questions and concerns, we focus on those first. It is a living engagement designed to evolve as your business grows. We cannot solve all your problems in one meeting, and today’s objectives change over time. The PBR agenda is a framework to jog your memory and get creative juices flowing. View the PBR agenda →

Can I do just one tax planning session or do I need an ongoing engagement?

Both are available. For a one-off question, we offer a 40-minute Quickie Tax Advisory session for $250 with a WCG Partner. For deeper single-topic projects, Tax Advisory engagements typically run $1,000–$1,500 at $375/hour. And for multi-year, scenario-based strategy work, Tax Strategy projects run $1,500–$3,000 with a customized Tax Strategy Plan deliverable. If you want ongoing support with tax return preparation bundled in, our Tax Patrol and Business Advisory platforms start at $145/month. No one works for free — but we make sure every dollar of planning fees pays for itself in tax savings.

What is the Section 199A deduction and does it apply to me?

Section 199A is the Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. It allows eligible business owners, self-employed professionals, and rental property owners to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income. If you make $200,000 in qualified business income, the deduction is $40,000 — times your marginal tax rate of 24%, that equals $9,600 in your pocket. The catch? If you are a specified service trade (doctors, lawyers, consultants, financial advisors) and your taxable income exceeds $191,950 (single) or $383,900 (married), the deduction phases out. And at higher income levels, W-2 wages and depreciable asset calculations apply. There is optimization gymnastics between your S Corp salary and your Section 199A deduction — this is exactly where advisory earns its keep. Read the full Section 199A breakdown →

Tax Planning Season

Tax planning season is here! Let's schedule a time to review tax reduction strategies and generate a mock tax return.

Tax Planning Services
Bookkeeping Services

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Accounting Services

Let’s Chat

If you are trying to figure out which advisory service makes sense — whether that is Tax Patrol, Business Advisory, a standalone planning session, or something entirely different — let’s talk it through. We typically start with a quick conversation to understand where you’re at and where you’re trying to go. No pressure. No sales pitch. Just a smart discussion so you can make a good decision.

The tax advisors, business consultants and rental property experts at WCG CPAs & Advisors are not salespeople; we are not putting lipstick on a pig expecting you to love it. Our job remains being professionally detached, giving you information and letting you decide within our ethical guidelines and your risk profiles.

We see far too many crazy schemes and half-baked ideas from attorneys and wealth managers. In some cases, they are good ideas. In most cases, all the entities, layering and mixed ownership is only the illusion of precision. As Chris Rock says, just because you can drive your car with your feet doesn’t make it a good idea. In other words, let’s not automatically convert “you can” into “you must.”

Let’s chat so you can be smart about it.

We typically schedule a 20-minute complimentary quick chat with one of our Partners or our amazing Senior Tax Professionals to determine if we are a good fit for each other, and how an engagement with our team looks. Tax returns only? Business advisory? Tax strategy and planning? Rental property support?

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After almost 6 years with this CPA group, there is NO ONE else we would trust to do our taxes.

L. Matisek

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We've worked with multiple bookkeepers and accountants over the years and WCG has completely blown us away.

N. Sellden

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As a novice business entrepreneur they provided me with the tools to both structure and tax my business efficiently

Mayon Hight

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They've made my taxes a breeze and are worth every dime I pay them for the peace of mind their services provide.

Lynn Shannon

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The good folks at WCG have impressed me, as being highly competent, patient & friendly.

Fred LeBlanc

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They've made my complicated business life simple and I'd recommend them to anyone with a slightly complicated-to-overwhelmingly complicated tax strategy!

Nic J

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For nearly nine years, I have had the privilege of working with WCG and their team of exceptionally knowledgeable and experienced CPAs.

Alex Hickman

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Amanda - WCG CPA - You guys have been invaluable in helping us get this business and tax planning setup properly and executed correctly.

Lance Dodd

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WCG is extremely knowledgable, timely and attune to the unique aspects of our businesses.

Carl Protsch

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WCG CPAs are professional and a pleasure to work with.

Nakapan P.

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They go beyond the call of duties to assist me not only with Tax return matters but with any questions on other personal and company tax matters.

Juan Mayorga

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I've always dreaded tax season, but WCG has made things so easy, even as we changed to an S corp. So happy we found them!

Paige de Kock

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It was great to find an accounting firm eager to take on new clients, answer initial questions in depth, and support our “keep it simple” philosophy.

Stuart B.

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Working with WCG was so easy, shout out to Sally Rhoades who handled my complicated tax situation this year wonderfully and was available for all my questions.

Stefani Cinto

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I am so thankful to be a client of WCG CPAs & Advisors.

Carol Kersten

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It's a wonderful and rare treat to find a company like WCG these days with their high level of service, personal approach, and deep knowledge of accounting.

Jeffree Hilton

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Such a great firm. Great communicators, great attention to detail and overall great people.

Jeff Owens

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