Craig Cody

Filing a return isn't a tax strategy. My firm helps 70+ marketing and PR agency owners a month keep more of what they make. CPA. Retired NYPD Lt.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

Your agency may still have retirement plan options before year-end.

Full video can be watched here:
https://t.co/TofDFDlV5v

Failed 401(k) testing can send owner deferrals back. Craig discusses when a safe harbor amendment may help and why employer contributions through profit sharing or a cash balance plan are still worth reviewing.

Stop overpaying taxes! Get your Free Missed Tax Savings Report to see what deductions your CPA overlooked on your last two returns.

→Click the "Related Video" link on this Short to watch the full step-by-step breakdown!
Or
→Visit my channel profile page to get your free report now!

About Craig S. Cody:
Craig is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant. He helps agency owners keep more of what they earn through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO strategies.
→Book a Free Tax Analysis https://t.co/v8AxFx4h2I

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant who helps agency owners keep more of what they make through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO work.

#TaxPlanning #AgencyOwner #SmallBusinessTax #TaxSavings #CPA #BusinessOwner #SafeHarbor401k #CashBalancePlan #RetirementPlanning

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

"That'll raise a red flag" is not a reason.

It is an excuse.

Make them tell you why.

It is your money on the table, not theirs.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

A preparer tells you what the cut cost.
A planner tells you which year to cut.
A historian hands you the bill in March.

Only one of the three is worth what you pay them.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

A Schedule C hires a kid and skips the payroll tax.
An S corp hires a kid and pays it.
Both deduct the wage.
Both fund the Roth.

The deduction is the entry fee. The Roth is the prize.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

The time AI saved you went to one of three places.

An invoice you would not otherwise have sent.

A hire you did not have to make.

Or nowhere at all.

Only two of those are a return on investment.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

A bigger depreciation deduction today can affect your tax bill when you sell.

Full video can be watched here:
https://t.co/ye0ZBI4xWH

Cost segregation can accelerate depreciation, but the sale brings its own tax questions. Craig explains why the expected holding period and potential depreciation recapture belong in the analysis before you commission a study.

Stop overpaying taxes! Get your Free Missed Tax Savings Report to see what deductions your CPA overlooked on your last two returns.

→Click the "Related Video" link on this Short to watch the full step-by-step breakdown!
Or
→Visit my channel profile page to get your free report now!

About Craig S. Cody:
Craig is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant. He helps agency owners keep more of what they earn through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO strategies.
→Book a Free Tax Analysis https://t.co/v8AxFx4h2I

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant who helps agency owners keep more of what they make through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO work.

#TaxPlanning #AgencyOwner #SmallBusinessTax #TaxSavings #CPA #BusinessOwner #CostSegregation #DepreciationRecapture #RealEstateTax

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

No policy on credit memos is still a policy.
It's just written by whoever has the login.
One invoice at a time.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

A domestic trip and a foreign trip are not the same deduction.

Domestic, an extra weekend costs you nothing.
Foreign, an extra weekend can cost you a third of the airfare.

Same weekend.
Different country.

It isn't how much you spent. It's how you structured the calendar.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

Your clients don't insist on you because they need you.

They insist on you because you taught them to.

Every solo discovery call was a lesson.

Teach them the team is the result instead.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

Three kinds of evidence can help defend a contractor classification.

Full video can be watched here:
https://t.co/bvUm4S81EN

Could your agency defend its contractor classification? Craig breaks down the three areas to document for Section 530 relief: reporting, consistent treatment across similar roles and a reasonable basis for the classification.

Stop overpaying taxes! Get your Free Missed Tax Savings Report to see what deductions your CPA overlooked on your last two returns.

→Click the "Related Video" link on this Short to watch the full step-by-step breakdown!
Or
→Visit my channel profile page to get your free report now!

About Craig S. Cody:
Craig is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant. He helps agency owners keep more of what they earn through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO strategies.
→Book a Free Tax Analysis https://t.co/v8AxFx4h2I

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant who helps agency owners keep more of what they make through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO work.

#TaxPlanning #AgencyOwner #SmallBusinessTax #TaxSavings #CPA #BusinessOwner #Section530 #WorkerClassification #TaxDocumentation

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

Check four things before using agency cash to buy an office.

Full video can be watched here:
https://t.co/ye0ZBI4xWH

Before looking at deductions, Craig checks whether the agency plans to stay, knows its market, can fund the down payment without using its payroll cushion and has compatible ownership across the agency and the property.

Stop overpaying taxes! Get your Free Missed Tax Savings Report to see what deductions your CPA overlooked on your last two returns.

→Click the "Related Video" link on this Short to watch the full step-by-step breakdown!
Or
→Visit my channel profile page to get your free report now!

About Craig S. Cody:
Craig is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant. He helps agency owners keep more of what they earn through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO strategies.
→Book a Free Tax Analysis https://t.co/v8AxFx4h2I

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant who helps agency owners keep more of what they make through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO work.

#TaxPlanning #AgencyOwner #SmallBusinessTax #TaxSavings #CPA #BusinessOwner #OfficeOwnership #CommercialProperty #AgencyFinance

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

Buying your office doesn’t guarantee a deduction against agency income.

Full video can be watched here:
https://t.co/ye0ZBI4xWH

A building LLC can show a rental loss while the agency earns operating income. Craig explains why those amounts don’t necessarily offset each other and why the self-rental rule treats net income and losses differently.

Stop overpaying taxes! Get your Free Missed Tax Savings Report to see what deductions your CPA overlooked on your last two returns.

→Click the "Related Video" link on this Short to watch the full step-by-step breakdown!
Or
→Visit my channel profile page to get your free report now!

About Craig S. Cody:
Craig is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant. He helps agency owners keep more of what they earn through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO strategies.
→Book a Free Tax Analysis https://t.co/v8AxFx4h2I

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant who helps agency owners keep more of what they make through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO work.

#TaxPlanning #AgencyOwner #SmallBusinessTax #TaxSavings #CPA #BusinessOwner #SelfRental #PassiveLoss #CommercialRealEstate

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

Misclassifying a worker can leave your agency owing back payroll taxes.

Full video can be watched here:
https://t.co/bvUm4S81EN

A contractor classification mistake can leave an agency owing back employment taxes. Craig explains why past 1099 filings matter and introduces the IRS settlement program for eligible businesses that want to change how they classify workers going forward.

Stop overpaying taxes! Get your Free Missed Tax Savings Report to see what deductions your CPA overlooked on your last two returns.

→Click the "Related Video" link on this Short to watch the full step-by-step breakdown!
Or
→Visit my channel profile page to get your free report now!

About Craig S. Cody:
Craig is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant. He helps agency owners keep more of what they earn through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO strategies.
→Book a Free Tax Analysis https://t.co/v8AxFx4h2I

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant who helps agency owners keep more of what they make through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO work.

#TaxPlanning #AgencyOwner #SmallBusinessTax #TaxSavings #CPA #BusinessOwner #PayrollTaxes #WorkerMisclassification #IRS

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

What a freelancer does matters more than what their contract calls them.

Full video can be watched here:
https://t.co/bvUm4S81EN

A designer works 40 hours a week, joins staff meetings and reports to a manager. Craig explains why the day-to-day relationship can matter more than the contractor label to the IRS, state regulators and a potential buyer.

Stop overpaying taxes! Get your Free Missed Tax Savings Report to see what deductions your CPA overlooked on your last two returns.

→Click the "Related Video" link on this Short to watch the full step-by-step breakdown!
Or
→Visit my channel profile page to get your free report now!

About Craig S. Cody:
Craig is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant. He helps agency owners keep more of what they earn through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO strategies.
→Book a Free Tax Analysis https://t.co/v8AxFx4h2I

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant who helps agency owners keep more of what they make through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO work.

#TaxPlanning #AgencyOwner #SmallBusinessTax #TaxSavings #CPA #BusinessOwner #WorkerClassification #Contractors #Employees

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

A cash basis profit report can make a bad month look good.

Full video can be watched here:
https://t.co/XqbqJFlK3E

A late client payment can make a cash basis P&L look like a great month. Craig explains how accrual books help owners see what they earned and what delivery cost, while a separate adjustment connects those books to the tax return.

Stop overpaying taxes! Get your Free Missed Tax Savings Report to see what deductions your CPA overlooked on your last two returns.

→Click the "Related Video" link on this Short to watch the full step-by-step breakdown!
Or
→Visit my channel profile page to get your free report now!

About Craig S. Cody:
Craig is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant. He helps agency owners keep more of what they earn through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO strategies.
→Book a Free Tax Analysis https://t.co/v8AxFx4h2I

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant who helps agency owners keep more of what they make through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO work.

#TaxPlanning #AgencyOwner #SmallBusinessTax #TaxSavings #CPA #BusinessOwner #AccrualAccounting #CashBasis #AgencyMargins

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

On time tells you the work got done.
Margin tells you it paid.
Most delivery leads get one number.
Give them both.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

Every year-end tax checklist is real. Buy the equipment, prepay the software, give before New Year's.
None of them tells you it's the small dollars.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀

If your agency has a 401(k) that keeps failing testing and your own deferrals keep coming back, amend it to a safe harbor nonelective plan by December 1: 3% for every eligible employee for the whole year. Miss December 1 and the door stays open into next year at 4%. If you have no plan at all, employee deferrals closed October 1, because a new safe harbor plan needs a three-month first year. What's still open is employer money: adopt a profit-sharing or cash balance plan after December 31, up to your return due date with extensions, and fund it for this year. Your own $24,500 deferral has to come out of a paycheck dated this year.

That's the payroll point generally. An S corporation owner's W-2 is set by payroll, not by the return. Your deferral, the QBI wage limit once you're past the threshold, and the reasonable salary the IRS tests all ride on a check dated this year. Run the numbers in November. Staff bonuses on the accrual method are deductible this year only if paid within two and a half months after year end; a bonus to you, the shareholder, counts only when it's paid.

On the cash method, billing in January instead of December is legitimate. Holding a check that arrived in December until January 2 is not; that's constructive receipt. Prepaying a year of software, insurance or rent in December is deductible now under the 12-month rule. A three-year deal gets capitalized. Prepay what you'd buy anyway. Never buy a deduction.

𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱

The S election. Form 2553 was due March 15, and most owners who missed it assume they're stuck until next year. Rev. Proc. 2013-30 lets an eligible entity file late up to three years and 75 days after the date it wanted S status to start, with reasonable cause, as long as every shareholder filed consistently with S status. If the four numbers a salary moves are why you wanted the S corporation, that's a fourth-quarter conversation.

The state pass-through entity tax. Most states let an S corporation or partnership pay the state tax at the entity level, and the entity deducts it in the year paid, outside the SALT cap. So this year's deduction only exists if the entity pays before December 31. Election calendars vary by state. Ask now which one you're on.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁

Equipment counts when it's placed in service, not ordered; a camera on a truck on December 31 doesn't count. Giving changed for 2026: itemizers deduct only above 0.5% of income and the top bracket gets 35 cents on the dollar, so bunch two or three years into one December if giving is already part of your life, and don't start for a deduction if it isn't. Augusta rule meetings, your kids' payroll and accountable plan reimbursements need real days and real payroll dated this year.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱

A new safe harbor 401(k) with employee deferrals for this year. And the salary and QBI structure, beyond a December true-up. The year's wage base and the entity that produced it were decided months ago.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁

Here's the honest version. Everything above is real money, and it's the small dollars. The entity, the compensation model, the plan design, the accounting method, how client media sits on the books, and whether your contractors are documented as contractors: those set an agency's tax bill, and every one of them belongs in the first half of the year. The fourth quarter can fix them for next year. It can't recover this one. If the first time you hear from your CPA is November, you're not getting the big dollars, you're getting the small dollars. Filing a return isn't a tax strategy. Neither is a checklist in December.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

Most CPA firms won't tell you what they charge until you're on a call.
Here's what mine charges, in the order you'd pay it, and the return we hold it to.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀

There are three steps, and each one has its own price. The analysis is free. The tax plan starts at $8,500 and you pay it once. The monthly packages start at $2,070, $4,820 or $9,015 a month, and they're only available after a plan is complete.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗼𝗻𝗲: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀

You send your prior-year tax returns, your P&L and your balance sheet. The returns show what was filed. The P&L and the balance sheet show what the agency actually looks like: the profit, the payroll, how media sits on the books. Put together, they tell us which decisions were never made and what making them would be worth. That's where we determine the savings, not guess them, and it costs you nothing.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝘄𝗼: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻

Once you've seen the savings, you decide whether you want to move forward. Plans start at $8,500, one time, not every year. The plan is where the big decisions get made: the entity, the salary, the retirement plan, the accounting method, how media sits on the books, the contractors, the states. The standard we hold it to: we want it to return 4 to 10 times the fee in tax savings the first year. On an $8,500 plan, that's $34,000 to $85,000. The strong end looks like one client who saved $94,000 in the first year, on a $1.5 million AGI agency.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲: 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗹𝘆

Only after a plan is complete can someone move to a monthly package. The plan makes the big decisions; the monthly work keeps them made, because profit, payroll and states change during the year. Every package includes a monthly meeting with a CPA-led team, financial reviews, agency metrics, tax projections, continuous planning, and both the business and personal returns. Foundations from $2,070. Growth from $4,820, with more of the back office. Fractional CFO from $9,015, with forecasting and exit planning. What moves the number is complexity, entity count, payroll and state filings. If tax is the only problem you're solving, nobody should sell you the CFO package to fix a tax bill.

𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿

My firm has never priced by the hour. We've always priced on the deliverable. What you pay for is the insight, and then the right numbers in the right boxes. An hourly fee tells you nothing about what you'll get, gives the planner a reason to take longer, and gives you a reason not to call.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘆

Some analyses come back smaller. An agency that already has its big decisions made well has less room. That's the reason the analysis comes first and costs nothing: if the savings don't justify the plan, you found out for free, and what you probably need is a good preparer and a call when something changes. And if the agency isn't profitable yet, fix the margin first. A tax plan works on profit, and there has to be some.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗽 𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲

We see this in my own field all the time with tax software. The annual rate is fairly inexpensive, but then you find out all the forms it doesn't write to, and the ultimate cost far exceeds the top tier software. A preparer's fee works the same way: the price is low, and the cost shows up in the deductions nobody claimed, which never appear on any invoice. A CPA should be an income item, not an expense. If yours isn't, that's the first thing to fix.

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

Your agency’s revenue is only one part of qualifying for the cash method.

Full video can be watched here:
https://t.co/XqbqJFlK3E

Gross receipts are only one part of cash method eligibility. Craig explains why the tax shelter rules can also matter and how loss allocations to owners who don’t work in the business enter the analysis.

Stop overpaying taxes! Get your Free Missed Tax Savings Report to see what deductions your CPA overlooked on your last two returns.

→Click the "Related Video" link on this Short to watch the full step-by-step breakdown!
Or
→Visit my channel profile page to get your free report now!

About Craig S. Cody:
Craig is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant. He helps agency owners keep more of what they earn through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO strategies.
→Book a Free Tax Analysis https://t.co/v8AxFx4h2I

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and former NYPD Lieutenant who helps agency owners keep more of what they make through proactive, year-round tax planning and fractional CFO work.

#TaxPlanning #AgencyOwner #SmallBusinessTax #TaxSavings #CPA #BusinessOwner #CashMethod #TaxAccounting #GrossReceipts

[Craig Cody @TheAgencyCPA]

AI can make production faster and still make the account less profitable.
That sounds backwards until you measure what happens after the first draft.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁

Digiday reported on September 25, on a town hall with brand-side marketers, held under the Chatham House Rule so people said what they think. They said the quality control is bad. One called it a growing acceptance of "good enough, go" and said they'd seen creative from their agencies with the logo wrong; they now insist on a human checking the work before a campaign runs. Others said agencies are leaving junior people to oversee the platforms. And a marketer for a premium beauty brand described her own rule: she treats everything the tool produces as a rough draft, and it has to be 10/80/10. Ten percent of her time up front pointing it, the tool does eighty in the middle, ten percent at the end to get good work. Read that as an agency owner. When you ship the middle without the end, her last ten percent is your QA. She's doing it for free, and she's started saying so.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

The middle is the only part that got cheaper, and it's the only part anybody measures. Say a workflow removes six production hours from a deliverable. Now count what it added: two hours of senior review by somebody who knows the brand, one hour of rework when the first version missed, and a client fire drill when something slips through anyway. In hours that netted three. In dollars, maybe nothing, because two hours of a creative director cost more than six hours of a coordinator. Illustration, not a client: six hours at $60 is $360 saved; two hours at $150 is $300 back, plus the rework, and you're at zero. Add one escape and the line lost money the month the tool was supposed to save it. Owners net those two in their heads, and they net wrong.

𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲

Hours removed: production time the workflow actually eliminated, same deliverable, same client, before and after. Senior QA minutes: the judgment the output needed before it was safe to ship, booked at the reviewer's real cost. Rework cycles: how many times it came back because the first version missed the brand, the strategy or the facts. Error escapes: mistakes that reached the client or the market, each with its cost in time, trust and make-good work. Realized efficiency is the hours removed minus the review minus the rework. Escapes are costed on their own, because one can erase a quarter. Do it per service line; the agency-wide average hides the line that's bleeding.

𝗠𝘆 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱

In accounting, there have been different levels of AI on the bookkeeping side for years. It never removed the review process. Anyone who's worked in QuickBooks Online knows the results are only as good as the review process behind them. The automation runs the middle. The review is where the books get right.

𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴

If AI makes delivery cheaper, you don't owe the client every dollar of that back. They're buying the outcome, your judgment, and someone accountable when it's wrong; none of that got cheaper. But you only keep the margin if the work meets the standard. The day the logo's wrong, the client just supplied the judgment themselves, and your fee argument goes with it.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀

Not everywhere. Review everything and you've turned a six-hour saving into a six-hour cost. It goes where a mistake is expensive: brand, reputation, strategy, money, client trust. Rank the deliverables on the line by what an escape would cost; senior review on the top of that list, sample the rest. Junior oversight of a platform is not review. It's someone watching the output go by, and that's exactly what the brand side just complained about. AI efficiency without QA isn't leverage. It's unpriced risk.