Your plan is built. This is how we implement it together, keep it running, and make sure every strategy shows up on your return.
Confidential · Anomaly Concierge Tax clients only
This guide, the strategies it describes, and the procedures and documents that go with it are the proprietary work product of Anomaly CPA, prepared for you as a Concierge Tax client. It is provided for your use and the use of your own advisors, and is not to be forwarded, posted, or shared outside that circle.
Please do not share it in investor groups, mastermind or community forums, or with anyone building a similar plan without us. A summary passed along without the analysis behind it tends to get implemented badly, which is a problem for the person who received it and, eventually, for the standing of the approach itself.
© 2026 Anomaly CPA. All rights reserved. Nothing here is a guarantee of a tax outcome, and it is not legal advice.
01
Your plan is done. Now what.
You have a tax plan. A plan only saves money once it is actually implemented and documented. That is what this guide is for.
01
Stand up each strategy correctly the first time.
02
Feed us the details as they happen, not at year end.
03
Stay on a simple quarterly and annual rhythm.
Core idea
You do not calculate anything and you do not build anything alone. You send us the raw details. We handle the math, the documents, and the entries.
The whole engagement
Three phases, then it repeats
01
Tax Assessment
& Advisory
Complete
Before this guide
Returns reviewed
Strategies quantified
Plan delivered
02
Implementation
You are here
First 90 days
Tracker goes live
Entity and payroll setup
Documents signed
03
The running cycle
Ongoing
Every year after
Quarterly estimates
Strategy meetings
Return verified vs plan
↻ Phase 03 loops back into a refreshed plan every year. The strategy list is revisited, not set once.
Running underneath all three, from day one
Your live tracker
Open it any time to see progress and open items.
Your team, by email
A reply within one business day. Ask anything, any time.
Knowledge base
Plain answers on deadlines, documents, and how each strategy works.
Income tax notices
Covered for the years we prepared. See section 06.
02
Meet your team, and how to reach us
You are not emailing a general inbox. These are the Tax Project Managers on our team. One of them is assigned to you and will introduce themselves directly. Open any card for a short introduction.
Who to email about what
Email is the main channel, because it puts your question on the record and gets it to the right person. Reply on the existing thread when there is one.
Status, deadlines, documents
Your Tax Project Manager. They own your tracker and know where everything stands.
A strategy question or a decision
Your Tax Project Manager. Ask for a call if it is a real decision rather than a quick question.
Books, close, transactions
Your accounting team, where bookkeeping is in your engagement.
An IRS or state notice
Forward it the day you get it. Do not reply to it yourself. Deadlines on notices are short.
Time-sensitive
Put the deadline in the subject line. We triage on that.
What to expect on response time
Same day
Anything time-sensitive: a notice, a closing, a deadline. Flag it in the subject line and we treat it that way.
1 business day
Everything else gets a reply, even when the reply is "on it, you will have the answer by Thursday."
Anytime
Want a faster read on something complicated? Ask for a call. We would rather spend fifteen minutes on the phone than trade six emails.
Nudge us any time. If something feels like it is taking longer than you expected, say so on the thread or email your Tax Project Manager directly. You will never be a bother, and we would always rather hear it from you early.
03
What you receive from us
Your engagement produces a specific set of documents. Know what each one is, so you always know which to open.
Your Tax Strategy Plan. The strategies we selected for you and the projected savings behind each one. This is the why.
Your Custom Implementation Guide. The plan translated into your own to-do list, strategy by strategy: what gets stood up, in what order, what we need from you, and what done looks like. This is the working document. If you only keep one, keep this one.
Your entity chart. How your business is structured today, and how it will be structured once the plan is in place.
Your tax escrow schedule. What to set aside and pay each quarter, with the federal and state vouchers.
Your implementation tracker. The live link. Progress, owners, and open items, updated as we go.
Your strategy documents. Accountable plan policy, Augusta rental agreement and minutes template, reasonable-comp memo, advisory agreements. Signed and kept in your folder.
This guide. How the whole thing runs.
These get refreshed as your plan evolves. Ask us for the current version rather than working from a PDF you downloaded last year. We will resend any of them, any time, no explanation needed.
04
You will see every step
You are not going to wonder whether things are getting done. We build you a live implementation tracker and send you the link. It lists every item in your plan, who owns it, and where it stands, updated as we go.
Green means done. Anything waiting on you is flagged clearly, with what we need and by when.
We drive it. Most items are ours, and we chase the ones that are yours so nothing slips.
You never have to remember what is next. If something needs you, you will hear from us with one clear ask.
The most common worry after a tax plan is "will this actually get implemented, or did I just buy a PDF." The tracker is our answer. Open it any time and see exactly what is done and what is left. Nothing falls through the cracks, because one person on our team owns it end to end.
05
What we handle, what stays yours
We handle
- The calculations
- The documents and the elections
- The bookkeeping entries, where we keep your books
- The deadlines and the reminders
You handle
- Decisions
- Sending us the raw inputs on time
- A heads-up before big moves
If your business is an S-corp: wages run through payroll on a set schedule. We advise the salary and the timing; the payroll provider runs it.
If your business is a Schedule C or single-member LLC: no payroll. The profit flows onto your personal return, and strategies run through reimbursements and documentation instead of a paycheck.
06
What is not included
Being clear about the edges is part of doing this well. None of the below is a gap in your plan. They are simply other people's work, and we will tell you when you need them.
We do not run your payroll. Gusto does. We set the salary, the timing, and the treatment, and we watch that it runs.
We do not form entities or draft legal documents. Your attorney does. We tell them exactly what the plan requires and we review the tax terms.
We do not manage investments or sell insurance. We model the tax consequence of what your advisors recommend. For retirement plans and investing we work with Apex Investment Group, our partner firm. See section 18.
We do not make the decision. We give you the numbers, the tradeoff, and a recommendation. The call is yours.
Notice support has limits worth knowing. We handle income tax notices for the years Anomaly prepared the return. Notices on a year prepared by someone else, and payroll, sales tax, and property tax notices of any kind, are outside it. Send those to us anyway and we will tell you what we can do and what it would involve. If a matter escalates to a full examination, we scope that with you before any work starts.
Want something outside the plan? Ask. If it is a quick answer it is a quick answer. If it is a new piece of work we will tell you what it involves before we start, never after.
07
How we work together
Anomaly commits to
- Replying to your emails within one business day
- A check-in through your first 120 days so setup does not drift
- Prompting you ahead of every deadline
- Telling you plainly what we handle and what you handle
- Keeping your books on cadence where that is in your engagement
We need from you
- Documents and numbers within five business days
- A decision when we ask, or a date you will have it
- A heads-up before you buy, sell, finance, hire, or change your entity
- A reply even when the answer is "not yet"
- Your tax-planning backup sent in as it happens, not at year end
First 120 days
Setup is where things get stuck, so we check in by email across your first 120 days. No meeting to schedule. Reply to the email and you have done your part.
08
Your first 90 days
Days 1–14
Implementation Meeting. We confirm which strategies apply, build your tracker, and send you the first, short list of inputs.
Days 15–45
Setup. Entity or election if any, payroll if you are an S-corp, accountable plan policy, and your document templates. First quick win booked so you see the plan working early.
Days 45–90
First full cycle. First reimbursement processed, first estimate scheduled, cadence set. You settle into the rhythm.
Throughout: a short email check-in so setup does not drift. You will always know what is next and when it is due.
09
Getting set up
Work through these once, in order. We do most of this with you.
01
Confirm your entity is set the way the plan calls for. If we are converting you to an S-corp, we coordinate the election.
02
If you are an S-corp, set up payroll before you take any wages.
03
Keep business and personal money separate. Business expenses on the business account, personal on personal. Never mix.
04
Sign the accountable plan policy and keep a copy.
05
For Augusta, keep the rental agreement and minutes template where you can find them.
06
Start one folder for records: signed documents, invoices, reimbursements, minutes. Add to it as you go.
10
Your strategies: what we need
Read this before the list
This is a reference for the strategies we most often implement, written so you know what each one asks of you. It is not your list. Your list lives in two places, and those two always win:
Your Tax Strategy Plan names every strategy we selected for you and what each is worth.
Your implementation tracker shows each of those as a live item with an owner and a status.
Some strategies here will not apply to you. Some things in your plan are specific to your situation and are not described here at all. If a strategy is in your plan, it is in your tracker. If you ever cannot find one, that is a question worth asking, not a reason to worry: email us and we will show you where it sits.
We walk through which of these apply to you at your Implementation Meeting, then send the documents. Nothing below is something you set up on your own.
Home office. Send exclusive-use square footage, total home square footage, home purchase price and date, and major improvements if handy. We compute the deduction and the depreciation.
Accountable plan. We send the written policy. From then on, email us the business expenses you paid personally and we handle the reimbursement.
Augusta rule. We send the rental agreement and minutes template. Hold the meeting, email us the details, we handle the fair rental value and the recording.
Reasonable salary (S-corp only). We set your salary to match the work you actually do, and confirm it yearly.
Board of advisors. If family or trusted advisors give you real business advice, we can put them on a documented advisory fee.
Hiring your kids (age 7+). If it fits your business, we can put your children on payroll for real work, which can be tax-free to them up to a limit and can fund a Roth for them.
Retirement. As profit grows we look at a solo 401(k) or, at higher stable income, a cash balance plan to move real money off the top. Ask us before you open anything and we will bring in Apex Investment Group so the plan design and the tax result are set together. See section 18.
Quarterly estimates. We calculate what to pay and when, and send the vouchers.
Payroll setup (S-corp only). We use Gusto. Set up your account through our link and add us in one step. Gusto handles the state registrations. We do not run payroll; we advise the amounts and the timing.
11
Sending in your items
You do not calculate anything. Email the raw details as they happen; we handle the math, the recording, and the entries.
Accountable plan, example email
Subject: Accountable plan, Q3 expenses
Cell phone, $95/mo, about 70% business
Internet, $110/mo, home office
Mileage, 340 business miles
Travel, client visit, Aug 12 to 14, $1,240
Keep it plain. No receipts needed at submission. We calculate the allowable amounts, run the reimbursement through the business, and book it.
Augusta, example email
Subject: Augusta, quarterly planning meeting, Sept 9
Date: September 9
Location: my home
Who attended: me, my spouse, my bookkeeper
What we covered: Q4 budget, hiring plan
Length: about 3 hours
Agenda/notes attached.
Send these as they happen. Reconstructing a year of expenses and meetings each spring is how deductions get lost.
Anything sensitive goes through the secure link we send, not as a plain email attachment. That means Social Security numbers, bank statements, closing documents, and any full tax return. A plain email is fine for the summaries above.
12
Setting the money aside
A good plan lowers the bill. It does not remove it. The clients who never feel tax stress are the ones who fund it as the money comes in.
01
Open a separate savings account for tax. Not the operating account. Money that sits in the operating account gets spent.
02
Move your set-aside percentage across on a schedule, monthly or as deposits land. We tell you the percentage. It comes off your escrow schedule, not a rule of thumb.
03
Pay the quarterly estimate out of that account when we send the voucher. Nothing else comes out of it.
04
If income moves materially up or down mid-year, tell us. We re-run the numbers rather than letting you overfund or come up short in April.
One click, then stop thinking about it
Put your payment dates in your calendar
Adds your next six quarterly payment dates, each with a reminder. Apple Calendar and Outlook users, use the button. Google Calendar users, use the date links below. Every date lands five days before the IRS deadline, so there is time to move money and ask us anything before it is due. Works with Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook.
↓ Download calendar file
Using Google Calendar? Tap each date instead
The button above downloads a calendar file, which Apple Calendar and Outlook open directly. Google Calendar does not open those files from a browser, so these links add each date straight to your Google calendar instead. Either way, we send you the exact amount and the voucher in advance, so when the reminder appears you already know what to pay.
Why we care about the estimates specifically. Paying the safe harbor amount on time protects you from underpayment penalties even in a year where income spikes. It is the cheapest protection in tax, and it only works if the payment is actually made by the date.
13
Quarterly checklist
Make your estimated tax payment. We send the amount and the vouchers.
Send your accountable plan expenses for the quarter.
Send any Augusta meeting details.
Send a heads-up on any major decision (purchase, sale, financing, new hire) and the reason.
If you are an S-corp, confirm payroll ran on schedule.
14
Annual checklist
Review whether your entity is still the right one as profit grows.
If you are an S-corp, we review your reasonable salary so it still matches the work.
Refresh the strategy list for the new year.
Confirm last year's strategies actually landed on the return.
15
Your year at a glance
Each quarter
Estimated tax payments, accountable plan and Augusta submissions, payroll if you are an S-corp. Federal estimates fall around Apr 15, Jun 15, Sep 15, Jan 15.
Early year
Strategy refresh and reasonable-comp review.
Spring
Returns prepared and filed or extended. Your business income feeds your personal return.
1 to 2x/yr
Strategy meeting with the Anomaly team.
Exact dates shift with weekends, holidays, and your filing situation. We confirm each one with you.
16
Your tax return preparation process
Filing season is the part clients brace for. It should be the least eventful thing we do together, because the work that matters already happened during the year. Here is exactly how it goes.
JANUARY
The questionnaire goes out. Nobody enjoys it. We do not enjoy sending it. But the government requires us to ask certain questions in writing, including a few that will feel oddly specific about foreign accounts and digital assets, so we ask them. Most of it is a five minute confirmation that nothing changed. Answer it once and you are done.
FEB / MAR
We tell you the deadline to get us your documents. If everything is in by then, we file on the original due date. If life is busy, we extend, and that is a completely normal outcome rather than a failure.
AS WE GO
We reach out with open items and questions. Expect a short list, not a scavenger hunt, and expect it to be specific. If we ask something twice it is because the answer changes the return.
THROUGHOUT
Your Tax Project Manager keeps you updated. You will know where your return stands without asking. Nothing to chase, nothing to worry about.
About extensions, because they get a bad reputation
Most of our clients extend, and most high net worth taxpayers do. It is the norm at this level, not a warning sign. An extension is a planned choice that buys time to file a complete, accurate return rather than a rushed one, and a return filed accurately later in the year draws fewer questions than a return amended twice in April.
K-1s, corrected 1099s, and year-end adjustments all arrive on their own schedule, and rarely on ours. Extending gives those documents time to land so your return is right the first time.
The one thing to know: an extension extends the time to file, not the time to pay. We calculate what to send with the extension so you stay penalty-free. You will have that number from us in advance.
In short
You answer the questionnaire, send what we ask for, and reply when we have a question. We handle the rest and we will tell you where things stand. There is no version of this where you are left guessing in April.
17
Tell us when this happens
Loop us in before you act. A quick call now prevents an expensive fix later.
You are buying or selling a business or business assets.
You take on financing or refinancing.
You start a new business or side activity.
A large liquidity event, windfall, or big change in income.
You move states or trigger filing in another state.
A family change: marriage, divorce, a birth, a death.
You hire your first employee or bring on a partner.
You want to change who owns any part of the business.
Get an IRS or state notice? Do not respond on your own. Forward it to us the day it arrives. Income tax notices for years we prepared are covered; other notices we will still look at and tell you the options. See section 06.
18
Working with your other advisors
You likely have an attorney, a wealth manager, a banker, and an insurance advisor. The plans that work are the ones where those people and we are looking at the same picture.
Introduce us, and tell us we can speak with them directly. Every round trip through you costs a week. One email giving us permission removes that permanently.
Loop us in before you act on tax advice from someone else. Not to overrule them. To make sure it fits the structure we already built and does not undo a strategy you are paying for.
We are not selling you a product. Our recommendation is about the tax result and nothing else. When something is genuinely outside our lane, we will say so and point you to the right person.
Send us the documents they produce. Operating agreements, buy-sell terms, loan documents, trust documents. They change the tax answer more often than you would expect.
Our investment and retirement partner
Apex Investment Group
Retirement plans are where tax planning and investing meet, and the two decisions cannot be made separately without leaving money on the table. We work directly with Apex Investment Group so the plan design, the contribution math, and the tax result are set together rather than after the fact.
Ask us for an introduction on any of these
Solo 401(k) and company 401(k) plans
Defined benefit and cash balance plans
Business and personal retirement strategy
Personal investing and financial strategy
Email us before you open a plan or move an account. We will make the introduction and stay in the conversation, so what gets implemented matches what your tax plan assumed. If you already have an advisor you are happy with, keep them and introduce us instead. The point is that the two sides talk.
apexinvest.org →
19
What keeps a deduction, what loses it
Every strategy in your plan has to survive a second look. What makes the difference is not the idea. It is whether it was real and documented at the time.
Keeps it
- Real money actually moving. Reimbursements and wages paid from the business account, not a year-end entry.
- Documentation created as it happens: minutes, invoices.
- An S-corp salary that matches the work you actually do.
- Business and personal money kept apart.
Loses it
- Reconstructing a year of expenses or meetings the following spring.
- Reimbursements or fees booked on paper with no cash behind them.
- A salary set to hit a number instead of the work.
- Mixing personal and business spending.
20
Getting help
Our knowledge base has plain answers to the questions that come up most: deadlines, documents, how a strategy works, what to send us.
Can't find it there? Email your Anomaly team. No question is too small. Asking first is always cheaper than fixing after.
21
Glossary
Accountable plan
A written policy that lets your business reimburse you for legitimate business expenses tax-free, with proper backup.
Augusta rule
Rent your home to your business up to 14 days a year without reporting the rental income, when properly documented.
Reasonable compensation
The salary an S-corp must pay you that fairly matches the work you actually do.
Distribution
Profit paid out to you as an owner, beyond any wages.
K-1
The form that reports your share of a partnership's or S-corp's income. It feeds your personal return.
Estimated taxes
Quarterly prepayments toward the tax you will owe, so you are not short at filing.
Entity election
Choosing how your business is taxed (Schedule C, partnership, S-corp), which changes how you are paid and taxed.
QBI deduction
A deduction of up to 20% of qualified business income, subject to income and wage limits.
Safe harbor
Paying enough in estimates to avoid an underpayment penalty even if you owe more at filing.