AI and Agency Profitability: Ten Questions, in the Order That Matters
Most agency owners start at "is this paying off" without having totaled what AI costs. Ten questions, four stages, and why the sequence is the whole point.
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Your Client Can Defend Their Ad Spend. Can You Defend Your Agency's?
By Craig S. Cody, CPA, Certified Tax Coach. Published August 1, 2026.
AI Changed What Delivery Costs You. Your Rate Card Didn't Notice
The fastest way AI hurts an agency isn't replacing it. It's changing the cost of delivery while the agency keeps pricing the old way. Here's the fix,...
Your Second in Command Costs More Than the Salary. Can Your P&L Carry One?
A true second in command runs north of $315,000 all in, and closer to $475,000 once you backfill the seat they leave. Here is the affordability math...
Cash Balance Plans for Agency Owners: Why the Physician Playbook Costs You Money
Every cash balance explainer was written for physicians, and physicians get the worse version of the deal. Here is the rule that decides it, the 2026...
The R&D Tax Credit for Agencies: Who Actually Qualifies, and Who's Being Sold Something
If a firm called saying you are sitting on an unclaimed R&D credit, read this before you sign a contingency agreement. Written by a CPA who is not...
The Accountable Plan: How S Corp Owners Reimburse Themselves Without Losing the Deduction
Short answer up front. If you own an S corporation and you pay business expenses with your own money, you need a written accountable plan so the...
Flat PPI Doesn't Mean Your Agency's Costs Are Flat
Producer prices were flat in July, but the BLS index for advertising agency services rose just 1.2% over twelve months against 4.7% overall. Here are...
The 4-Point Self-Audit: Do You Own an Agency, or a Job?
By Craig S. Cody, CPA, Certified Tax Coach. Published July 31, 2026.
Your Agency's Profit Isn't a Target. It's What Two Other Numbers Leave Behind.
By Craig S. Cody, CPA, Certified Tax Coach. Published August 21, 2026.
State-Mandated Retirement Plans vs. Your Own 401(k): What Agency Owners Should Know
If your state requires you to offer employees a way to save for retirement, you generally have two choices: facilitate the state program or offer a...
The 12 Biggest Tax Mistakes That Cost Marketing and PR Agency Owners Thousands
A correct return can still cost you money. The CPA who wrote the book on agency tax mistakes walks all 12, with the figures updated to current law.
The Labor Market Is Not Telling You to Freeze Hiring
By Craig S. Cody, CPA, Certified Tax Coach. Published August 5, 2026.
Your Agency's Margins Look Fine. The Number Underneath Them Is Wrong.
Every percentage on your agency P&L divides by the wrong number. Netting pass-through spend out turns a comfortable 49% payroll into a real 70%.
Outsourcing Is a Strategy Only If You Know What Not to Outsource
Sort every recurring task in your agency into three buckets: automate, outsource, retain. Decide the retain bucket first, before you price a single...
One Remote Hire Can Put Your Agency on the Hook in a State You've Never Visited
Here's the short answer. When somebody performs work for your agency from another state, that state can generally require you to register as an...
Multi-State Income Tax for Agencies: Your Client List Is Your Tax Map
Here's the short answer. If your agency has clients in other states, you may owe income tax in those states, and it has nothing to do with whether...
Your AI Stack Has a Single Point of Failure
Moody's warned banks about AI vendor concentration. The three things that protect a bank protect nothing at a 20-person agency. Six questions to ask.
How Marketing and PR Agency Owners Past $1M in AGI Legally Pay Less Tax
Five legal tax levers for marketing and PR agency owners past $1M in AGI: entity and QBI, retirement stacking, real estate, timing, and family...
Deferred Sales Trusts for Agency Owners: What You're Actually Paying For
Here's the short answer. A deferred sales trust lets you sell your agency or your building to an independent trust in exchange for a note instead of...
The Buy-Sell Trap That Can Leave Your Agency Underinsured
After Connelly v. United States, company-owned life insurance can raise your agency's estate-tax value and leave the buyout underfunded. A CPA...
AI Isn't Coming for Your Agency's Jobs. It's Coming for Its Ceiling.
The AI layoff headlines don't fit a lean agency. A CPA on why AI's first job is sellable capacity, and the one-metric rule that separates tools from...
Clean Books Sell Agencies. Messy Ones Get Discounted.
Buyers don't pay for your profit. They pay for provable profit. A CPA on add-backs, accrual EBITDA, and the tax moves that quietly cut your agency's...
The 351 ETF Exchange: A Real Fix for Concentrated Stock.
By Craig S. Cody, CPA, Certified Tax Coach | Craig Cody and Company | Published July 2026
When AI Spends Your Agency's Money, Who Approved It?
The real AI payment risk isn't fraud, it's unauthorized autonomous spend. A CPA's one-page, five-question sheet to control what AI can buy with your...