What Does Tax Planning Cost for a Marketing or PR Agency Owner? Our Prices, and the Return We Hold Them To

By Craig S. Cody, CPA, Certified Tax Coach.

Tax planning at my firm starts with an analysis, and the analysis is free.

The tax plan that comes out of it starts at $8,500, and it's a one-time fee. We want that plan to return 4 to 10 times the fee in tax savings the first year. Only after the plan is done do the monthly packages come in, and those start at $2,070 a month.

I'm putting the numbers first because that's the question you came with, and most firms won't answer it until you're on a call. I understand why. A price for planning is hard to explain, because you're paying for savings that haven't happened yet. So we built the process so that you see the savings before you pay for anything.

The Short Answer

There are three steps, and each one has its own price.

1. The analysis: free. We review your prior-year tax returns, your profit and loss and your balance sheet. That's where we determine the savings.
2. The tax plan: from $8,500, one time. Once you've seen what the analysis found, you decide whether to move forward. We want a first-year return of 4x to 10x the plan fee.
3. The monthly packages: from $2,070, $4,820 or $9,015 a month. These are available only after a tax plan is complete, and they keep the plan current through the year.

The plan pays when the savings beat the fee, and because the analysis comes first, you know which case you're in before you spend a dollar.

Step One: The Free Analysis

Every engagement starts the same way. You send us your prior-year tax returns, your P&L and your balance sheet, and we go through them looking for what's been missed and what could be done differently.

This is where the savings get determined, not guessed. 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, what's owed and what's coming in. Put together, they tell us which decisions were never made and what making them would be worth.

It costs you nothing, and you're not committing to anything by asking for it. That's on purpose. A price only means something next to what you'd get for it, and the analysis is how you find that out first.

Step Two: The Tax Plan, From $8,500

Once we've determined the savings, you decide whether you want to move forward with a tax plan. Tax plans start at $8,500, and the fee is a one-time charge. You pay it once, 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 tax planning guide for agency owners walks each one.

Here's the standard we hold it to. We want a first-year return of 4x to 10x the plan fee. On an $8,500 plan, that's $34,000 to $85,000 in first-year savings. If the analysis doesn't point at a number in that range, you'll have seen that for free, before you decide.

Step Three: The Monthly Packages

Only after a tax plan is complete can someone move to our monthly accounting and tax planning packages. The plan comes first because the monthly work is built on it. Without the plan, there's nothing to keep current.

All three packages share a floor. Every one includes monthly guidance from a CPA-led team, financial reviews of your profit and loss and balance sheet, agency metrics, an accrual to cash conversion, fourth quarter tax projections, continuous tax planning and implementation, and both the business and the personal return.

The difference is how much of the back office comes with it:

• Foundations, from $2,070 a month. For owners who want clean books, steady guidance, and tax planning that actually happens.
• Growth, from $4,820 a month. For teams ready to hand off more of the back office: bill payments, payables, reconciliations, receivables and collections, and tighter cash control.
• Fractional CFO, from $9,015 a month. For owners who want executive-level finance without a full-time hire: 12-month cash flow forecasting, more frequent calls, exit planning and bank relationships.

On an annual basis, that's $24,840, $57,840 and $108,180 to start. If tax is the only problem you're trying to solve, Foundations is where most conversations start, and nobody should sell you the CFO package to fix a tax bill.

Why We Price by the Deliverable, Not the Hour

My firm has never priced by the hour. We've always priced on the deliverable. What a client pays us for is the insight, and then the right numbers in the right boxes.

That's why every step has a fixed price. An hourly fee tells you nothing about what you'll get. A planner who bills by the hour has a reason to take longer, and you have a reason not to call. Both of those work against you.

A one-time plan fee and a monthly price for a defined set of work flip that. You know the cost of the plan before it starts, and once you're on a package you can call in March about a hire without wondering what the call costs.

What Moves the Monthly Price

The pricing page carries an asterisk, and I'd rather explain it than hide behind it: exact pricing depends on complexity, entity count, payroll, and state filings. Here's what each of those means for an agency.

Complexity. Pass-through media running through your books, a cash balance plan with its own testing, a sale on the horizon, a second line of business. Each one adds decisions and work.

Entity count. One S corporation is one set of decisions. An operating company, a holding company and a building LLC are three, and they have to work together.

Payroll. The number of people on payroll shapes the retirement plan, the reasonable compensation analysis and the contractor questions. More people, more to get right.

State filings. Remote employees and clients in other states put returns on your desk in places you may never have visited. Every state is its own return and its own set of rules.

None of these are surcharges for the sake of it. They're the same things that decide how much there is to plan, which is why they're also the things that decide how much a plan can find.

What the Return Looks Like

The analysis does the math for you, but it helps to know what the strong cases look like.

One client saved $94,000 in the first year, on a $1.5 million AGI agency (that's agency gross income, revenue after pass-through costs, not the AGI on your personal return). I've had many clients put $100,000 or more a year into a cash balance plan on top of their 401(k). A client of ours, wrote on our pricing page that we took two prior years of returns and "retrieved a substantial six figure amount that our previous accountant had overlooked."

Those are the good stories, and I'd rather tell you that than let you think they're typical. Which brings us to the other answer.

When It Won't Pay

Some analyses come back smaller.

That's the reason the analysis comes first and costs nothing. If the savings it finds don't justify the plan fee, you've learned that without paying for it, and you can stop there. What you probably need instead is a good preparer and a check-in when something changes: a sale, a big hire, a new state.

And if your agency isn't profitable yet, planning is early. Fix the margin first. A tax plan works on profit, and there has to be some.

What You're Really Comparing It Against

A return-only engagement is cheaper. It should be; it's a smaller thing. The question is what it costs you over the year, not what it costs on the invoice.

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. 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 and the elections nobody made, which never appear on any invoice.

A long-time client, Denis G. Kelly, put it this way on our pricing page: "seriously consider the significant cost/benefit of Craig's tax plan customized to you and your business." That's the right frame. A CPA should be an income item, not an expense. If yours isn't, that's the first thing to fix.

Is the Fee Tax Deductible?

Partly. The share of a fee that covers your business, the business planning, the business return and the books, is an ordinary business expense and deductible to the agency.

The share that covers your personal return isn't, for most owners. The deduction for personal tax preparation fees was suspended from 2018 through 2025, and the 2025 tax law made that suspension permanent. So the line between business and personal work on the invoice matters, and a good firm draws it clearly.

Who This Is For, and Who It Isn't

This is for a marketing, advertising or PR agency owner with a profitable year behind them, a CPA who files on time and has never called with an idea, and a nagging sense that the tax bill is bigger than it has to be. If you've wondered what planning costs and couldn't find a number anywhere, these are the numbers.

It isn't for an agency that isn't profitable yet, and it isn't for an owner whose big decisions have already been made well and kept current. In both cases the analysis would likely come back small, and that's worth knowing too. That's not a failure. That's the math telling you the truth.

Filing a return isn't a tax strategy. Paying for a plan that doesn't pay you back isn't one either.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does tax planning cost for a marketing agency owner?

At my firm there are three steps. The analysis of your prior-year returns, P&L and balance sheet is free. The tax plan starts at $8,500, a one-time fee. After the plan is complete, monthly packages start at $2,070 a month for Foundations, $4,820 for Growth and $9,015 for Fractional CFO. Exact monthly pricing depends on complexity, entity count, payroll and state filings.

Is proactive tax planning worth the cost?

It is when the savings beat the fee. We want a tax plan to return 4x to 10x its fee in the first year, which on an $8,500 plan is $34,000 to $85,000. Because the analysis comes first and is free, you see what we found before you decide. For a profitable agency that has never had real planning, it usually pays. For one where the big decisions were already made well, the list is shorter.

What do I send for the free tax analysis?

Your prior-year tax returns, your profit and loss statement and your balance sheet. The returns show what was filed. The P&L and balance sheet show the agency behind them: profit, payroll, media and what's owed. Together they're where the savings get determined.

Can I sign up for a monthly package without a tax plan?

No. Only after a tax plan is complete can someone move to our monthly accounting and tax planning packages. The plan is where the big decisions get made, and the monthly work exists to keep those decisions current through the year. Without the plan, there's nothing to keep current.

Why don't CPAs charge by the hour for tax planning?

Some do. My firm never has. 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. A one-time plan fee and a fixed monthly price for a defined set of work mean you know the cost before the work starts.

Are tax planning fees tax deductible?

The business share is. Fees for business planning, the business return and the books are an ordinary business expense of the agency. The personal share generally isn't: the deduction for personal tax preparation fees was suspended from 2018 through 2025, and the 2025 tax law made that permanent.

Let's Talk

If you've read this far, you know the prices and you know the standard we hold the plan to. What you don't know yet is your own number, and that's the part that costs you nothing to find out.

You send your prior-year returns, P&L and balance sheet. We review them line by line, determine what's been missed and what a plan could save, and walk you through it. Then you decide. You walk away with real insights you can use, even if we never work together.

Book a Free Tax Analysis

Nobody's looking out for your money but you. Let's go look together.

Craig S. Cody is a CPA, Certified Tax Coach, and retired NYPD Lieutenant. His firm works with more than 70 marketing and advertising agency owners every month, helping them keep more of what they make through proactive tax planning.

This article is general education, not advice for your specific situation. Confirm your own facts with your advisor before acting.