Enrolled Agent — remote, nationwide
FOR PEOPLE WHOSE TAXES STOPPED BEING SIMPLE.
I handle the part of your finances nobody enjoys — the returns, the bookkeeping, the letters from the IRS — so the hours it would have taken go back where they belong.
Michael Jones, EA & CFP®
SOME SUNDAY NIGHTS SHOULD JUST BE SUNDAY NIGHTS.
The crib takes two hours and the instructions are wrong. You carry boxes up three flights and drive home. Somebody falls asleep on the couch before the episode ends.
Those are the hours worth protecting, and they’re the first ones that disappear when there’s a shoebox of receipts on the kitchen table or an envelope from the IRS you haven’t opened yet.
That’s the actual job. Not the return — the return is just the deliverable. The job is taking a thing that would have eaten four evenings and making it take one phone call.
Where do you fit?
I got a letter from the IRS
Notices, audits, back taxes, payment plans. I answer the mail so you don’t have to.
I own a laundromat
I ran one before I did taxes. Coin, card, payroll, machines — I know where the numbers hide.
I live abroad
Foreign income, foreign accounts, and a straightforward way to catch up if you’re behind.
I own a business
Books, entity returns, quarterly estimates, S-corp questions, and eventually selling it.
I have investments
K-1s, rental property, equity compensation, crypto, and cost basis nobody can find.
I’m settling an estate
Trust returns, estate returns, and the tax side of being an executor.
Books and taxes, one person
You shouldn’t need three people to run a small business.
Most owners end up with a bookkeeper who doesn’t do taxes, a tax preparer who’s never seen the books, and nobody who can answer a question in July. Then they spend their own evenings stitching it together.
I do both. Monthly bookkeeping, the business return, your personal return, quarterly estimates, and the IRS if it comes to that. One person who already knows your numbers, so you’re not explaining your business from scratch every time something comes up.
Most tax offices close on April 16.
Mine doesn’t. That matters more than people expect, because the IRS does most of its writing between June and November.
| Carry Forward | Typical office | |
|---|---|---|
| Handles IRS notices and audits | Yes | No |
| Does your bookkeeping too | Yes | Rarely |
| Prices published before you call | Yes | No |
| Reachable in July | Yes | No |
| Same person on your file every year | Yes | No |
| Sells financial products | No | Sometimes |
Questions people ask
What is an Enrolled Agent?
An Enrolled Agent is a tax professional licensed directly by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It is the only tax credential issued by the federal government, and it carries unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all fifty states.
In practice that means I can speak to the IRS on your behalf, respond to notices in your name, and handle an audit from the first letter to the last. Enrolled Agents earn the credential by passing a three-part examination on individual, business, and representation matters, and must complete continuing education every year to keep it.
Do you do bookkeeping as well as taxes?
Yes. I offer monthly bookkeeping alongside tax preparation, and most business clients use both. Bookkeeping is billed as a flat monthly fee based on transaction volume, and it includes reconciliation, categorisation, and a monthly profit and loss statement.
Combining the two is usually cheaper than hiring separately, because clean books make the tax return faster to prepare. It also means nothing gets lost in translation between two people who have never spoken to each other.
Can you work with clients outside Florida?
Yes. The Enrolled Agent credential is federal rather than state-issued, so I work with clients in every state and with Americans living abroad. There is no requirement that your tax professional be located near you.
Everything happens over video call and through a secure document portal. I am based in Tallahassee, Florida, and most of my clients have never been to Florida.
What should I do if I get a letter from the IRS?
Open it, find the notice number in the upper right corner, and note the response deadline. Most IRS letters are routine and give you at least thirty days to reply. Very few require immediate action, and almost none mean what people fear they mean.
Do not ignore it, and do not pay something you disagree with just to make it go away. If you would rather not deal with it, send it to me and I will tell you what it actually says before you decide anything.
Can you help if I am behind on filing?
Yes, and it is more common than you think. Unfiled returns are one of the most frequent reasons people come to me, whether that is one missed year or six. There are established procedures for catching up, including specific programmes for Americans living abroad.
The first step is always the same: I pull your IRS transcripts to find out what the IRS actually has on file, which is often different from what people expect. Nothing gets decided before that.
Why do you publish your prices?
So you can work out whether we are a fit before spending twenty minutes on the phone with me. Published pricing is uncommon in tax practices, and I think that is a failure of nerve rather than a genuine difficulty.
The figures on the pricing page are starting points, and the things that move them up are listed there too. You will get a fixed quote in writing before any work begins.
Why “Carry Forward”
A carryforward is a loss you move into a future year, where it finally does you some good.
That’s the idea. I’m not pulling the ladder up behind me — which is why the prices are on this site, the guides are free, and I’ll tell you when you don’t need me.
Free guides and checklists
Written for the situation you’re actually in. Take them and do it yourself if you’d rather.
What to do when you get a CP2000
A ten-step checklist, with the deadlines that actually matter.
Books for a new laundromat
Chart of accounts included, plus how to reconcile coin against card.
Behind on taxes while living abroad
The streamlined procedures, explained plainly and without the scare tactics.
Not sure whether you need me?
Book a return review. I read last year’s return, tell you what I would have done differently, and send you a written summary. If the answer is that you’re fine as you are, I’ll tell you that too.