Accountants for US small businesses.
Bookkeeping, payroll, sales tax and federal/state filings for US SMEs, running natively in QuickBooks Online. Economic nexus monitored across all 50 states. IRS e-File provider. Trained on US GAAP, IRS procedure and state-specific compliance.
A market defined by multi-state complexity.
Accountants for US small businesses work at three levels at once: federal returns and payroll filings with the IRS, income tax in each state where the business has a filing obligation, and sales tax in every jurisdiction where economic or physical nexus has been created. The state layer is what makes it complex.
The United States has more than 33 million small businesses, a market larger than the GDP of most countries, and the accounting regime they operate in is, by global standards, unusually complex. Compliance lives at three levels: federal (IRS), state (50 different revenue departments), and local (city and county sales tax). Getting any layer wrong creates exposure.
For most SMEs, the central operational headache is sales tax. The 2018 Wayfair Supreme Court decision empowered states to require sales-tax collection from remote sellers once they cross economic nexus thresholds, typically $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions per state per year. An e-commerce business doing $5M in revenue can easily owe filings in 25 or more states, each with their own rules, rates and deadlines, which the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board has only partly harmonized.
On top of sales tax, US SMEs file federal income tax (Form 1120 for C-corps, 1120-S for S-corps, Schedule C for sole props), state corporate income tax in most states, quarterly federal payroll filings (Form 941), federal unemployment (940), state unemployment, 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC at year-end, and W-2s for employees. Quarterly estimated tax payments are due if you expect to owe over $1,000.
Accountaire handles all of this. We are QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor certified, IRS e-File providers and integrate with Avalara or TaxJar for sales tax automation. Our US clients include e-commerce brands, SaaS companies, professional services firms and consulting partnerships: businesses that need compliance to be a non-event so they can focus on growth.
Where you land in that regime depends on what you sell. Online sellers carry the heaviest nexus exposure and should start with accounting for online brands or Amazon FBA accounting. Subscription businesses should read SaaS accounting and ASC 606 revenue recognition. The nexus rules themselves are set out in our US sales tax nexus guide, and the bookkeeping runs in QuickBooks Online for most US clients. The structure decision is covered in detail in our S corp vs LLC tax guide, and the terminology used across these pages is defined in our accounting and tax glossary. US engagements are built from the same directory of SME accounting services we use everywhere else, with the state-level work added wherever nexus creates it.
What do accountants for US small businesses file, and when?
The federal cycle we run for every US client. State and local filings sit on top and vary by jurisdiction.
| Filing | Who files it | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Form 941, quarterly payroll | Employers | Last day of the month after each quarter |
| Form 940, federal unemployment | Employers | Annually, after the calendar year end |
| Form W-2 to employees | Employers | By 31 January |
| Form 1099-NEC to contractors | Any business paying contractors | By 31 January |
| Estimated tax payments | Businesses and owners expecting to owe | Quarterly through the year |
| Federal income tax return | C corporations, S corporations, sole proprietors | Per entity type, with extensions available |
| State sales tax returns | Anywhere nexus exists | Monthly, quarterly or annually by state |
Built for US businesses.
Every service in our catalogue, calibrated to the US regime.
US cloud bookkeeping
Daily bookkeeping in QuickBooks Online or Xero. US GAAP coding. Stripe, Shopify and Amazon FBA reconciliation specialists.
US payroll
Multi-state payroll with federal 941/940 deposits, state withholding, SUTA, W-2s and 1099-NEC at year-end.
Multi-state sales tax
Economic nexus tracking across all 50 states. Filings via Avalara or TaxJar. Marketplace facilitator rules handled.
Federal & state income tax
Form 1120, 1120-S, 1065, Schedule C prepared. Quarterly 1040-ES estimates. State corporate filings.
Management accounts
Monthly US GAAP-aligned reporting. Investor-ready packs for VC-backed companies.
CFO-as-a-Service
Fractional CFO support for growth-stage US SaaS, e-commerce and professional services firms.
US compliance, handled.
The filings, portals and deadlines we own for every US client.
- IRS e-File provider registration Authorised to file federal returns electronically. Form 8821 in place for information disclosure. Audit-trail correspondence retained.
- Multi-state sales tax registration & filing Economic nexus thresholds tracked monthly. State registrations completed proactively. Filings on each state's required cycle via Avalara or TaxJar.
- Federal income tax (1120, 1120-S, 1065, Schedule C)Annual federal return preparation. Workpapers archived. Filed electronically via IRS e-File. K-1s issued for pass-through entities.
- Quarterly estimated tax (1040-ES, 1120-W) Quarterly federal estimate calculated and payment scheduled. State estimated tax payments coordinated.
- Payroll (941, 940, state, SUTA) Quarterly 941 filings, annual 940, state withholding deposits per state schedule, State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) filings.
- Year-end W-2s & 1099-NEC / 1099-MISCW-2s to employees and SSA by January 31. 1099-NEC to contractors and IRS by January 31. State copies handled where required.
- State corporate income tax Filed in every state where corporate nexus exists. Apportionment factors calculated. State-specific add-backs and modifications applied.
- R&D tax credit (Form 6765) Federal R&D credit claims prepared for qualifying SaaS and product companies. Qualified Small Business payroll offset election (up to $500k) where applicable.
What US clients tell us they value.
US GAAP & multi-state savvy.
Our team is trained on US GAAP, IRS procedure and the quirks of multi-state corporate income tax: Texas franchise tax, Delaware franchise tax, California minimum tax, the lot.
4-hour response, US hours.
Our overlap covers US morning (9am PT to 5pm ET). Books closed by the 5th business day every month, with reporting in your preferred format.
QuickBooks + Avalara + Gusto-compatible.
QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor certified. Avalara and TaxJar integration. Compatible with Gusto, Rippling and ADP for payroll handoff.
Fixed monthly fees. No hourly mystery.
Monthly retainers from $150. No hourly billing. Sales tax filings in unlimited states included on Professional and Enterprise tiers.
"The ACCA credentials, the SOC 2 tooling, the 4-hour SLA, every concern I had about working with a remote team got answered before I raised it. They're now embedded in our finance function."