Starting a business is hard. How do you find the best tax benefits? How do you get the word out? We’re here to answer all of these questions and help you down the road of success.
We offer consulting services that cover a wide range of small business needs. We can help you get off the ground from the very beginning or help out later on to guide you to further success. For most projects, we will quote you a flat fee rate after a free consultation. Contact us to determine how best we can help.
Leadership
Our fearless leaders.
Troy McKinnon
Principal and Co-Founder
Austin Carlson
Principal and Co-Founder
We work and connect with many talented individuals from varying fields to bring guidance to small business.
Small Business Consultation
Providing necessary guidance
As your company grows, your personnel infrastructure will also need to grow with it. Carlson McKinnon consultants are experts in helping you identify when its time to go to the next level of structural support.
Areas to Consider
Bookkeeping
Managerial Accounting
Payroll
Tax Return Preparation
Human Resources
401(k) Management
Branding and Social Media
I.T.
Website Maintenance
Sales
Customer Service and Support
Document Management
Carlson McKinnon consultants can provide a tremendous amount of value while you are in your initial stages in these areas. We can help you as a founder perform these functions while small and identify and transition you to additional resources when necessary as you grow.
Levels of Structural Support
Level 1 - Founder performs service (with or without consultant advice)
Level 2 - Company outsources service.
Level 3 - Company hires employee to perform service in house
Web Design and SEO
High quality web presence
We specialize in small to mid sized businesses that are looking to have a polished, professional, and streamlined website at a reasonable fee. Our goal is to provide your customers with the best and simplest experience. We improve existing sites as well as build from scratch.
Mobile friendly, responsive sites
Analytics, see who and how customers use your site
Hosting, this is how your content is served to the Internet
Search engine optimization (SEO), this is how you make it easier for customers to find you online via search engines
Graphic design
Branding
Distinguish yourself
Branding is your company’s differentiating factor. It tells everyone else who you are and what you bring to the table. It affects how your company is perceived. We will help you to define your brand to allow your company to express itself to the right people consistently across all lines of communication. This starts with a logo and color scheme. It extends into every avenue of your business including:
Online presence
Company voice - consistent messaging
Advertising
Graphic design
Mobile App Development
Go native mobile
A mobile friendly, responsive website is not always enough. We have the development expertise to build mobile apps that your customers can download directly from the app store via their smartphones, supporting both iPhone and Android. Have a killer app idea? We can build that for you as well.
Entity Selection
Understanding types of legal entities
In almost every situation, it’s best to form a legal entity for your business to protect yourself from personal liability. Every small business owner is then faced with what TYPE of entity to choose. Entity selection is a difficult but extremely important decision. Here are just a few of the considerations:
Taxation (Single v. Double)
Investor Profiles (Foreign v. U.S., Non-Profit, Tax Brackets)
Ability to go Public
Flexibility in Allocations and Distributions
Management
Liability
Corporate Formalities
A Carlson McKinnon consultant* will discuss your current circumstance and long term plans and help you make the right decision for both today and the future.
*Disclaimer: Carlson McKinnon is not a law firm and does not provide legal opinions on entity selection matters. Carlson McKinnon has referral relationships with several law firms if legal services need to be provided in association with a consultation.
Small Business 101
Helpful Links
Entity Formation FAQs (Texas)
The Texas Comptroller has a great set of FAQs on corporate formation basics: link
Texas Franchise Tax
Every legal entity organized in Texas or doing business in Texas needs to file an annual franchise tax return and public information return. This must be filed EVEN IF NO TAX IS DUE or the entity will get its charter forfeited, exposing directors and officers to personal liability. Efiling and information link
Franchise Tax and Public Information Report forms: link
Texas Sales Tax
Sales tax must be collected on the sale of most goods and some services. This Texas Comptroller portal provides good information on sales tax information: link
IRS Resources
This IRS portal hosts a wealth of information for small businesses with a significant number of publications on common topics, information about how to obtain an EIN, as well as information for filing certain Employment Tax returns link
Recordkeeping is KEY when it comes to proving business deductions. Here is more information on what you’ll need to keep in order to substantiate your deduction: link
McKinnon is a Software Engineer and manager of software development teams. He has been developing software for 10+ years with experience in small/midsize as well as large enterprise companies. He has experience in multiple domains and has developed software running in some of the world’s largest enterprises.
He received his B.S. in Computer Science and Chinese Language, magna cum laude, from Trinity University.
Domains of Development Experience
Enterprise software
Web
Mobile
Desktop
Embedded
Professional Activities, Memberships & Affiliations
Java User Group, San Antonio Chapter (2010-Present)
Austin Carlson
Principal and Co-Founder
Primary Areas: Business Formation and Strategies, Tax Consulting, Tax Return Preparation
Carlson is a licensed attorney and a Certified Public Accountant. He has years of experience in helping small businesses get their business off the ground with his expertise in entity selection and small business tax strategies. Carlson has formed hundreds of companies and worked with businesses with revenues ranging from the thousands to the millions in helping them minimize their tax burdens and successfully resolve IRS audits and inquiries. As a CPA, Carlson is also able to assist businesses by handling all of their State and Federal business and personal tax returns.
He received his B.B.A. in Accounting and M.S. in Taxation from Texas A&M University, and his J.D., with honors, from The University of Texas School of Law. He was recognized as a “Rising Star” by the Texas Society of CPAs (2015).
Professional Activities, Memberships & Affiliations
Tax Section, International Tax Committee (2012-Present); Chair (2013-Present)
Other Affiliations: Houston International Tax Forum (2012-Present); Houston Young Lawyers Association Scouting Committee (2012-Present); Katie Prairie Conservancy Finance Committee (2015-Present); The Women’s Resource of Greater Houston Finance Committee (2015-Present).