Looking for a CPA alternative in Pearland? Start here.

Every Pearland sale starts with the state's 6.25 percent sales tax. Pearland adds 1.5 percent for the city, listed by the Comptroller as local code 2020024. On the Brazoria County side, the county adds another 0.5 percent under local code 4020006, so the total there is 8.25 percent. In the Fort Bend part of town, and in Harris County areas with no extra district, the total is 7.75 percent. Two Harris County areas also have a management district that adds 0.5 percent, under code 5101650 or 5101696, which brings those areas back up to 8.25 percent.

If a register was set up once and never checked, it may be charging the wrong rate. The money still reaches the bank, so nothing looks wrong. But your sales tax return due on the 20th will then use a rate that doesn't match where the sales happened. It's much easier to catch that in the same month than to hear about it in a letter from the state the next spring.

Texas caps the total. Cities, counties and special districts can add up to 2 percent on top of the state's 6.25 percent, so no total in Texas goes above 8.25 percent. Those are statewide limits, and they don't tell you what one block owes. What matters for you is the rate each of your registers actually charged, and that's what we write down.

Wobble before you Gobble, the health fair at Pearland Town Center, usually falls in the second or third week of November. Sales from a busy weekend like that often reach the bank on Monday. We record them on the days they were made, because the tax belongs to the location and the date of each sale.

Some of the west side, around Shadow Creek Ranch, is in Fort Bend County. A shop there may owe 7.75 percent, even though a store at Pearland Town Center charges 8.25.

We start with your most recent month that isn't finished yet. We match it to the bank statement and set up categories that stay the same from month to month, so you can compare one month with the next. Turning on a bank feed isn't the same as finishing the books. Any item we can't match gets a name that month, or it stays open with a note that says why.

We match each loan and credit card to its statement. We also pull owner draws out of any miscellaneous category. When draws are mixed in with business costs, a month can look more profitable than it really was. We keep your draws and your sales on separate lines.

If you're hiring your first crew, or you haven't picked a payroll provider, we set up payroll during that same first stretch. That means the registrations, a wage that fits each role, and a provider you'll keep. Once setup is done, your provider runs payday and we keep the books.

If you're a sole proprietor and this year was profitable, fall is a good time to ask whether your business should be taxed as an S corporation. The big question is how much you'd pay yourself in wages. An election filed after December won't change the year that just ended. We bring it up while there's still time to act, and we won't promise you a set amount of savings.

If some months aren't caught up, we start with the deposits that don't match anything yet. When we finish, you get books that are complete through a set date. Before December, we also update your tax plan and your estimated payments with the sales you actually made.

Paying four equal estimates based on last year's tax can leave you with a big bill in April if this year has been busier. By then, the cash has often been spent on something else. We base your next estimate on this year's numbers.

These pages won't promise you a saving, a refund or a certain tax bill. Your numbers stay private in your own file. The pages explain how the work goes, and your return is built from the months that really happened.

If older months need cleanup, we price that job on its own before any monthly work starts. On the call, we'll tell you what we see, including when a smaller job will do or when you don't need us yet.

The Texas Comptroller sets your filing schedule. Depending on how much tax you collect, you'll file monthly, quarterly or once a year. Whatever your schedule, the return is due on the 20th of the month after the period ends.

We keep your books on the same schedule, so the return is ready before the 20th. A Pearland business with stores in two counties still files one return, and each store is listed on it with its own local codes.

We set a fee after we count the months that need catching up, the bank accounts involved, any property tax rendition that's due, the May franchise report, the school tax bill, and the sales tax for each county you sell in.

We don't post an average price here. A Pearland shop with one register and a shop with stores in two counties need very different amounts of work. The scope and the fee go in an engagement letter. If a job grows past that letter, we price the extra work before we do it.

You're welcome to read the pages about the two sales tax rates, the school tax and common questions, and then leave. Reading them is useful on its own. No money changes hands until we've both signed a letter.

We also check that your categories still match how your business makes money. Opening a new location shouldn't mean a whole new set of accounts.

If you think a register is charging the wrong rate, start there. We check the county first, then fix the month, then the return.