Financial Advisor and CPA for Consultants and Freelancers
A flat-fee CPA and Financial Planner team that gives you personalized, holistic advice across your taxes and financial plan. We plan your estimates, QBI deduction, S corporation question and Solo 401(k), and file your returns.
What we handle for consultants and freelancers
A business of one, paid on 1099s, with no payroll department and nobody withholding. This is the work we do with you.
- 01
Self-employment tax
You pay both halves: 15.3% of 92.35% of net earnings. The 12.4% Social Security part stops at the 2026 wage base of $184,500, and any W-2 wages use that base up first. The 2.9% Medicare part has no cap.
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Quarterly estimates on a safe harbor
Estimates are due April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15. Pay 100% of last year’s tax across them, or 110% if last year’s AGI topped $150,000, and a year your fees double brings no penalty, only a bigger April bill.
- 03
The QBI deduction
Consulting is a specified service business, so the 20% deduction phases out above $201,750 of 2026 taxable income, or $403,500 joint, and is gone at $276,750 or $553,500. We plan income and contributions around that range.
- 04
Your home office
A room used regularly and only for the business qualifies. The simplified method allows $5 a square foot up to 300 square feet; the regular method takes that share of rent or depreciation, utilities and insurance.
- 05
Health insurance you buy yourself
Premiums for you, your spouse and dependents come off your income, up to your net profit, for any month you could not join an employer’s subsidized plan, including a spouse’s. With a high-deductible plan, an HSA adds $4,400, or $8,750 for family coverage.
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Schedule C and your returns
Your CPA prepares Schedule C from your profit and loss and reconciles it with your deposits, since clients send a 1099-NEC only once 2026 payments reach $2,000. Nothing is filed until you approve it.
How Nino helps consultants and freelancers
When you work alone, the tax reserve, the retirement plan and the household budget all come out of the same client payments. On an Advisor plan your CPA and Financial Planner plan them together, and Nino’s AI software keeps the numbers current between engagements.
Book a free consultation-
A plan in your first two weeks
Your CPA and Financial Planner build your tax and financial plan from last year’s return, this year’s contracts and your household goals, then revisit it every quarter.
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Estimates that follow your year
Your CPA sets each quarter’s payment and resets it when a retainer lands or a contract ends, so the safe harbor is met and the April balance is planned for.
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Your numbers between invoices
Connect your business and personal accounts read-only, then ask Nino’s AI how much of a client payment to set aside for tax or what a slower quarter does to your plan.
What should a consultant decide each year?
Four choices that set what a one-person services business keeps after tax.
Whether to elect S corporation status
You must pay yourself a reasonable salary for the work, and only profit above it skips payroll tax. That salary also lowers your QBI and adds payroll and a corporate return. Form 2553 is due by March 15 of the year the election takes effect.
SEP IRA or Solo 401(k)
At $150,000 of net earnings after the half-SE-tax deduction, a SEP allows about $30,000 and a Solo 401(k) $54,500 under 50. First-year 2026 deferrals need the plan adopted by April 15, 2027. See Solo 401(k) vs SEP IRA.
When a retainer counts
On the cash method a retainer is income in the year you receive it, even for work done the next year. Choosing when you invoice moves income between years; a payment already made available to you does not move by leaving it uncashed.
How long a gap to plan for
Contracts end on the client’s schedule. Keep the tax reserve in its own account, and size your household reserve to how long it would take to replace your largest client, not to an average month.
Pick your plan
Every Advisor plan includes a CPA and Financial Planner team, federal and state tax filing, and our Ultra software.
Essential
- Everything in Ultra software, plus:
- A dedicated CPA and Financial Planner team for you
- Single-filer return, quarterly taxes included
- Retirement & equity planning
- Quarterly advisor access
- Rentals
- 0
- K-1s
- 0
- States
- 1
- Brokerage
- 3
Plus
Most Popular- Everything in Essential, plus:
- A dedicated CPA and Financial Planner team for you and your spouse
- Married filing jointly return, international coverage included
- One coordinated plan for both of you
- Quarterly and ad hoc advisor access
- Rentals
- 2
- K-1s
- 5
- States
- 3
- Brokerage
- 5
Premier
- Everything in Plus, plus:
- Business bookkeeping and tax filings, priced by complexity
- Joint or single return, complex international coverage
- Advanced equity & estate planning
- Priority advisor access
- Rentals
- 5
- K-1s
- 10
- States
- 5
- Brokerage
- 10
Software plans starting from $20 a month
Our AI financial assistant on its own, with a 7-day free trial.
Guides for consultants and freelancers
Read up on these decisions, or run your own numbers.
Solo 401(k) vs SEP IRA
A Solo 401(k) beats a SEP IRA at most incomes because it adds a $24,500 employee deferral and catch-ups. See the 2026 math at $60K, $150K, and $300K.
Read guideSEP IRA
A SEP IRA lets a business owner contribute up to 25% of pay, capped at $72,000 for 2026. Here is the self-employed math, the employee rule, and the deadlines.
Read guideTax Strategies for High Income Earners, by Income Type
Which tax strategies are open to you depends on where your income comes from. Here are the levers for wages, a business, real estate, and investments, and which to plan a year ahead.
Read guideTax and Financial Deadlines for 2026 and Early 2027
Every date from October 2026 to April 2027: estimated taxes, December 31 moves, tax forms, IRA and HSA deadlines, and the life-event clocks that run on their own.
Read guideSEP IRA Contribution Calculator
Estimate your 2026 SEP IRA maximum as a sole proprietor or S corp owner, the federal tax it saves, and the Solo 401(k) alternative.
Open calculatorState Income Tax Calculators
Estimate take-home pay after federal, FICA, and state income tax, for all 50 states.
Open calculator
More people we work with
See how our CPA and Financial Planner team helps people in situations like yours.