CPA for BBL

We are a Washington-based charter bus brokerage (merchant of record, ~$1.3M annualized revenue) hiring a US CPA — a firm or a senior independent — to take full ownership of our accounting and tax: validate our accounting design, execute a documented cleanup of our 2026 books, run the ongoing monthly close, and advise us on Washington B&O, S-corporation, and cross-border questions. We are looking for someone who can both HANDLE the work and ADVISE with written professional positions — not a data-entry bookkeeper, and not an advisor who won't touch the file. ABOUT THE BUSINESS Single-member Washington LLC; S-corp election intended effective January 2026 (verification in progress) — 2026 is the first intended S-corp year Charter bus aggregator and merchant of record: we own no buses; customers pay us for private group trips, we contract and pay vetted third-party operators, and we bear refunds and chargebacks ~600 customer invoices and vendor bills per year across ~170 vendors; East Coast market today, nationwide expansion planned Customers pay 25% at booking and 75% fifteen days before the trip — we routinely hold substantial customer money for trips that haven't run, so deferred revenue is the center of the model An offshore operations partner (India) runs day-to-day operations and is compensated by expense reimbursement plus 75% of net monthly profit. Every bookkeeping error moves real money at 75 cents per dollar — precision here is contractual, not cosmetic Systems: QuickBooks Online Advanced (Projects — one per reservation, custom fields, custom report builder), Moovs booking/payments platform (3% + $0.30 fees, batched net payouts), two bank accounts plus a business credit card SCOPE OF THE ENGAGEMENT DESIGN VALIDATION: Review our fully documented accounting design (customer-deposit liability / deferred revenue, trip-date revenue recognition, vendor advances as prepaid assets, trip-level P&L by Reservation ID) and provide written positions on a defined set of professional-judgment questions (revenue recognition for books and Form 1120-S; WA B&O classification and rate for a broker that is merchant of record; a 3.5% card-surcharge compliance review; treatment and documentation of the offshore reimbursement and profit share; reasonable compensation, payroll, and a solo 401(k) design; Moovs:left_right_arrow:QBO integration strategy). CLEANUP: Execute a corrective plan for the January–July 2026 file. Known issues include: bank/card accounts unreconciled after January; roughly $234K of customer deposits sitting as credits inside Accounts Receivable instead of a deferred-revenue liability; offshore payments booked to equity rather than expense; refunds paid with no credit memos or refund receipts; an A/P subledger broken by unapplied and duplicate payments; a company bank account entirely off the books; 1099 tracking disabled with no W-9s on file; 2026 B&O accrued but unfiled (catch-up is urgent). You inherit a DOCUMENTED situation, not a mystery — an evidence-indexed findings package exists and is shared under NDA. ONGOING: Monthly close delivered by the 10th with a defined report package (trip-level P&L by Reservation ID, official statements, customer-deposit and vendor-advance roll-forwards, reconciliations to $0.00, profit-split and distribution worksheet, B&O worksheet, audit-log export); quarterly WA B&O returns; 1099-NEC by Jan 31 with card-rail exclusions handled correctly; Form 1120-S and K-1 by March 15; owner payroll setup with a reasonable-compensation study and retirement-plan recommendation; quarterly estimated-tax guidance. MANDATORY QUALIFICATIONS — confirm each one explicitly in your proposal: Active US CPA license (state and license number, verifiable) and E&O insurance in force. Hands-on Washington B&O experience: classifications and rates, MyDOR filings, catch-up filings for past-due periods, and gross-receipts vs. agency/net analysis. You will be asked for a written position on the correct classification for a charter-bus broker that is merchant of record. Domain experience with charter/passenger transportation, group travel, or a closely comparable deposit-based merchant-of-record business (charter bus experience strongly preferred). Name the closest client you have served and what you built for them. Cross-border / onshore-offshore experience: US companies paying foreign service providers — W-8BEN-E, US-source vs. foreign-source income analysis, Form 1042/1099 applicability, and the documentation file required for an offshore profit-share arrangement. QuickBooks Online Advanced expertise: Projects, custom fields, custom report builder, revenue-recognition module, roles/permissions, and the audit log. You must operate and improve OUR documented QBO system — not migrate us into your own black box. S-corporation depth: election verification and late-election relief (Rev. Proc. 2013-30), reasonable-compensation studies, first-year payroll setup with a December 31 catch-up path, Form 1120-S and Schedule K-1. WORKING STANDARDS — non-negotiable; you will confirm them in writing: Corrections by void or credit memo, never deletion; periods locked after each accepted close; individually named logins only; no subcontracting or unnamed access without prior written consent Preparer/reviewer separation: a named engagement lead backed by a named reviewer Substantive replies within one business day; written notice BEFORE any deadline is at risk; errors self-reported in writing within two business days The monthly profit split is computed only on reconciled, locked numbers — no settlement wire or owner distribution before the month is closed and approved The owner verifies at source every month (bank, Department of Revenue, processor, audit log) — standing practice, not a comment on you Plain-English communication. The owner is not an accountant by training but reviews everything; deference is not required — clarity is SCREENING QUESTIONS — answer all five in your proposal How do you account for customer deposits collected for future services — on the books, and on an S-corporation's tax return? A Washington merchant adds a 3.5% surcharge on credit-card payments. Is that compliant as described? If not, what configuration is? Our management P&L measures trips executed in the month; our official statements are invoice-dated. How, specifically, do you reconcile the two? Describe your most relevant Washington B&O engagement: the classification issue, any catch-up filings, and the outcome. Describe the client closest to our model (deposit-based, merchant of record, transportation/travel) and what you set up for them. ENGAGEMENT STRUCTURE AND FEES Phase 0 — paid walkthrough/diagnostic of the file (hourly) Phase 1 — cleanup at a fixed fee, quoted by you after the walkthrough Phase 2 — ongoing monthly retainer plus defined tax filings; hourly only for defined special projects Propose your rates for each phase and your earliest start date. PROCESS: Shortlist → NDA → you receive the full RFP and the evidence-indexed findings package → your written proposal → a walkthrough call with the owner → decision. We own the QuickBooks file and all workpapers; access is via an accountant seat with named users; on any termination, all records return within five business days. To confirm you have read this posting, begin your proposal with the words "RESERVATION ID." Generic or AI-boilerplate proposals will be declined. POSTING SETTINGS (fill in before publishing — not part of the body)