Using a unique team of professionals, tax firm KBKG performs tax credit services that many CPAs may not know are available, educating clients and peers alike.
A financially savvy business owner understands that every dollar counts toward their business’s future. Paying down debt and reducing unnecessary expenses are part of that, but what some owners overlook is how taxes can shape their business’s future finances.
While paying on time and the right amount is part of smart financial planning, tax incentives can be misunderstood as tax codes have become more specialized.
Professionals like those at KBKG have evolved with the tax code to help businesses understand and capitalize on tax credits and deductions they may not have known existed, or thought did not apply.
Specialty Tax Consulting
Founded in Pasadena, California, in 1999, KBKG has operated as a specialty tax consulting firm for 27 years. Independent and unaffiliated with any CPA firm, it has been assisting businesses, real estate owners, and their CPAs with identifying tax credits and deductions that require expertise beyond traditional tax preparation.
KBKG’s team is multidisciplinary, reflecting the variety of work the firm aims to deliver. Specialty tax incentives may require technical analysis, engineering review, or significant documentation, leading to the team being filled with engineers, attorneys, tax professionals, and even former IRS personnel.
Multidisciplinary Tax Expertise
Originally, KBKG performed cost segregation, a process for identifying components of a company for tax purposes, leveraging its professionals’ expertise.
Consider a commercial building that often depreciates over 39 years and contains separate components that can be valued differently: specialized electrical systems, flooring, and lighting. These pieces of the building may depreciate more quickly than the building itself, which may accelerate deductions and consequently improve cash flow.
This can also be said of another core KBKG service, R&D tax credits. While pharmaceutical companies and technology startups often claim these credits, they can also be claimed by businesses that develop or improve processes, software, or products, even formulations.
The barrier KBKG aims to address in claiming specialty tax incentives is knowledge, but that gap extends beyond the client’s lack of understanding.
The firm also helps other tax professionals with awareness and skills.
Why These Opportunities Go Unclaimed
Most CPA firms focus on average tax opportunities and may lack the expertise to perform examinations such as cost segregation. Recalling the commercial building example, engineering expertise would likely be necessary to analyze the building’s components, an unusual skill in most CPA firms.
KBKG seeks to address this gap by engaging qualified personnel and partnering with CPA firms to tackle the deficiency, having partnered with thousands of CPAs across the US over the business’s lifetime. To date, KBKG has completed more than 80,000 specialty tax studies and helped identify more than $11 billion in tax benefits for clients.
Spreading Specialty Tax Incentives Education
To expand its capacity to meet unique tax needs, KBKG has invested considerable time and resources in education. The company has provided more than 50,000 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) credits to help accounting professionals understand and offer these services.
KBKG is a registered NASBA Continuing Professional Education sponsor and has been approved by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to be a Continuing Education Provider. It offers technical education focused on specialty tax incentives and cost recovery strategy.
Improving Accessibility
Education for CPAs is a focus of KBKG’s accessibility efforts, as is studying taxes at home. In the past, tax studies have been conducted largely by companies with the size and resources to engage outside consultants, leaving smaller businesses out of the equation.
KBKG launched CostSegregation.com, a platform for residential and commercial property owners to complete cost segregation studies by themselves in a self-guided process, with no large company required.
KBKG also developed Dash.tax, an R&D tax credit software for small businesses, startups, and their tax preparers, which may help with claiming credits and producing the documentation needed to file correctly.
These tools may not eliminate the complexity of the tax code, but they may provide access and relief for many filers and professionals..
In The Future
KBKG has expanded its offerings to include negotiated incentives. With this expansion, the firm’s main goal is to help businesses discover and take advantage of tax incentives that may be right in front of them but that they simply lack the expertise to use.
Owners of commercial buildings or innovative businesses could be operating in areas of the tax code that offer tax incentives they never fully evaluate. The tax code can reward activities like real estate investment or domestic manufacturing while qualifying businesses never take advantage of the opportunities within their reach.
However, KBKG educates clients about options and provides experts for the task, using a team of uniquely qualified professionals to handle unusual tax evaluations such as cost segregation and R&D credits.
As tax incentives continue to expand in complexity, firms like KBKG have emerged to bridge the gap between traditional accounting services and the engineering, legal, and technical expertise often required to fully evaluate them.