Small Business Accountant in Richmond, VA
If your accountant only appears at filing season, you are seeing a fraction of what a CPA can do for your business. The RVA Accountant, PLLC works with small business owners on a year-round rhythm instead: monthly bookkeeping that keeps the numbers current, planning conversations while decisions can still change the outcome, and a tax return that confirms what you already expected rather than surprising you.
Jéron Crooks, CPA runs his own businesses alongside the practice, so the advice comes from someone who watches cash flow, runs payroll, and pays estimated taxes himself — not just someone who reads about it.
Who We Serve
Most clients are owner-operated companies where the founder still touches everything, including the books. The industries vary; the needs rhyme.
- Trades and home services. Contractors, remodelers, and service crews juggling job costs, equipment purchases, subcontractor payments, and 1099 season, often from the front seat of a work truck between jobs.
- Professional services. Consultants, agencies, designers, and practices where the recurring questions are owner pay, retirement contributions, and whether the quarterly estimates are keeping pace with a good year.
- E-commerce and online sellers. Businesses reconciling platform payouts, inventory, sales channels, and multi-state questions that DIY software does not resolve cleanly.
- Restaurants and food businesses. Tight margins, tip reporting, vendor invoices, and point-of-sale totals that need to match the bank account and, eventually, the tax return.
If your business is an owner-operated LLC or S-Corp and the numbers have started to matter — for taxes, for financing, or for your own decisions — this page describes how the firm typically helps.
The Monthly Rhythm: Books, Then Planning, Then Filing
Good accounting is a loop that runs all year, and each part of the loop makes the next part work better. Here is the cycle in practice.
Books closed every month
Monthly bookkeeping and reconciliations come first: transactions categorized, bank and credit card accounts reconciled, and financial statements you can actually read. If the books are behind, catch-up work typically happens as a first phase so the rest of the engagement starts from clean numbers instead of guesses.
Planning while the year is still open
Current books make year-round tax planning practical instead of theoretical. A mid-year projection shows where the tax bill is heading while there is time to react. A fourth-quarter review looks at timing: equipment purchases, retirement plan contributions, owner pay, and estimated payments, while those moves may still change the result depending on your situation. For a sense of what typically lands on the table each December, skim the year-end tax planning checklist.
Filing that confirms instead of surprises
By the time tax preparation begins, the return is assembled from books you have seen all year and estimates that were reviewed along the way. Filing becomes a checkpoint, not a reveal. The finished return then feeds the next year's plan, and the loop starts again.
Entity Structure and Payroll, in Plain English
Entity questions follow the business lifecycle. A sole proprietorship may be exactly right in year one. As profit grows, an S-Corp election may reduce self-employment tax, depending on what a reasonable salary for your role would be and on the added costs of payroll and a separate business return. There is no universal profit number where the switch makes sense; it is a calculation, and you should see the math before anything gets filed.
Payroll guidance belongs to the same conversation: setting up owner payroll after an S election, onboarding a first employee, or adopting an accountable plan — a written policy that lets the business reimburse you, typically tax-free, for costs like a qualifying home office or business mileage. Two short reads if you want the background: Accountable Plans 101 and this guide to home office and vehicle deductions.
And when the decision in front of you is bigger than a tax question — pricing, hiring, a second location, a piece of equipment — CPA-led business consulting uses the same numbers to help you make it with clearer eyes.
What Switching Accountants Actually Looks Like
Plenty of owners stay in a mediocre fit for years because leaving feels awkward. In practice, switching is short and routine:
- A conversation. A brief call about where the business stands, what is working, and what is not. You do not need tidy books to have it.
- Records. Typically the last two years of tax returns, access to your bookkeeping file, and recent payroll reports. You gather access once; the firm takes it from there.
- A written scope. You see what the engagement covers and the estimated fee before you commit. Monthly engagements are typically quoted as a flat amount after a review of transaction volume, payroll, and required filings — not off a one-size menu.
- The handoff. With your written authorization, the firm requests anything else needed from your prior accountant. The transfer is typically uneventful, and you never have to make a breakup call.
Any month works. Many owners move right after a frustrating filing season; owners who move in the fall get a full planning cycle before December 31. Even a January start is workable — it simply begins with filing instead of planning.
Serving Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield
The RVA Accountant, PLLC serves owner-operated businesses across Greater Richmond, including the city itself, Henrico County, and Chesterfield County. Federal tax law is the same everywhere, but local details still matter. Each locality administers its own BPOL business license tax — a tax on gross receipts with rates and filing rules that vary by city and county — and Virginia's elective pass-through entity tax may change how some owners pay state tax. Your accountant should be fluent in both, and in how they interact with the federal picture.
Why Owners Choose The RVA Accountant
- Education first. You will understand the why behind every recommendation. The goal is for owners to recognize the tax incentives available at each stage of the business lifecycle — not to nod along at year-end.
- An owner's perspective. Jéron is an entrepreneur and real estate investor himself, so the guidance reflects how decisions feel when it is your cash on the line.
- An auditor's habits. Years in internal audit and government financial reporting built a documentation-first instinct: positions worth taking are positions worth supporting on paper.
- Right-sized attention. You talk to the CPA who does the work, not a rotating staff pool.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a small business accountant cost in Richmond?
It depends on scope. Monthly engagements are typically quoted as a flat amount after a review of your books, transaction volume, payroll, and required filings, so the estimate reflects your business rather than a generic package. You will always see the scope and the estimated fee in writing before committing to anything.
Can you take over from my current accountant mid-year?
Yes. With your authorization, prior returns and records transfer over, the books get caught up if needed, and the engagement starts wherever the year stands. Mid-year starts often work in your favor: there is still time for planning moves before December 31, rather than a filing-only first year.
My books are a mess. Do I need to fix them before calling?
No. Cleanup is usually the first phase of the work, not a prerequisite for it. Unreconciled accounts, mixed personal and business spending, and months of uncategorized transactions are normal starting points. The books get rebuilt to a reliable monthly close, and everything downstream — planning, filing, decisions — gets easier from there.
What is the difference between a bookkeeper and a CPA?
A bookkeeper records and reconciles transactions. A CPA is a licensed professional who can also plan around what the numbers show, prepare business and personal returns, and represent you before the IRS. Many businesses need both functions. Here they are coordinated in one place, so the books are built with the return and the plan in mind.
Do you work with brand-new businesses?
Yes. Early-stage owners typically need entity selection guidance, a clean chart of accounts from day one, payroll setup when the first hire arrives, and a realistic view of estimated taxes. Getting those pieces right at the start is usually far cheaper than untangling them in year three.
When is the best time of year to switch accountants?
Whenever the frustration is fresh enough to act on. Spring switches follow a rough filing season and give the new relationship a full year of runway. Fall switches leave time for a planning review before December 31. Even a mid-winter move is workable; it simply starts with preparation and grows into planning.
Ready to Talk?
If you want an accountant who shows up all twelve months, start with a conversation about where your business stands. Call (804) 923-4286, email info@thervaaccountant.com, or schedule a consultation. You will get plain answers, a clearly scoped engagement, and a CPA who treats your business the way he runs his own.