Financials built around your business. Margin by job, property, vessel, or location each month, with a CPA's explanation of what changed.
Tax planning through a seasonal year. Estimated payments and year-end decisions set from the full-year pattern, so a strong winter does not leave a tax bill with no cash behind it.
Help with a purchase, a sale, or a move. The accounting and tax work when a business changes hands or moves to Broward from another state.
Corviniti works as the accountant for small businesses in Fort Lauderdale and across Broward County. We meet clients at our Fort Lauderdale office by the Galleria, the team is led by a CPA, and we work in English and Spanish. The service goes past the monthly books: financial statements you can use, tax planning during the year, and a CPA to call before a decision is made.
A Broward business with a seasonal year needs accounting that follows it. Revenue concentrated in the winter months, or around the boat show and the cruise schedule, means that estimated taxes, payroll, and cash reserves are planned from the full year. Florida taxes pass-through income at the state level only in rare cases, so most of the tax planning is federal, and the Florida items are the sales, payroll, and property taxes the business pays during the year.
This page sits under Corviniti Accounting in Miami, our office in downtown Miami. That page covers Florida tax for South Florida businesses and for people who move to Florida, and links to the rest of our Florida coverage.
Entity choice
Business entity types compared for Fort Lauderdale owners
Florida filing dates for a calendar-year business. Confirm them each year.
Cash flow
Cash planning for a seasonal Fort Lauderdale business
A business that earns most of its revenue in the winter season plans for the summer months in advance. We build the plan from your own figures for prior years, size a line of credit to the lowest month, and track a 13-week cash flow. Reemployment tax is heaviest in the first quarter, because the $7,000 wage base resets each January. The chart follows an illustrative winter-season business through a year of month-end cash.
A seasonal cash plan with illustrative figures.
This is for you if
The business is profitable in the winter and short of cash every summer.
You formed an LLC and nobody has checked whether an S corporation would save tax.
You are buying, selling, or moving a business to Broward.
You want a CPA to call before decisions, not an hourly bill after them.
What you get
Financials you can act on Margin by job, property, vessel, or location each month, with an explanation of what changed.
Seasonal tax planning Estimated payments and year-end decisions set from the full-year pattern.
Deal and relocation support The accounting and tax work when a business is bought, sold, or moved to Broward.
A CPA to call Answers within one business day, in English or Spanish.
How We Help
What you get
A CPA-led accounting relationship for a Broward business, planned around its seasonal year.
Financials you can act onMargin by job, property, vessel, or location each month, with an explanation of what changed.
Seasonal tax planningEstimated payments and year-end decisions set from the full-year pattern.
Deal and relocation supportThe accounting and tax work when a business is bought, sold, or moved to Broward.
A CPA to callAnswers within one business day, in English or Spanish.
When companies bring us in
The business is profitable in the winter and short of cash every summer.
You formed an LLC and nobody has checked whether an S corporation would save tax.
You are buying, selling, or moving a business to Broward.
You want a CPA to call before decisions, not an hourly bill after them.
The Detail
The gaps, and how we close each one
Service 01
What an accountant adds beyond the books
A business can have accurate books and still lack the information an owner needs: which work makes money, what the tax bill will be, and whether cash will cover the slow months.
How we handle it
We keep the books or review the books your bookkeeper keeps, and add a monthly financial package built around how you run the business: margin by job, property, vessel, or location, the cash position, and a comparison with the same month last year. We plan the tax during the year, so estimated payments and year-end decisions are based on real numbers. And a CPA answers your questions within one business day.
What you get: Financial statements built around how you run the business.
Service 02
Choosing an entity in Florida
An LLC set up at the start may no longer fit once the business is profitable. The right entity depends on profit, the owners, and plans to sell.
How we handle it
For most owner-run businesses in Broward the practical choice is between an LLC and an S corporation, since neither pays Florida income tax in most cases. The S corporation saves payroll tax once profit is high enough, because distributions above a reasonable salary carry no Social Security or Medicare tax, and it adds the cost of running payroll and filing a separate federal return. A C corporation pays the Florida corporate income tax at 5.5 percent on income above a $50,000 exemption and the federal corporate tax, and is usually chosen for a company that will retain its profits or sell stock to investors. For a business that owns boats, vehicles, or real estate, we also look at holding those assets in a separate company that leases them to the operating business, which can protect the assets and change the tax on a later sale.
What you get: An entity recommendation modeled on your numbers.
Service 03
Tax planning for a seasonal business
A business that earns most of its profit in the winter can owe estimated tax on income it has already spent by the time the payment is due.
How we handle it
We project the full year's profit from your own seasonal pattern and set the federal estimated payments from that projection, so the payments match income as it is earned. The annualized income method can reduce early-year payments when income arrives late in the year, and we use it where it applies. On the Florida side we plan the cash for the sales tax and reemployment tax paid during the busy months, and for the property tax bill, which arrives in November. Year-end decisions, such as equipment purchases and retirement plan contributions, are made in the autumn, when the cash position for the coming season is known.
What you get: Estimated payments and year-end decisions set from the full-year pattern.
Planning a purchase, a sale, or a move to Broward? Talk to a CPA before you sign.
When a business changes hands or moves from another state, the tax on the transaction and the support for the price both depend on accounting work done before closing.
How we handle it
Buying a business. We review the seller's books and returns, rebuild earnings from bank records where the books are weak, and model how the price is allocated among equipment, inventory, goodwill, and any non-compete, because the allocation sets the buyer's future deductions and the seller's tax. A purchase that includes real estate also carries Florida's documentary stamp tax on the deed, 70 cents per $100 in Broward. Selling a business. We prepare the books a buyer's lender will accept, list the owner expenses that can be added back to earnings, and model the tax on an asset sale against a sale of the shares. Moving a company to Broward. A company formed in another state registers with the Florida Division of Corporations before doing business here, and then registers for sales tax and reemployment tax where they apply. The former state usually expects final returns, and the owners' own moves are a separate residency question. We plan both sides of the move together.
What you get: The accounting and tax work on a purchase, a sale, or a move, done before closing.
Service 05
Accounting for Fort Lauderdale's main industries
Each of Fort Lauderdale's main industries has its own accounting questions and its own tax planning.
How we handle it
Marine businesses. A dealer, broker, or repair yard needs margin by vessel and by job, planned equipment purchases, and the sales tax on boat sales and repairs applied correctly. The Florida limits on that tax, $18,000 on a boat sale and $60,000 on a repair, change the price a buyer pays and have to be applied invoice by invoice.
Hospitality and short-term rentals. Owners need a profit and loss per property, the taxes collected kept apart from income, and planning for the federal treatment of the rentals, which depends on the average guest stay and the owner's involvement.
Contractors and real estate. Contractors need job costing, work in progress, and planned equipment purchases. Property owners need depreciation and cost segregation planned, and the tax on a sale modeled before it happens.
Professional firms and practices. Law, consulting, medical, and dental practices need compensation and retirement plans set together with the entity, and books that keep client trust funds or insurance collections accurate.
What you get: Accounting and planning shaped around your industry.
Service 06
How the relationship works
An owner should know what the monthly fee covers and when the CPA is involved.
How we handle it
A flat monthly fee covers the books or the review of your bookkeeper's work, the monthly financial package, quarterly tax planning, and access to a CPA. Planning meetings are set before the estimated tax dates, before the season begins, and before year-end. We meet by video, at our Fort Lauderdale office by the Galleria, or at our office in downtown Miami, in English or Spanish. The same team prepares the tax returns from the same books.
What you get: A flat monthly scope, a named CPA, and meetings before the dates that matter.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does a small business accountant do that a bookkeeper does not?
The bookkeeper records transactions and reconciles accounts. The accountant prepares financial statements from those records, plans the tax on them, and advises on decisions such as pricing, borrowing, and hiring. We do both.
Does Florida tax my S corporation or LLC?
In most cases, no. Florida has no personal income tax, so income that passes through to the owners is not taxed by the state. An S corporation files the Florida corporate return only when it owes federal tax at the entity level, such as the built-in gains tax, and a partnership files an information return only when one of its partners is a corporation. A company taxed as a C corporation owes the Florida corporate income tax at 5.5 percent on income above $50,000.
We are moving our company from New York to Fort Lauderdale. What do we need to do?
Register the company with the Florida Division of Corporations, register for Florida sales tax and reemployment tax if they apply, and get the Broward County and city business tax receipts. On the New York side, the company files final returns once it no longer does business there, and each owner's move is a separate question of domicile and residency. We plan both sides of the move together.
Can you help with buying a business?
Yes. We review the seller's books and returns, rebuild earnings from bank records where the books are weak, and model the purchase price allocation and the taxes on the deal before you sign.
Do you work in Spanish?
Yes. Our team works in English and Spanish.
Do you work with marine businesses?
Yes. We track margin by vessel and by job, plan equipment purchases and their depreciation, and set up the books so the sales tax on boat sales and repairs is applied and recorded correctly.
Do you work with short-term rental owners and hospitality businesses?
Yes. We keep a profit and loss per property, separate the taxes collected from income, and plan the federal treatment of the rentals, which depends on how long guests stay and how involved the owner is.
Do you work with contractors?
Yes. We track job costs and work in progress, plan the timing of equipment purchases, and review the classification of workers as employees or contractors, which matters if Florida examines the reemployment tax.
Do you work with professional firms?
Yes. Law, consulting, engineering, and design firms need unbilled work and retainers recorded correctly, and attorney books keep client trust funds apart from operating cash. We plan the partners' or shareholders' compensation and the firm's entity together.
Tangible personal property.section 196.183, Florida Statutes: the $25,000 exemption that a timely return claims, and the waiver of later returns while the property is worth $25,000 or less.
Federal corporate rate.26 U.S.C. 11(b): 21 percent of a C corporation's taxable income.
Federal individual rates.26 U.S.C. 1: the 37 percent top rate in subsection (j), and the 20 percent rate on qualified dividends in subsection (h).
Net investment income tax.26 U.S.C. 1411: 3.8 percent of the lesser of investment income, including dividends, and modified adjusted gross income above $200,000, or $250,000 on a joint return.
Qualified business income deduction.26 U.S.C. 199A: the 20 percent deduction, which Public Law 119-21 extended past 2025.
This page summarizes Florida, county, and federal tax rules for general information, and is not tax advice for your situation. Rates, exemption amounts, and thresholds change each year; confirm the current figures with the authority before you rely on them.
