A small business tax advisor helps business owners reduce their tax burden through proactive planning — choosing the right entity structure, timing income and deductions, maximizing retirement contributions, and preparing for future growth. Michelet Financial serves small business owners nationwide as a tax strategy partner, not just a filing service.
Most small business owners pay too much in taxes because they have a tax preparer, not a tax strategist. The difference isn’t the return — it’s everything that happens before April 15.
The Most Important Distinction in Business Tax
A tax preparer files what already happened. You hand over your documents in February, they record your income and deductions, and they submit the return by April 15. Their job is accuracy — making sure the numbers are right. It doesn’t include strategy.
By the time you’re sitting across from a tax preparer, every major decision that affects your tax bill is already made. The business income is recorded. The expenses are spent. The retirement contributions mayor may not have been made. The entity structure is what it was. The window for changing your outcome is closed.
A tax strategist plans what’s going to happen. The work happens before December 31, not after April 15. That means reviewing your entity structure, timing income and deductions, maximizing retirement contributions, and identifying opportunities while there’s still time to act on them.
This is what Brandt Michelet does as a Financial Strategist. The focus isn’t compliance — it’s changing your tax outcome before the year closes. Every conversation is about what you can do now to reduce what you owe in April.
The financial difference between the two approaches commonly runs $10,000–$50,000 per year for profitable small businesses — not because the strategy is complicated, but because most business owners have never had an advisor whose job is to find and implement it.
What’s Costing You Money
These aren’t obscure loopholes — they’re mainstream tax strategies that most business owners miss because no one has ever walked them through the options.
Operating as a sole proprietor or single-member LLC means paying 15.3% self-employment tax on every dollar of net profit. An S-Corp election changes that math by allowing you to pay yourself a reasonable salary — and take remaining profit as distributions not subject to SE tax. The savings can be $10,000–$30,000 annually for the right business.
A Solo 401(k) allows contributions of up to $69,000 in 2026 ($76,500 if you’re 50 or older) — combining employee and employer contributions. Every dollar contributed reduces your taxable income dollar-for-dollar. A SEP-IRA offers up to 25% of net self-employment income. Missing this is like leaving a deduction worth tens of thousands on the table every year.
Home office (exclusive business-use space), business vehicle use, self-employed health insurance (100% above-the-line deduction), Section 179 equipment expensing, business meals (50%), and professional development are deductions many business owners underuse or miss entirely. Proper documentation and categorization can move thousands from taxable income to deductible expense.
The most powerful tax moves happen before December 31. Deferring income to the next tax year, accelerating deductible expenses into the current year, making retirement contributions, and timing equipment purchases all require action before the year closes. After January 1, those opportunities are gone for another 12 months.
Section 199A of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act allows eligible business owners to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income — one of the largest deductions introduced in recent tax history. It’s subject to income limits and service-business restrictions, but for many small business owners it represents a significant reduction in effective tax rate that requires no additional spending.
The difference between a $500 tax preparation appointment and ongoing tax advisory isn’t just price — it’s outcome. Tax prep records what happened. Tax strategy changes what’s going to happen. Business owners who invest in year-round advisory consistently pay less in taxes than those who only engage a preparer at filing time.
The Michelet Financial Approach
Brandt Michelet served as a financial strategy lead at Landry’s, Inc. under Tilman Fertitta — one of America’s largest private companies with 600+ venues and billions in annual revenue. That experience means your small business tax strategy is built on the same financial discipline that governs billion-dollar operations, applied to your scale and situation.
Michelet Financial operates as an ongoing strategic partner, not a once-a-year filing service. That means:
Proactive quarterly strategy sessions, not one call at tax time. Your advisor is available when the decisions are being made.
Is your current structure right for your revenue and growth stage? We run the numbers and model the options before recommending any changes.
October and November strategy calls to identify remaining opportunities before December 31 closes the window.
Maximize contributions in the structure that makes the most sense for your income, age, and business cash flow.
Tax strategy doesn’t exist in isolation. We connect tax decisions to growth plans, investments, and personal financial goals.
You work directly with Brandt Michelet, not a junior associate. Your situation gets senior attention at every touchpoint.
Who We Work With
Michelet Financial works with small business owners in the $500,000–$10M revenue range — the segment where tax strategy delivers the highest ROI but institutional-quality advisory has historically been unavailable. These are businesses that have outgrown DIY tax software but don’t have a CFO or in-house tax team.
🛠 S-Corps and LLCs
Business owners operating in pass-through structures who want to optimize salary/distribution ratios and retirement contributions.
📈 Growing Businesses
Companies scaling revenue who want to manage the associated tax liability proactively rather than being surprised at filing time.
💵 Business Owners Who Overpaid
If you looked at last year’s tax bill and thought “that can’t be right,” it’s worth a conversation. It probably wasn’t optimized.
🚀 Planning to Sell or Grow
Business owners planning a future sale or significant capital event who want to structure today’s operations for maximum after-tax value.
Michelet Financial serves business owners in all 50 states. Engagements are fully virtual. Call (225) 396-5511 for a confidential consultation, or book online.
What’s Included
A comprehensive approach to reducing your business tax liability — from entity structure through year-end planning and everything in between.
Is your business in the right tax structure? We model the after-tax outcome of your current structure against alternatives — including S-Corp election — and quantify the annual savings opportunity.
Before December 31, we review your income and expense position and identify actionable strategies — income deferral, deduction acceleration, equipment purchases, retirement contributions — while there’s still time to act.
Identify the right plan (Solo 401(k), SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA) for your business structure and income, maximize contributions, and convert taxable income into tax-advantaged retirement savings.
A comprehensive review of your current deductions against what’s available — home office, vehicle, health insurance, Section 179, QBI — and a plan to capture what you’re missing with proper documentation.
Year-round advisory — not a once-a-year filing appointment. Quarterly check-ins keep your tax position current as revenue, expenses, and business circumstances change throughout the year.
For LLCs and sole proprietors that have crossed the profitability threshold, a full S-Corp election analysis: payroll tax savings, reasonable salary determination, administrative costs, and net benefit projection.
Related strategy pages:
FAQ
Start with a free strategy consultation. We’ll assess your current situation, identify the highest-value opportunities, and tell you what we think is possible — no commitment required.
Book a Free Tax Strategy ConsultationFree Consultation
100% virtual. Serving clients in all 50 states. Response within 1 business day.
No spam. No pressure. We respond within 1 business day.