Los Angeles Year-End Tax Planning CPA: 5 Questions to Ask First

Los Angeles Year-End Tax Planning CPA: 5 Questions to Ask First

Most tax planning that changes a return has to happen before the year ends, and it is late October. A Los Angeles year-end tax planning CPA who gets your numbers in November has time to act. One who first sees them in March can only describe what already happened. Five questions, asked before you hire, tell you which kind you are talking to.

The questions are a sequence to work through, not a ranking. Three Sam's List partners list a Los Angeles area base. Doug Johnson CPA, a Los Angeles firm for growing businesses with $250,000 to $10 million in revenue and for high earners with equity compensation, is the one written up here. The other two, Ever Ledger and Good Operator, are named and linked only. Every firm named is a vetted Sam's List member. The firm written up below is a paying member of our featured program, and payment does not buy the language we use or its reviews. You can read how we picked this firm at the end.

1. What Does Your Los Angeles Year-End Tax Planning CPA Need Done Before December 31?

Some year-end moves have a hard stop on December 31, and some can be finished after the year closes. A Los Angeles year-end tax planning CPA should be able to sort your list into those two piles on day one. A year-end tax planning checklist is only useful when each line carries a date.

Examples of items that generally need action within the calendar year include equipment you want treated as placed in service this year, charitable gifts, and 401(k) salary deferrals, which come out of paychecks. Other items, such as contributions to an IRA or certain business retirement plans, can often be made after year end and still count for the prior year, depending on the plan. Ask which of your items are in which pile and who owns each one.

The limitation: a deadline does not make a move worthwhile. A deduction you spend real cash to get is still spending, so ask for the after-tax cost of each idea, not just the tax it removes.

2. How Will They Model California Estimated Tax Payments and Withholding Together?

Estimated payments and withholding are two ways of paying the same bill, and they are treated differently. Federal withholding is generally treated as paid evenly through the year no matter when it was taken, while an estimated payment counts on the date you send it. That difference is why a CPA may suggest a late-year withholding change for an owner who also has a wage job.

Ask how the firm projects your full-year tax, which payments are still due and what you have paid so far. California estimated tax payments follow their own schedule, which for individuals has generally split the year across four dates in uneven shares (30, 40, 0 and 30 percent) rather than evenly, so the plan should not simply copy the federal dates. The fourth-quarter payment for both is generally due in mid-January. Ask to see the projected totals for each jurisdiction, and ask how the penalty rules apply to you.

The limitation: a projection is only as good as your income estimate. If a bonus, a stock sale or a big client payment is still ahead, the numbers will move, so ask how often the firm refreshes them before the deadline.

3. How Does California Conformity Change the Federal Plan?

California does not follow every federal tax rule. California has generally not adopted some federal provisions, including parts of the federal rules on accelerated depreciation, and its limits on certain expensing deductions have differed from the federal ones. A move that saves federal tax can leave the California bill unchanged or higher.

Ask your CPA to run both returns for any strategy and show you each result. Ask also whether the firm has considered California's elective pass-through entity tax if you own an S corporation or partnership, and who decides whether to elect it. The rules for that election have changed over time, so a firm that checks them each year is a better sign than one that quotes a rule from memory.

The limitation: conformity rules, rates and elections change, and some depend on the year. Confirm the current rules with the California Franchise Tax Board before acting on any California claim, including the ones here.

4. What Numbers Do They Need From You, and When?

A plan needs inputs, and a good CPA names them. Expect a request for a year-to-date profit and loss statement, your payroll reports, the estimated payments you have made, your most recent returns and a list of anything unusual: a large sale, a new hire, equipment, a stock vesting or a move. A CPA who asks for these in early November is working on your behalf.

Ask for the list in writing, with a date for each item. If your books are behind, ask whether the firm will catch them up before planning or expects them to be current, because a plan built on stale books is a plan built on a guess.

The limitation: sending the numbers is your side of the work. If your bookkeeping is a month behind, no CPA can model a result that is accurate, and the fix may be bookkeeping before it is tax planning.

5. What Will a Los Angeles Year-End Tax Planning CPA Decline to Recommend?

The most useful answer in the interview is the one that includes a no. Ask which popular year-end ideas the firm will not suggest for you, and the reasoning. A CPA who says yes to everything has not looked at your facts, and one who can explain why a deduction is not worth its cost has.

Pay attention to how they talk about risk. Ask how they judge whether a position will hold up if questioned, what documentation they keep and what happens if the IRS or the California Franchise Tax Board writes to you. Ask whether notice response is in the fee.

The limitation: a cautious CPA may leave some savings on the table, and an aggressive one may leave you exposed. No firm can promise a result, so look for a reasoned answer that fits your tolerance for risk.

Where Doug Johnson CPA Fits

Doug Johnson CPA is a Los Angeles firm serving clients nationwide. Its live profile positions the firm for growing businesses with $250,000 to $10 million in revenue and for high earners with equity compensation, and lists Equity Compensation, Growing Companies ($1M-$10M) and HENRYs (High Earners, Not Rich Yet) as specialties.

Doug Johnson CPA has 15 verified client reviews on Sam's List as of 2026-10-29. Each review is submitted by an individual who identifies as a client of the firm and rates it on communication, subject-matter knowledge, and overall satisfaction. Reviews reflect those individual experiences and do not represent an endorsement by Sam's List. Doug Johnson CPA is a paying member of our featured program, and payment does not buy its reviews. Ratings and rankings are not indicative of future performance or results.

The limitation, plainly: the profile does not mention year-end planning, California estimated payments or pass-through entity tax by name, so ask what the firm does and how it handles them. It describes its focus as businesses from $250,000 in revenue and high earners with equity compensation, so a smaller owner should ask whether the firm takes on work of that size. It is late October, so ask when it has room to start.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I start year-end tax planning?

Ideally by October or early November, because many moves must be completed by December 31. Starting in December is possible but leaves little room to gather numbers or compare options. Whatever the month, the first step is a projection of this year's income and tax.

What is on a year-end tax planning checklist?

Common items include a year-to-date profit and loss, a projection of full-year tax, a review of estimated payments and withholding, retirement contributions, charitable gifts, equipment purchases, equity compensation events and entity elections. Which items matter depends on your facts, so ask your CPA to date each one.

When are California estimated tax payments due?

For individuals, California installments generally follow the calendar year with a fourth payment due in mid-January, but the dollar split between installments differs from the federal one. Dates can shift for weekends and holidays and rules change, so confirm with the California Franchise Tax Board.

Can a CPA still help if I wait until January?

Yes, but with fewer options. Items that needed action by December 31 may be closed, though some contributions and the fourth-quarter estimate can still be handled in January. A January start is mostly cleanup and filing, so earlier contact usually gives a CPA more to work with.

Before you call anyone, pull your year-to-date profit and loss, your latest payroll report, the estimated payments you have made and your last two returns. You can browse accountants on Sam's List, including the firms above, and ask each one these five questions.

How We Picked This Firm

You should be able to check our work, so here is how this post was built.

The pool. The roster is the Sam's List partners that list a Los Angeles area base as of September 14, 2026: Doug Johnson CPA, Ever Ledger and Good Operator. The pool is vetted Sam's List members. One firm is written up. The other two are named and linked only, with no write-up and no recommendation. This is not a survey of every Los Angeles CPA, and many firms not on Sam's List could fit.

How it is organized. The five questions are a sequence, not a ranking. Doug Johnson CPA is written up because it is the only firm on that roster in our featured program.

What review counts mean here. We cite Doug Johnson CPA's verified review count and its date from its profile. A count shows how many clients wrote something down. It does not measure technical quality.

What payment does and does not buy. Listing on Sam's List is free, and so is being named in this article. The firm written up here is a paying member of our featured program, which is why it gets a write-up. What payment does not buy is the language we use about a firm, its review count, or a promise that it fits you.

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About the author: Kimberly Green is the cofounder of Sam's List, where business owners and high earners find vetted CPAs, financial advisors, and fractional CFOs. She's met one-on-one with 400+ financial professionals and writes from the real data behind thousands of client-advisor matches. Ask her anything about finding an accountant - she's heard it all, including the questions people are afraid to ask.