# Hemingway CPA Inc.

> Montgomery County CPA for contractors, trades, trucking & real estate. Tax, bookkeeping, valuation, IRS representation — every return CPA-signed.

HEMINGWAY CPA INC is a virtual-first certified public accounting firm. The practice has served business owners since 2009 and has been registered as a CPA firm since 2017. 550 Club Dr Ste 271, Montgomery, TX 77316. Telephone +1-281-753-0117. Email INFO@HEMINGWAYCPA.COM.

Principal: Kevin Hemingway — Certified Public Accountant, Texas State Board of Public Accountancy | Enrolled Agent, U.S. Department of the Treasury | Master of Business Administration, University of Houston-Clear Lake | Bachelor of Arts, The University of Texas at Austin.

Generated from the published site. Each entry links to the authoritative page; where this file and the site differ, the site governs.

## Services

### [Bookkeeping Services | QuickBooks ProAdvisors](https://hemingwaycpa.com/services/bookkeeping/)

Monthly bookkeeping reconciled to the bank, clean-ups and catch-ups, and lender-ready statements. Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors in Montgomery, TX.

- **Reconciled Accounts** — Every bank, credit card, and loan account tied to its statement. Reconciliations that don’t tie don’t ship — that’s the firm standard, not a goal.
- **Clean Categorization** — Materials separated from subcontractors, equipment from supplies, owner draws from expenses — the distinctions that decide both your tax bill and what your margins actually are.
- **Financial Statements** — Profit & loss and balance sheet, monthly, in plain English — formatted the way a lender or bonding agent expects to read them.
- **Clean-Ups & Catch-Ups** — Months or years behind, miscoded, or held together by memory: we rebuild it, reconcile it, and keep it closed monthly so it never gets away from you again.
- **Balance-Sheet First** — Prove every balance, and the P&L proves itself. It’s the first page a lender reads — and the first one we clean: every account reconciled, every balance supported, nothing carried because nobody wanted to look.
- **Payroll on the Same Ledger** — For bookkeeping clients: W-2s, 1099s, 941s and state filings run by the firm that already knows your accounts.
- **Turn the Books Into Decisions** — Reconciled books make job costing, cash forecasting, and owner KPIs possible. Without them it is guesswork.
- **Moving Off QuickBooks** — CPA-led migration to Xero, Wave, Manager, or Beancount with history preserved and closing balances verified.

### [Business Analysis & Cash Flow Forecasting](https://hemingwaycpa.com/services/business-analysis-forecasting/)

Job costing by crew and truck, rolling cash forecasts, owner KPIs, and lender-ready reporting — CFO-level insight without the CFO salary.

- **Job Costing & Margin** — Which jobs, crews, and trucks make money — and which are subsidized by the rest. The one report that changes what a field-service owner decides.
- **Cash Flow Forecasting** — A rolling forecast built on your own history and seasonality, so payroll in the slow months is funded before the slow months arrive.
- **KPIs & Owner Dashboard** — A one-page monthly dashboard: revenue, margin by segment, cash runway, receivables aging, and the two or three numbers unique to how you run.
- **Budgets & Lender Packages** — Budgets that get compared to actuals instead of filed away, and financial packages formatted for the bank or bonding company that has to say yes.
- **Reconciled Source Data** — Job costing and forecasting are only as honest as the ledger feeding them.
- **From Performance to Value** — The same normalized earnings that drive your KPIs drive a calculated value.
- **Plan Against the Forecast** — Equipment timing and owner pay decided against projected cash, not last year.

### [Business Valuation Services | Montgomery, TX](https://hemingwaycpa.com/services/business-valuation/)

Business valuation in Montgomery, TX: buy-side, sell-side, partner buyouts, and lender-ready analysis. CPA engagements under AICPA standards.

- **Buy-Side** — Buying a business, a book of business, or a competitor’s fleet: what the target is worth, which of the seller’s add-backs actually survive scrutiny, and where the price stops making sense — before earnest money moves.
- **Sell-Side & Exit** — What your business is worth today, which value drivers are within your control, and what two or three years of deliberate work does to the number. The exit conversation should start long before the exit.
- **Buyouts & Buy-Sell Agreements** — Partner and shareholder buyouts priced on analysis instead of argument — and buy-sell agreements funded with a defensible, updatable value instead of a stale guess from the year the company formed.
- **Value Tracking** — An annual calculation refresh for owners managing toward an exit: same methodology year over year, so you watch the value move and know exactly why it moved.
- **Financing & Lender Support** — Acquisition loans, refinances, and credit-line increases move on numbers a lender can trust. We deliver the valuation analysis under AICPA valuation standards, the lender package around it, and the debt-service math that makes the ask bankable — normalized earnings, collateral schedules, coverage ratios, all tied to books that reconcile. Where a lender program sets its own rules — an SBA acquisition loan, for example, requires an independent valuation from a source on the SBA’s qualified list — we tell you before the engagement starts and coordinate accordingly. Which program the financing runs through is the first question we ask, because it decides who can do the work.
- **The Numbers Underneath a Value** — Normalized earnings, margin by segment, and forecasts are what a value is built from.
- **Books That Tie First** — Reconciled records are the precondition. A value built on unproven balances is a guess.
- **Structure Affects Value** — Entity form and owner compensation change both the earnings stream and what a buyer is actually acquiring.

### [Entity Selection & S-Corp Analysis](https://hemingwaycpa.com/services/entity-selection/)

Default taxation or the S-corp election? We model your tax-classification options on actual profit, payroll, and equipment, plus late-election review.

- **Self-Employment Tax vs. Payroll Cost** — The S-corp’s headline savings against its real overhead: reasonable owner compensation, payroll filings, and the compliance you’re signing up to maintain every quarter.
- **Deduction Interactions** — Entity choice changes how health insurance, retirement contributions, vehicle strategies, and the qualified business income deduction actually land — the analysis runs them together, not one at a time.
- **State & Franchise Effects** — Texas franchise tax treatment and any multi-state consequences, so the federal savings aren’t quietly eaten at the state line.
- **Timing & Reversibility** — When the election should take effect, whether a late election can rescue this year, and what unwinding it would cost if your situation changes.
- **The Election Is One Decision of Many** — Structure sits inside a year-round plan: equipment timing, retirement, owner pay, quarterly estimates.
- **S-Corp Means Payroll** — Electing S-corp status commits you to reasonable compensation and quarterly filings. Available to bookkeeping clients.
- **Filing the Structure You Chose** — 1120-S, 1065, or Schedule C — prepared and principal-signed.

### [IRS Representation | CPAs & Enrolled Agents](https://hemingwaycpa.com/services/irs-representation/)

IRS notices, exams, back returns, and resolution handled by CPAs and Enrolled Agents in Montgomery, TX. The agency talks to us, not to you.

- **Notice Response** — Most notices are narrower than they read. We decode what’s actually being asked, respond with documentation, and keep a small issue from becoming a large one through silence or panic.
- **Exam & Audit Representation** — Correspondence, office, and field examinations handled by licensed representatives — organized records, controlled scope, and you never sitting across the table alone.
- **Balances & Resolution** — Installment agreements, penalty abatement where the facts support it, and honest assessment of the offer-in-compromise route — which is real, but rarer than late-night radio suggests.
- **Unfiled Years** — Compliance first: back returns prepared in the right order, substitute-for-return assessments corrected with actual figures, and the account brought to where resolution is possible.
- **Compliance First** — Resolution starts with filed returns. Back years prepared in the right order.
- **Records That Survive an Exam** — Reconciled books and source documents are what turn an audit into a short conversation.
- **Stop the Repeat** — Most notices trace to a structural problem. Planning is how it stops recurring.

### [Payroll for Bookkeeping Clients](https://hemingwaycpa.com/services/payroll/)

Payroll for our bookkeeping clients: W-2/W-3, 1099, 940/941, unemployment, Texas franchise and sales tax — filed by the firm that keeps your books.

- **Payroll Processing** — Regular runs for W-2 employees — including seasonal crews, apprentices, and overtime-heavy summer schedules — with direct deposit and pay stubs through the portal.
- **Contractor & Sub Reporting** — 1099-NEC tracking all year, W-9 collection before the first check instead of a January scramble, and the 1096 transmittals filed on time.
- **Federal & State Filings** — Quarterly 941s, annual 940, W-2/W-3 transmittals, and Texas Workforce Commission unemployment filings — the calendar is ours to track, not yours.
- **Texas Franchise & Sales Tax** — Franchise reports and sales tax returns for trades whose work crosses the taxable-services line — a distinction worth getting right in Texas.
- **Payroll Requires the Books** — Payroll here is an add-on for bookkeeping clients, so the filings and the ledger never disagree.
- **Why Owners End Up on Payroll** — The S-corp election creates the reasonable-compensation requirement. We model the cost before you elect.
- **Filings That Tie to the Return** — W-2s, 1099s, and 941s reconciled against the return that reports them.

### [QuickBooks Migration to Xero, Wave & Beancount](https://hemingwaycpa.com/services/quickbooks-migration/)

CPA-led migrations off QuickBooks to Xero, Wave, Manager, or Beancount — history preserved and closing balances verified before cutover.

- **Ongoing Books After Cutover** — Migration ends; the monthly close does not. Same firm, verified opening balances.
- **Reporting on the New Platform** — Job costing and owner dashboards rebuilt on the system you moved to.
- **A Clean Handoff to the Return** — Verified closing balances mean the first return after migration ties without rework.

### [Small Business Tax Planning | Montgomery, TX](https://hemingwaycpa.com/services/tax-planning/)

Year-round tax strategy: entity structure, equipment timing, owner pay, and quarterly estimates that match reality — before December 31.

- **Entity & Compensation Structure** — Whether an S-corp election makes sense at your profit level, and what reasonable owner compensation looks like once it does — the two decisions that drive self-employment tax.
- **Equipment & Asset Timing** — §179 and bonus depreciation are levers, not defaults. We time trucks, trailers, and equipment against your income so the deduction lands in the year it’s worth the most.
- **Quarterly Estimates From Actuals** — Estimates recalculated each quarter from your real numbers — so seasonal businesses stop overpaying in the dip and underpaying in the peak.
- **Multi-Year & Exit Planning** — Retirement contributions, income smoothing across years, depreciation recapture before equipment sales, and succession planning done before the handshake, not after.
- **Structure Is the Biggest Lever** — Whether to elect S-corp status, and what reasonable compensation actually costs, modeled on your real numbers.
- **Where the Plan Lands** — The filing that carries out the plan — prepared by a CPA or EA, signed by the principal.
- **Forecast the Tax, Not Just the Cash** — Rolling forecasts show the estimate you will owe before the quarter closes, not after.

### [Tax Preparation | CPA-Signed Returns](https://hemingwaycpa.com/services/tax-preparation/)

Individual, S-corp, partnership, and corporate returns prepared by CPAs and EAs, signed by our principal CPA. Multi-state and second opinions welcome.

- **Business Returns** — Forms 1120-S, 1065, and 1120 with the schedules that trades businesses actually generate: depreciation and §179 elections, vehicle and equipment schedules, owner basis tracking, and K-1s that your personal return can actually use.
- **Individual Returns** — Form 1040 with business income, rental property, and multi-state situations handled correctly — prepared alongside the business return so the two never contradict each other.
- **Multi-State Filings** — Apportionment and nonresident filings for businesses that work across state lines — filed where you owe, and not where you don’t.
- **Second Opinions & Back Returns** — Prior-year returns reviewed for missed deductions and errors, and unfiled years brought current in the right order — usually the first step in any IRS resolution.
- **Plan Before You File** — The return records decisions already made. Planning is where the decisions get made — entity structure, equipment timing, owner pay, before December 31.
- **Books That Feed the Return** — A return is only as good as the ledger under it. Monthly reconciliation means filing season is assembly, not archaeology.
- **If the Agency Writes Back** — Notices, exams, and back years handled by the licensed people who signed the return.

## Industries served

### [Trades, Trucking & Landlords | Montgomery CPA](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/)

Field service, construction, trucking, and the landlords and builders beside them. A work truck and a rent roll are taxed differently. Find your page.

- **Trades & Construction** — Construction, HVAC, plumbing & electrical, trucking, and landscaping. Job and project profitability, equipment strategy, and crew payroll — our founding clientele.
- **Real Estate** — Landlords and rental property, long-term and short-term — cost segregation, the passive-loss rules, and per-property books. Builders live on our construction page.

### [Real Estate CPA | Landlords & Rental Property](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/real-estate/)

CPA for landlords and rental property, long-term and short-term: passive-loss rules, cost segregation, per-property books. Builders, see construction.

- **Rental Property Owners** — Long-term and short-term rentals — the passive-loss rules, the short-term-rental treatment, material participation, cost segregation, and per-property basis tracking.
- **Builders & Build-to-Sell** — Spec homes, remodels, and development held for sale — dealer status, ordinary-income treatment, job costing by project, and the entity separation that keeps it clear of your hold portfolio.

### [CPA for Real Estate Agents & Brokers](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/real-estate/agents-brokers/)

Texas real estate agents and brokers: commission income, the TREC registration step before an S-corp, deductions agents miss, and brokerage payroll.

### [CPA for Landlords & Rental Property](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/real-estate/rental-property/)

Tax and books for landlords: passive-loss rules, short-term rental treatment, material participation, cost segregation, and per-property basis.

- **Tax Preparation** — Schedule E, partnership returns, occupancy-tax filings, and depreciation schedules that tie — principal-signed.
- **Per-Property Bookkeeping** — Every property its own ledger: income, expenses, basis, and suspended losses by door — consolidated for you, separable for the IRS.
- **Tax Planning & STR Strategy** — Passive-loss positioning, the short-term-rental treatment, material-participation planning, and cost-segregation coordination.
- **IRS Representation** — Passive-loss and material-participation questions and STR exams handled by CPAs and Enrolled Agents.
- **Hold, Refi, or Sell Modeling** — Decisions modeled against your real basis, suspended losses, and cash position — not a listing pro forma.
- **Entity Structuring** — Per-property LLCs and holding structures — modeled on your numbers and coordinated with your attorney.

### [Construction CPA | Job Costing & WIP](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/trades/construction/)

Job costing that shows real margin, WIP schedules bonding companies accept, sub 1099 compliance, retainage tracking, and equipment strategy.

- **Tax Preparation** — Business and owner returns prepared together, with the construction-specific schedules handled by people who’ve seen them before.
- **Bookkeeping & Job Costing** — Monthly closes with costs posted to jobs, retainage tracked separately, and statements a bond agent can underwrite from.
- **Tax Planning & Equipment** — §179 and bonus depreciation on iron and trucks, timed against your income — and accounting-method questions surfaced before they surface you.
- **Forecasting & Draw Schedules** — Cash forecasting that respects draw timing, plus the lender-ready packages that get the next project financed.
- **Entity & S-Corp Analysis** — Modeled on builder economics: lumpy income, equipment cycles, and what reasonable comp looks like for an owner who still swings a hammer.
- **Crew Payroll & Sub 1099s** — W-2 crews, certified-payroll-adjacent recordkeeping, W-9s collected before the first check, and 1099s out on time.

### [CPA for HVAC Contractors | Montgomery, TX](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/trades/hvac/)

Seasonal cash-flow planning, maintenance-agreement revenue done right, §179 fleet strategy, and job costing that splits install from service.

- **Tax Preparation** — Business and owner returns prepared together and signed by a CPA or EA — with agreement revenue and asset schedules handled correctly.
- **Bookkeeping & Job Costing** — Monthly closes reconciled to the bank, with install, service, and agreement work tracked as the separate businesses they are.
- **Tax Planning & Equipment Timing** — §179 and bonus depreciation on fleet and equipment, timed to your income — plus quarterly estimates that follow your seasonal curve.
- **Forecasting & Owner Dashboards** — A rolling cash forecast built on your seasonality, agreement metrics, and margin by segment — updated monthly, readable in five minutes.
- **Entity & S-Corp Analysis** — Modeled on your actual profit and seasonal swing — including what reasonable owner pay looks like in a business this cyclical.
- **Tech Payroll & Compliance** — Seasonal hires, apprentices, overtime through the summer surge, and subcontractor 1099s — plus Texas franchise and sales tax filings.

### [CPA for Contractors & Trades | Montgomery, TX](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/trades/)

The practice we were built on: construction, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, trucking, and landscaping. Job costing, equipment strategy, crew payroll.

- **Construction & Builders** — Job costing that shows real margin, WIP schedules your bonding company accepts, subcontractor 1099s, and equipment strategy for GCs and builders.
- **HVAC** — Seasonal cash-flow planning, maintenance-agreement revenue done right, and fleet depreciation timed to the Texas cooling curve.
- **Plumbing & Electrical** — Service-versus-construction job mix, apprentice payroll, and work-van strategy for licensed trades.
- **Trucking & Logistics** — Per diem done right, Form 2290, IFTA, multi-state filings, and cost-per-mile books for owner-operators and small fleets.
- **Landscaping & Field Service** — Crew-day profitability, Texas sales tax on lawn services, seasonal payroll, and the winter set-aside plan for route-based businesses.

### [Landscaping & Lawn Care CPA | Montgomery, TX](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/trades/landscaping/)

CPA for landscaping and lawn care companies: crew-day profitability, seasonal cash planning, Texas sales tax on lawn services, and equipment strategy.

- **Tax Preparation** — Business and owner returns prepared together and signed by our principal CPA — with Texas sales tax and equipment schedules handled correctly.
- **Bookkeeping by Route & Crew** — Monthly closes reconciled to the bank, with maintenance routes and install projects tracked as the separate businesses they are.
- **Tax Planning & Equipment Timing** — Mowers, trailers, and trucks timed against your income with §179 and bonus depreciation — and quarterly estimates that follow the mowing season, not the calendar.
- **Forecasting & the Winter Plan** — A rolling cash forecast built on your own seasonality, with a growing-season set-aside target that funds the winter before it arrives.
- **Entity & S-Corp Analysis** — Modeled on landscaping economics: seasonal income, heavy equipment, and crews — run on your actual numbers before any election.
- **Seasonal Crew Payroll** — Seasonal hires, crew leaders, overtime through the growing season, and guest-worker payrolls handled with the documentation that survives an audit.

### [Plumbing & Electrical CPA | Montgomery, TX](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/trades/plumbing-electrical/)

Service-vs-construction job mix, apprentice payroll, work-van strategy, and books clean enough for licensing, insurance, and the next truck.

- **Tax Preparation** — Business and owner returns prepared together and CPA-signed, with the trade-specific schedules handled correctly.
- **Bookkeeping & Margin by Truck** — Monthly closes with service and construction split, materials separated from labor, and margin visible per crew and van.
- **Tax Planning & Vehicle Strategy** — Van and equipment purchases timed to your income, with the vehicle-deduction method chosen deliberately for each unit.
- **Forecasting & Growth Decisions** — When the next van, the next hire, or the shop lease pencils out — answered with a forecast instead of a feeling.
- **Entity & S-Corp Analysis** — The self-employment-tax math for a shop that’s grown past one truck — run on your actual numbers before any election.
- **Trades Payroll** — Journeymen, apprentices, helpers, and overtime-heavy months handled cleanly — with records that stand up to a workers’-comp audit.

### [Trucking CPA | Owner-Operators & Small Fleets](https://hemingwaycpa.com/industries/trades/trucking/)

Per diem done right, Form 2290 and IFTA on time, multi-state apportionment, and books that show real cost per mile. Nationwide virtual.

- **Tax Preparation & Multi-State** — Federal returns with per-diem and depreciation handled correctly, plus mileage-apportioned state filings where the business actually owes them.
- **Bookkeeping by the Mile** — Monthly closes reconciled to the bank, settlement statements decoded, and cost-per-mile reporting standard on every engagement.
- **Tax Planning & Equipment Timing** — §179 and bonus depreciation timed to your freight cycle, quarterly estimates from real settlements, and recapture planning before you trade.
- **IRS & State Representation** — Notices, exams, and payroll or fuel-tax disputes — a licensed CPA or EA deals with the agency so you can stay on the road.
- **Entity & S-Corp Analysis** — Schedule C by default, or the S-corp election — modeled with your settlements, logbook days, and payroll reality before any paperwork is filed.
- **Driver Payroll & 1099s** — W-2 drivers, 1099 contractors, and lease-operator arrangements handled with the classification rules that keep you out of trouble.

## Engagement, pricing and process

### [Start Here | Is This Firm a Fit?](https://hemingwaycpa.com/start/)

The fastest way into the firm: send your documents, no account and no meeting needed — or book fifteen minutes if your situation needs a conversation.

Routes price-only questions to the pricing page and W-2/1099 filers with standard forms to tax preparation; the intro is for owners with an entity, employees, equipment, properties, or books that are behind.

### [Pricing | Tax Prep From $425](https://hemingwaycpa.com/pricing/)

Published floors: individual returns from $425, business returns from $1,275. Bookkeeping, advisory, and IRS representation priced to scope.

### [How It Works | Onboarding & CPA Review](https://hemingwaycpa.com/how-it-works/)

From the documents you send to the return we sign: portal onboarding and the three-station process — AI drafts, a CPA verifies, the principal signs.

### [Client Hub | Secure Portal & Deadlines](https://hemingwaycpa.com/clients/)

Everything current clients need: the encrypted portal for documents and deliverables, plus the standing deadline calendar for estimates and filings.

### [Contact | CPA in Montgomery, TX](https://hemingwaycpa.com/contact/)

Send documents through the secure portal, email the firm, or visit us at 550 Club Dr Ste 271, Montgomery, TX. No account needed to send us something.

### [Confidentiality Standard | §7216 & AICPA](https://hemingwaycpa.com/confidentiality/)

How client information is protected: IRC §7216, the AICPA confidentiality rule, and the FTC Safeguards Rule — plus consent-first firm practice.

### [Client List](https://hemingwaycpa.com/client-list/)

The client list, in full: HEMINGWAY CPA INC will never disclose client information. Not to marketers, not to anyone. C'mon man! Want on it? Just ask.

### [About | Virtual-First CPA Firm Since 2017](https://hemingwaycpa.com/about/)

Montgomery, TX practice since 2009, a CPA firm since 2017, led by Kevin Hemingway, CPA — former corporate controller. Every return principal-signed.

## Published fees

- Free 15-Min Intro (15 minutes, principal): no charge
- Individual tax return (Form 1040): from $425 (minimum engagement, not a typical fee)
- Business tax return (1120-S, 1065, 1120): from $1,275 (minimum engagement, not a typical fee)
- Bookkeeping and client accounting: priced upon request, after scoping volume, months behind, account count, data source, and whether accrual-basis work, AR/AP, payroll, or integrated systems are involved
- Advisory and IRS representation: priced per engagement, against a written scope
- A Form 1040 carrying business activity is scoped and quoted with the business engagement, not from the individual floor
- Fees are flat, never hourly. No charge for questions or phone calls.

## Service area

- State: Texas
- Country: United States
- Named areas: Houston, Austin, Montgomery, Conroe, The Woodlands, Magnolia, Willis, Tomball, Spring, Huntsville
- Virtual-first delivery. In-office meetings by appointment in Montgomery, Texas.

## Scope limits

- Business valuation is performed as calculation engagements under AICPA valuation standards and reported as a calculated value. The firm holds no valuation accreditation. Matters requiring a full valuation engagement are referred to a credentialed appraiser.
- Payroll is available to bookkeeping clients, not as a standalone service.
- The first step is a free 15-minute consultation for engagement evaluation. It does not include tax advice, tax planning, or detailed analysis of specific tax situations.
- Every tax return is prepared and signed by a licensed CPA or IRS Enrolled Agent. Bookkeeping and administrative work is performed under licensed supervision.

## Optional

- [Expanded version with all published questions and answers](https://hemingwaycpa.com/llms-full.txt)
- [Sitemap](https://hemingwaycpa.com/sitemap.xml)  [Crawler policy](https://hemingwaycpa.com/robots.txt)
- [Terms](https://hemingwaycpa.com/terms/)  [Privacy](https://hemingwaycpa.com/privacy/)