Continuous tax optimization
More profit. New hires. A changing business. We're building OpenYear to keep your tax plan moving with it—from opportunities in your books to action with your approval.
Access by approval. Small monthly onboarding groups planned. Free to apply.
September review · profit outlook changed
A stronger year is taking shape. OpenYear would flag the change while there's still time to review your options.
+$70,000 in projected profit—not tax savings
What should change before the year ends?
Fictional forecast, informed by updated books and owner inputs.
Beginner strategies · simulated September review
Example: reconciled January–August books and supplied payroll. No live connections.
Tax-free to you federally, if eligible.
A rent deduction for your business.
Conditional worked example—not confirmed savings. Explore any item; follow home rental from discovery to approval.
The example owner plans to pay $16,000 of eligible business costs personally in October–December. A timely accountable plan could reimburse those costs.
$16,000 × 30% − $300 assumed costs = $4,500. Assumes business purpose, timely substantiation and return of excess advances; no already-deducted expenses, meeting rent or home-office costs.
IRS accountable-plan guidance ↗Before modeling a contribution, confirm the existing plan, payroll, employee eligibility, available cash and deadlines. Separate current tax effects from cash committed and future withdrawal taxes; include employee and administration costs.
Explore retirement planning →Changing profit warrants a review of duties, hours, salary, distributions and comparable pay. A lower salary is not assumed to be appropriate or counted as savings.
Explore compensation review →The example records include a $2,450 penalty payment. That is not an estimate of recovery: the notice, history, prior relief and costs still need checking.
Try the penalty-recovery demo →Fictional Northline Studio and its sole owner, 2026. Uses the owner-confirmed projections in this example—not employee count alone. When included, rental assumes 10 genuine meeting days at home, four hours each at a supportable $200/hour; reimbursements cover separate new business costs. If no meetings are planned, the model retains only reimbursements and their costs.
Baseline: those meetings happen at home without rent, and the same owner-paid costs remain unreimbursed and undeducted. Both strategies are evaluated together at 24% federal plus an assumed 6% state marginal rate across the entire deduction, with state conformity, no QBI deduction, no bracket crossing and sufficient taxable income. Tax effects of administration costs are excluded.
Assumes eligibility, timely implementation, documentation and actual payments. No home-office expenses or meeting rent overlap with the reimbursements. The $8,000 rent and $16,000 reimbursement are cash transfers, not additional savings. Retirement, compensation changes and one-time penalty recovery are not included. These assumptions must be checked for a real business.
Next: confirm the example meeting plans, review the research, then approve draft preparation.
If your home is a suitable venue, I can investigate renting it to the business. First, I need the meeting details from you.
Try the fictional owner's answer. Payroll alone can't tell us this.
I’ll compare spaces for a group this size and model a rental arrangement. I won’t add meetings just to create a deduction.
I won’t propose renting your home without a real business need. This check can wait until your plans change.
Illustrative comparisons only—not a live venue search.
Tax-free to you federally.
A rent deduction for your business.
10 days × 4 hours × $200/hour
Fictional spaces and rates, not Peerspace listings or evidence of your home's market rent.
The example uses $200/hour, pending review. Real comparisons need local quotes, dates, fees, minimum hours and adjustments for amenities and suitability.
2026 example for a wholly owned US S corporation and its owner. Baseline: the same meetings at home with no rent paid or venue deduction. Assumes a usable deduction, 24% federal and 6% state marginal rates, state conformity and no QBI deduction. Possible deductions for admin costs are excluded.
Assumes a qualifying residence, fewer than 15 total rental days across all renters, real business meetings, a reasonable supported rate and actual rent payments. The owner cannot also deduct expenses attributable to the excluded rental activity. Records, eligibility and state treatment need professional review.
Next: validate the rate and eligibility, then prepare the agreement and meeting records.
You approve. OpenYear prepares.
Turn your confirmed meeting plans into a draft package for accountant review.
Demo approval only. No request is sent.
Northline Studio · October–December 2026
Found in the books. Researched. A draft started—with your approval. That’s the workflow we’re building.
Apply for accessFree application. App access is subject to approval.
Keep the opportunity, its evidence and the next step together. Act when the facts and timing are right.
Apply for accessDemo only. Nothing saved to an account; no reminder scheduled.
A changing business. An ongoing planning process. Explore a worked sample report →
Why year-round
New expenses, changing profit, a growing team: your business doesn't wait for tax season. Keeping your books current gives you more chances to spot a useful strategy, meet its deadlines, and gather the records it needs.
The workflow we're building
A recurring review as your books change and deadlines approach, with a clear decision before each action.
Review connected books and confirmed business facts for potential opportunities. Ask for missing information before deciding what fits.
See why a strategy may fit, its estimated benefit after costs, the assumptions and the exact next steps. You approve a specific action; your accountant resolves the professional judgment calls.
Prepare documents from real records, guide approved steps and track what actually happened. Keep the evidence and approval history together so your accountant can review the outcome.
Track potential savings, completed actions and verified outcomes separately.
The facts suggest it's worth a look. Nothing is assumed yet.
A judgment call — a salary, an eligibility question — waits for your accountant.
The action happened, but the paperwork that proves it isn't attached.
Done and documented, with the arithmetic your accountant needs.
Built around QuickBooks Online and VisiBooks. Reading your books doesn't require changing them. Additional ledger connections are planned.
A second simulated workflow: investigate a recorded penalty, then track the opportunity or prepare a draft for review.
Recovery & cleanup · example two
A payment in your books can be the start of a useful investigation—not just another expense to categorize.
Recorded payment—not a promised recovery
Was this penalty ever reviewed for relief?
Fictional business, records and workflow.
Simulated review · January–September 2026
Preview only. No books are connected.
There may be a way to recover it. I can check the notice, the applicable relief rules and what we’d need to make a request.
Recorded payment—not an estimate of recovery or net benefit.
Simulated research using a fictional notice.
I can prepare a draft request and flag the missing history for your accountant. First, confirm relief hasn’t already been granted or requested elsewhere.
You approve. OpenYear prepares.
Use the matched payment and notice to start a draft for your accountant’s review.
Demo approval only. No request is sent.
Northline Studio · 2024 return
Found in the books. Researched. A draft started—with your approval. That’s the workflow we’re building.
Apply for accessFree application. App access is subject to approval.
Keep the opportunity, its evidence and the next step together. Act when the facts and timing are right.
Apply for accessDemo only. Nothing saved to an account; no reminder scheduled.
A changing business. An ongoing planning process. Explore a worked sample report →
Built to say no
Rules decide who qualifies. Arithmetic decides whether it's worth it. You and your accountant make the judgment calls. AI reads your documents and explains the result — it never decides the verdict.
Strategies we're building around
Start with the free guides today. The app's S corporation election check runs in internal testing; monitoring and implementation workflows for the strategies below are in development.
Reimburse yourself, tax-free, for business costs you already pay personally — with the records to back it.
The business share of your home and your car, calculated the same way every month and written down at the time.
Your salary against your distributions, with comparable pay gathered for your accountant's review.
When employing a spouse or child actually helps, what payroll it takes, and the timesheets that prove the work.
Up to fourteen days a year, at a market rate you can document, for meetings that really happened.
Whether a plan fits your payroll and profit, and which deadlines apply to setting one up.
Eligibility varies. OpenYear shows the requirements and the assumptions before it shows an estimate. Read the guides →
With your accountant
One shared record of the planning decisions made during the year — instead of a reconstruction in March.
| Tax preparation | OpenYear |
|---|---|
| Begins after the year ends | Works while the year is open |
| Records what already happened | Plans what happens next |
| Rebuilds the paperwork at tax time | Collects it as you go |
| Usually one meeting a year | A running record all year |
Questions
App access is by approval. We plan to onboard a few businesses each month, starting with owner-operated S corporations and expanding to more business types. Start with a short application so we can review the fit. The app is still in development: its first strategy check runs in internal testing, and monitoring and implementation workflows are being built. Applying doesn't create an account or guarantee acceptance. The public guides and calculators are free to use today.
The planned workflow asks you to approve a specific action after reviewing its assumptions, estimated benefit, costs and required steps. Your accountant handles professional judgments. OpenYear reads your books; it does not change them, file returns or move money.
We review your business type, books and role against what OpenYear can support. We'll email about your application and, if approved when access is available, the next steps and app pricing. There is no charge to apply, and submitting an application is not approval.
No. It finds and tracks planning opportunities during the year and keeps the evidence behind them. Your accountant stays responsible for professional advice and for your return — OpenYear gives them an organized record to work from.
No. An estimate is a potential benefit, not money already saved. Eligibility, implementation costs and the steps you actually complete all matter. OpenYear is being built to keep potential savings, completed strategies and verified outcomes separate.
To apply, just your email and three short answers about your business. When the app opens to you, it will need connected books and facts you confirm about your business. The ledger can suggest an opportunity, but it cannot establish every eligibility requirement. Don't send tax documents through this website.
Yes. That's the point. Each strategy carries what was done and when, how every amount was calculated, the documents that support it, and what still needs a professional's judgment.
The initial app focus is owner-operated S corporations with books in QuickBooks Online or VisiBooks. VisiBooks isn't a prerequisite. Other business types can apply to hear when support expands, and the free guides and calculators are available to everyone.
Access by approval
Start your application. Tell us how your business is set up and where your books are kept. We'll review the fit and email you about access. We plan to onboard a few businesses each month, starting with owner-operated S corporations using QuickBooks Online or VisiBooks, then expanding to more business types.
Applying is free. Access requires approval and isn't immediate. We'll share app pricing and next steps before you commit. No tax documents needed to apply.
App access requires approval. Your application is saved; there's nothing else you need to buy or do now.
No thanks — keep exploring free guides →