Collective

Collective exists for one decision: whether a solo business earning well should become an S Corp, and what happens to the paperwork afterwards. It files the election, runs the payroll that election requires, keeps the books and files both returns. The pitch is that the tax saved covers the fee. That only works above a certain income, and the site is direct about which tier suits which stage.

The LLC tier is $199 a month and covers forming or reviewing the entity, monthly bookkeeping, invoicing and financial reports, quarterly federal and state estimates, and a basic individual return. The S Corp tier is $349 and adds the election filing, the annual business return, employer registration, help setting a reasonable salary, member and contractor payroll, and a named account manager. Payroll beyond the owner is charged at $15 per employee a month and $5 per contractor. An individual return for an S Corp client is an add-on priced separately, which is worth reading twice, because the LLC tier includes one and the dearer tier does not. Annual billing saves 15 percent, and the fee itself is deductible.

A solo creator earning enough that the self-employment tax on it has become the largest single line in the year, and who has been told to look at an S Corp without being told what that involves afterwards. The LLC tier suits somebody earlier who wants the books and the estimates handled. Below roughly the income where the election saves more than the fee, this is a cost rather than a saving, and the site says so in its own tier descriptions.