For Small Business Owners

You're Paying Too Much in Taxes.
Your Advisors Are Working in Silos.

Most small business owners have a CPA who files returns and a financial advisor who manages investments — but no one is coordinating legal structure, tax strategy, and retirement planning as a single integrated system. That gap costs the average business owner $60,000 to $250,000 per year in unnecessary taxes.

$408K
Max Annual Deduction
Age 60 owner, all plans combined
40%
Effective Tax Rate
What most business owners pay
$0
Retirement Savings
Typical owner with no plan
3–5×
More Than a SEP-IRA
Cash balance plan advantage
The Advisor Gap

Why Most Small Business Owners Are Underserved

The traditional advisory model was built for large corporations. Small business owners are left with fragmented, reactive advice that costs them far more than it saves.

Your CPA Files. They Don't Plan.

The average small business CPA spends 4–6 hours per year on your account — just enough to file your return. They're not modeling retirement plans, structuring your entity for maximum efficiency, or coordinating with your financial advisor.

87% of small business owners have no proactive tax plan

Your Advisors Don't Talk to Each Other

Your financial advisor optimizes investments without knowing your tax bracket. Your CPA files without knowing your estate plan. Your attorney drafts documents without understanding your retirement strategy. The result: massive, preventable leakage.

The average business owner overpays $73,000/year in taxes

Retirement Plans Are an Afterthought

Most small business owners either have no retirement plan or a basic SEP-IRA. They're unaware that a properly designed profit sharing + cash balance combo can shelter $150,000–$400,000+ annually — fully deductible, growing tax-free.

Only 28% of small businesses have a retirement plan
The Inspire Approach

Three Disciplines. One Coordinated Strategy.

We don't hand you off between departments. Our legal, tax, and financial specialists work together from day one — designing a system where every decision reinforces every other.

01 — Legal

Build the Right Structure

Before any tax strategy works, the legal foundation must be correct. Our estate planning attorneys and asset protection specialists ensure your business entity, ownership structure, and personal assets are positioned to minimize liability and enable maximum tax efficiency.

  • Entity selection & formation (LLC, S-Corp, PC)
  • Buy-sell agreements & succession planning
  • Asset protection trusts
  • Operating agreements & governance
02 — Tax

Engineer the Tax Strategy

With the right structure in place, our Enrolled Agents and CPAs design a year-round proactive tax plan — not just a return. We identify every legitimate deduction, model multi-year scenarios, and design retirement plans that dramatically reduce your taxable income.

  • Profit sharing & cash balance plan design
  • S-Corp salary optimization
  • QBI deduction maximization
  • Multi-year tax projection modeling
03 — Financial

Optimize the Outcome

Our IRMAA Certified Planners and National Social Security Advisors ensure your retirement plan assets are invested efficiently, your future Medicare costs are managed, and your income streams are structured to minimize lifetime taxes — not just this year's bill.

  • Tax-efficient investment allocation
  • Roth conversion planning
  • IRMAA threshold management
  • Social Security claiming optimization
The Compounding Effect

When legal structure, tax engineering, and financial planning are designed together, the result is not additive — it's multiplicative. Each discipline amplifies the others, creating outcomes no single advisor could achieve alone.

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The Numbers

How Much Can You Actually Shelter?

The difference between a basic retirement plan and a fully integrated strategy is staggering. A 55-year-old business owner with a properly designed combo plan can deduct $333,000 per year — compared to just $70,000 with a SEP-IRA.

2025/2026 Maximum Annual Deductions
Age 45$226,000
Age 50$277,000
Age 55$333,000
Age 60$408,250

Combined 401(k) deferral + profit sharing + cash balance plan. Actual amounts vary by income and actuary review.

At a 37% federal + 5% state rate, a 55-year-old contributing $333,000 saves $139,860 in taxes per year — while building retirement wealth at the same time.

Annual Deductible Contribution by Strategy
$0K$150K$300K$450K$600KSEP-IRA Only401(k) + ProfitSharing+ Cash Balance (Age45)+ Cash Balance (Age55)+ Cash Balance (Age60)
Real Results

What Integration Actually Looks Like

These composite case studies illustrate the types of results our integrated approach delivers for small business owners across industries.

Plumbing & HVAC Contractor

From $0 to $287,000 in Annual Tax Deductions

Mike D., Age 51 — Owner of a 12-person plumbing company, $620K net income

The Situation

Mike had been filing as an S-Corp for years, paying himself a modest salary to minimize self-employment tax. His CPA filed his returns but never suggested a retirement plan. He was paying over $180,000 in federal and state taxes annually and had almost nothing saved for retirement at 51.

The Integrated Solution
1
Entity & Compensation Restructure
Optimized his S-Corp salary to $145,000 — saving $18,400 in FICA taxes while maintaining IRS reasonableness standards.
2
401(k) + Profit Sharing Plan
Established a plan allowing $32,500 in employee deferrals plus $47,500 in employer profit sharing — $80,000 total deduction.
3
Cash Balance Pension Plan
Added a cash balance plan on top, contributing $207,000 annually — fully deductible, growing tax-deferred.
4
Asset Protection Trust
Our estate attorney structured an asset protection trust to shield business assets from contractor liability claims.
The Results
Total Annual Deduction
$287,000
Annual Tax Savings
$114,800
Retirement Wealth Built
$287,000/yr/yr
✓ $114,800 saved in year one

At a 40% combined federal/state rate. Mike went from $0 saved for retirement to building $287K/year in tax-sheltered wealth.

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Composite case study for illustrative purposes. Individual results vary.

Is This You?

The Business Owners We Serve Best

Our integrated approach delivers the greatest results for business owners in these categories — particularly those who have been underserved by the traditional advisory model.

Typical Income Range
$200K–$800K net
The Gap We Fill

Often filing as sole props or basic S-Corps with no retirement plan. High liability exposure, no asset protection.

The Opportunity

Entity restructuring + profit sharing + cash balance can save $60K–$200K+ annually.

Plan Comparison

Not All Retirement Plans Are Created Equal

Most business owners default to a SEP-IRA because it's simple. But simple isn't the same as optimal.

Plan TypeMax ContributionEmployer DeductionComplexityBest For
SEP-IRA $70,000Up to 25% of compVery LowSimple, low-income situations
SIMPLE IRA $16,500 + match2–3% match requiredLowSmall teams, low admin
Solo 401(k) $70,000Up to 25% of comp + deferralModerateOwner-only businesses
401(k) + Profit Sharing $70,000Up to 25% of payrollModerateBusinesses with employees
Cash Balance + 401(k) RECOMMENDED$226K–$408K+Full contribution amountHigher (actuary required)High-income owners 40+

2025/2026 IRS limits. Cash balance contributions are age-dependent and require actuarial certification.

The Honest Truth

Why Your Current Advisors Haven't Suggested This

Cash balance plans and integrated profit sharing strategies require coordination between a CPA, a financial advisor, and often an attorney — plus an actuary. Most advisory firms aren't set up to do this. They specialize in one area and refer out the rest, which means no one is looking at the whole picture.

There's also a business model issue: a CPA charging $3,000 for a tax return has no incentive to recommend a strategy that requires $15,000 in setup work — even if that strategy saves you $100,000 a year.

"We built Inspire Tax Advisory specifically to solve this problem. Our fee structure is aligned with your outcomes — not your filing complexity."

— Andrew, Founder, Inspire Tax Advisory

What Sets Us Apart
All Three Disciplines In-House
Estate planning attorneys, CPAs, Enrolled Agents, IRMAA Certified Planners, and NSSAs — all under one roof, working from a single strategy.
Proactive, Year-Round Engagement
We don't wait for tax season. We're modeling scenarios, monitoring thresholds, and identifying opportunities throughout the year.
Actuarial Partnerships
We work with qualified third-party actuaries to design and certify cash balance plans — handling the complexity so you don't have to.
Outcome-Aligned Fees
Our compensation is structured so that when you save more, we succeed. No incentive to keep things simple at your expense.
Client Voices

From Business Owners Like You

"I had a CPA and a financial advisor for 12 years and neither one ever mentioned a cash balance plan. In our first year with Inspire, we sheltered $241,000 and saved $96,000 in taxes. I was furious I'd waited so long."

Owner, HVAC Company
Brighton, MI

"The coordination between their tax and legal team is what makes the difference. They restructured my practice, set up an asset protection trust, and designed a retirement plan that actually makes sense for my situation — all in one engagement."

Dentist, Solo Practice
Ann Arbor, MI

"I was paying $140,000 a year in taxes on $380,000 of income. After working with Inspire for one year, that number dropped to $68,000. The plan they designed was something my previous advisors never even considered."

Owner, Consulting Firm
Kalamazoo, MI

Find Out What You're Leaving on the Table

In a complimentary 45-minute strategy session, our integrated team will review your current structure and identify your top three tax-saving opportunities — no obligation, no sales pressure.

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Get Started

Request Your Free Business Tax Analysis

Tell us about your business and we'll identify your top opportunities. Our integrated team will review your entity structure, current retirement plan (if any), and tax situation to show you exactly what's possible.

No obligation, no sales pitch
45-minute virtual or in-person session
Specific, actionable recommendations
Covers legal, tax, and financial dimensions
Our Offices
Brighton: 10192 Grand River Rd, Suite 100, Brighton, MI 48116
Ann Arbor: 24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, Suite L-4000, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Kalamazoo: 619 W. Kalamazoo Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

No obligation. We respond within one business day.