By The Numbers

All three tax professionals at this Citrus Heights practice are Enrolled Agents, and two are National Tax Practice Institute Fellows in representation and collection work. Owner Mary F. Philippsen is also an Accredited Business Advisor and teaches taxation seminars and the Special Enrollment Exam prep course in Sacramento; she spent more than 13 years with a Fortune 500 family office before moving to small-business tax and representation work. Nichole C. Ralls is a QuickBooks ProAdvisor and led the Sacramento Valley chapter of the California Society of Enrolled Agents in 2012-13, a role Philippsen held from 2003 to 2005. Hazel J. Smith puts her time with small business clients at more than 50 years.

Alongside representation before the IRS and state agencies, the work covers bookkeeping and write-up for businesses without accounting staff, payroll and sales tax, and estate and trust returns; entity selection and accounting software choices also come up. Individuals, corporations, partnerships and nonprofits are all on the books. Documents reach the office through a secure client portal, by mail, or through the mail slot in the door.