For Accountants & CPAs
Your Client Wants to Start a Nonprofit. Now What?
You do not file Form 1023. But you do not want to hand the client to a firm that will start doing their books either. We handle the formation and the exemption application, then step back — and the annual 990 work stays with you.
No obligation, and nothing to sign. The point of the call is so you know who you are sending people to.
The Awkward Conversation
A client you have worked with for years says they are starting a nonprofit and asks you to handle the 501(c)(3) filing. You have three options and none of them are good.
Say no and hope they come back
They go looking for someone else to help. Whoever they find is now the trusted advisor on the new entity, and often all their other entities.
Do it yourself anyway
Form 1023 is a legal drafting exercise. The narrative, the organizing document language, the conflict of interest policy. It is outside what most practices want on their plate.
Send them to a filing service
Cheap, fast, and it produces articles that are missing the IRS purpose and dissolution clauses. You find out two years later when a grantmaker asks.
A Fourth Option: A Clean Lane Split
We do the legal work to get the organization recognized. You do everything after that.
- Entity selection and state incorporation
- Articles with the IRS purpose and dissolution language
- Bylaws and conflict of interest policy
- EIN
- Form 1023 or 1023-EZ, drafted and filed
- Correspondence with the IRS reviewer
- Charitable solicitation registration where needed
- Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N, every year
- Form 990-T where there is unrelated business income
- Bookkeeping and chart of accounts
- Payroll once they have staff
- Financial statements and audit prep
- Restricted fund tracking
- The ongoing advisory relationship
We do not provide accounting, bookkeeping, or tax preparation services. Instead, we focus on what we do best: the legal side. This is why sending a client to us does not put your relationship at risk.
Why This Is Worth Your Time
A nonprofit client is not a one-off. It is an annual filing obligation attached to an organization that generally does not go away.
Recurring by design
Every exempt organization files something in the 990 series every year, regardless of revenue. That is a recurring engagement created the moment the determination letter arrives.
It grows into more
Organizations that start with a 990-N grow into 990-EZ, then Form 990, then payroll, then audit prep. The work scales with the client.
Founders talk to each other
Nonprofit founders sit on each other's boards and swap recommendations constantly. One good experience tends to produce more.
You keep the relationship
You made the introduction, you handle the ongoing work, and you stay the person they call first. We are a specialist they used once.
Fewer messes to clean up
An organization formed properly is much easier to do the books for than one assembled from a template. No mid-year amendments, no retroactive fixes.
A real answer instead of a shrug
"I don't do that" ends a conversation. "I know exactly who does, and they don't touch the accounting side" is a better answer to be able to give.
How the Handoff Works
You introduce us
An email, a phone number, or our booking link. Whatever suits you. There is no portal to log into and no paperwork on your end.
We scope it with them
A free call with your client covering structure, timeline, and a flat fee agreed in writing before any work begins.
We do the formation
Incorporation through determination letter. We keep you copied on documents that matter to your side of the work if the client wants that.
It comes back to you
Determination letter in hand, fiscal year set, organizing documents clean.
Straight Answers
Is there a referral fee?
No. We do not pay referral fees and we do not share legal fees, because attorneys are not permitted to share fees with non-lawyers. Your own professional standards likely restrict accepting them. This is a working relationship, not a commission arrangement — the value to you is keeping the client and the annual work.
Will you try to take my client?
We do not offer accounting, bookkeeping, tax preparation, or 990 filing. There is nothing for us to take. When a client asks us who should handle their annual filings, the answer is whoever sent them to us.
What does it cost my client?
A flat fee, agreed in writing before any work begins, never hourly. The exact number depends on structure and which IRS form applies, and they get it on their free consultation with the full figure in front of them.
Can you handle something already half-started?
Yes, and this is common. Someone incorporated using a state fill-in form, or filed a 1023-EZ they were not eligible for. We review what exists, fix what needs fixing, and carry it the rest of the way.
Do you work outside Florida?
Yes. Federal exemption is a national process and we form nonprofits for founders in all 50 states.
What about the other 501(c) types?
We handle churches and religious organizations, private foundations, and 501(c)(4), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10) organizations. If your client's purpose is not charitable, part of the work is telling them which section actually fits.
My client is a private foundation planning scholarships. Anything special?
Yes, and it saves them money. Advance approval of grant-making procedures can be requested inside the Form 1023 using Schedule H. Miss it there and they file a standalone Form 8940 later, with its own user fee and its own wait.
Do you talk to me or to the client?
Whichever the client prefers. Many are happy for us to keep you copied on the pieces that affect your work — fiscal year, foundation classification, the determination letter. We take that direction from them.
Who Your Clients Would Be Working With
Founding partners Breanna McCarthy and Channing Thomas handle nonprofit formation, business formation, and trademarks. When you send someone over, you are sending them to the people who will actually do the work, not to an intake queue.
Worth Twenty Minutes Before You Need It.
The best time to know who you would send a client to is before a client asks. Book a short call, ask whatever you want, and decide for yourself whether we are the right people to have in your back pocket.