Frequently Asked Questions

BKD Advisors is an accounting, tax, and advisory firm serving business owners, nonprofit leaders, and professionals.

We combine year-round accounting, proactive tax strategy, tax preparation and filing, funding readiness for business loans and nonprofit grants, and entity and advisory guidance into ongoing relationships.

For long-term clients, we devise advanced strategies to facilitate organizational growth and succession planning.

Our clients are business owners, nonprofit leaders, and professionals with real financial complexity:

• people who have outgrown DIY software and one-off preparers,
• organizations preparing to apply for a business loan or foundation grant, and
• high-debt borrowers (e.g., physicians, dentists, attorneys, scientists) who want their student loan repayment strategy and their taxes working together.

Our clients value having one centralized team that understands the whole picture, their accounting, their taxes, their financing, and their long-term plan, rather than coordinating separate providers.

Yes! We provide accounting, Form 990 preparation, and grant and funding readiness for nonprofit organizations.

A seasonal preparer looks backward: they record what already happened and file it.

We work forward. Because we keep your accounting current all year, we can recommend courses of action quickly, e.g., adjusting estimated payments, timing purchases, structuring compensation, positioning you for financing, and planning ahead.

BKD Advisors is an accounting, tax, and advisory firm. For state licensing purposes, BKD Advisors itself is not a CPA firm, so our accounting and tax work is performed by licensed CPAs under contract with BKD Advisors, and the returns we prepare are signed by a CPA.

Audits, reviews, and compilations are outside our scope; the financial statements we prepare are for management use.

Our core engagement is a single monthly subscription covering ongoing accounting, year-round tax strategy, and, for clients who maintain full-year coverage, preparation and filing of your covered tax returns.

For clients on our integrated monthly plan, preparation and filing of your covered returns is included as a benefit of continuous, full-year service. This benefit requires your accounting to be current for the entire tax year, and we review that coverage requirement with you before you sign your Engagement Letter.

The decisions that shape your tax liability and financial position are made throughout the year. Ongoing advisory helps you prepare for opportunities as they arise.

Yes! When you start mid-year, we bring the earlier months current through a one-time historical accounting reconstruction, quoted separately so you can decide before any work begins. Once your full year is covered, your filing can be included under the same integrated plan.

Yes! This is a common starting point. Back-year returns are handled as their own engagement because they require reconstructing records and often coordinating penalty relief.

Yes! Because we already keep your financials accurate and your taxes in order, we can prepare genuinely lender-ready financial statements and help position you for appropriate capital when you need it, whether that's a foundation grant, equipment financing, a line of credit, or an SBA loan.

Lenders evaluate risk based on what your financials show.

When your financials are disorganized or incomplete, you may get declined or steered toward more expensive options.

When your accounting is current and lender-ready, you experience faster approvals, better terms, and larger amounts.

A merchant cash advance (MCA) is not a loan. An advance is repaid out of your future sales, often daily, and the total repayment can be far higher than the amount advanced.

Before accepting an MCA, compare the total you would repay to the cash you would receive, and find out what a conventional loan or line of credit would require of you. Your business may even qualify for a grant.

On a free 15-minute Discovery Call, we can share how BKD Advisors can position you for a variety of solutions.

It flows naturally from it.

BKD Advisors is an accounting and advisory firm first: we keep your accounting sharp, file your taxes on time, and work to reduce your tax burden.

Because we're already inside your numbers, helping you get ready for capital is a natural extension. When your business or nonprofit needs an injection of capital, our experts can guide you towards the best options based on your business's metrics and your creditworthiness.

Yes! Our CPAs can coordinate the tax treatment and recommend the tax election for your situation.

As part of advisory, we can help you evaluate the right business structure and support broader planning as your business matures.

We work alongside a licensed attorney when circumstances require one (e.g., drafting legal instruments, M&A due diligence).

We support longer-term planning as part of a comprehensive relationship, and we coordinate with appropriately licensed professionals where a matter calls for it.

Our work covers accounting, tax, and advisory. Investment advice and insurance come from licensed investment advisers and insurance professionals, and we are glad to coordinate with yours.

As your situation grows more complex, having your accounting, taxes, and forward planning coordinated by one team is where we shine even brighter. We can discuss your unique situation and goals on a video consultation following a free Discovery Call.

Yes! BKD Advisors specializes in tax planning and business advisory for highly educated professionals who have student loans (e.g., physicians, dentists, attorneys, scientists).

We analyze your situation and provide repayment strategy. See Our Story for more information on BKD Advisors' history with student loan advisory.

BKD Advisors is an independent advisory firm that works for you, the borrower, independent of any government agency or loan servicer. Your loans stay with your servicer and your account stays in your hands: we build the strategy, and you review and submit your own applications. You can manage federal student loans for free at StudentAid.gov and through your servicer.

You can begin by scheduling a free 15-minute Discovery Call, so we can see whether we're a fit.

If we can provide guidance, you can then schedule a paid video consultation to examine the specifics of your situation and begin to devise a strategy. Your consultation fee may be credited to your engagement if you choose to partner with BKD Advisors for your long-term solution.

During the video consultation, BKD Advisors consultants and professionals examine your specific numbers, goals, and problem areas.

You will leave with an understanding of your situation, followed by a strategy tailored to it within a few business days.

If you choose BKD Advisors to help you execute the strategy, we will provide your Service Agreement or Engagement Letter and explain the fees so that you are secure in your decision to partner with us.

Signed Consultation Agreements are required before meetings take place. Consultation fees may be credited towards subsequent service engagements.

Our core accounting, tax, and advisory work is a flat monthly subscription, so that cost is predictable, and any additional or specialized work is scoped and quoted before it begins.

BKD Advisors is an accounting and advisory firm first. This monthly accounting service is a requirement for any client seeking ongoing support or additional ancillary services (e.g., funding assistance).

We will explain all expectations and fees in your Service Agreement or Engagement Letter before you commit. You will know what your engagement costs up front, with no surprises.

If BKD Advisors would ever receive compensation from a third party in connection with your engagement, such as a lender, a referral program, or an affiliate, we will disclose it in writing before you proceed.

Our monthly engagement has a defined term of one or two years, depending on your goals and our recommendations. A few months before it's time to continue, we will present a renewal for you to sign.

The specifics are spelled out in your Engagement Letter.

All files are transmitted through our encrypted secure portal, never regular e-mail.

We are a virtual firm serving clients across the United States.

Our engagements run through secure digital tools, video consultations, a secure document portal, and online scheduling, so wherever you are, working with us is seamless.

Established clients in the Las Vegas, Philadelphia, or Washington D.C. metropolitan areas may request an in-person meeting, subject to availability.