Tax Shop
Lone Tree, Colorado
Seasonal work, January through April, in an established Lone Tree practice. It suits experienced preparers who don’t want a year-round job — and one of them who might want a practice of their own.
The Tax Shop has been preparing income tax returns in the south metro Denver area since 2010, carrying on a practice that started in 1969. We are independent, we are not a franchise, and most of our clients come to us because another client sent them. We prepare returns of every kind — individuals at all income levels, small businesses, S and C corporations, farms, and rentals — and we sign what we would stand behind in an audit.
If you’ve spent seasons grinding out the same simple returns, the work here is more interesting than that.
We’re also hiring ahead of growth. The practice has grown every year on referrals alone. This year, for the first time, we’re putting real marketing behind it — a rebuilt website, advertising, and a push into back-tax and unfiled-return work. We expect next season to be a busy one, and we need to have preparers in place before the storm arrives rather than scramble in February.
We also have some very bright young adults working with us. Each fall we recruit high school and college students, train them, and put them to work processing returns — data entry, organizing documents, the routine work that eats a preparer’s day. They’re sharp, and they’re part of why a preparer here gets through more returns than they would somewhere else.
Come in for the season, prepare returns, go back to your life in May. We supply the office, ATX software, a steady flow of clients and a front desk that handles the phones, scheduling and paperwork so you can do tax work. And you’re not out there alone: every return that leaves this office is reviewed and signed by our Enrolled Agent.
This is a good fit if you are semi-retired, a former IRS or big-firm professional who left year-round work behind, or a seasoned franchise preparer who is tired of being paid like a cashier.
Our owner has run the Tax Shop since 2010 and is planning for what comes after him. The practice has roots going back to 1969, and we intend for it to keep going. We’re looking for the person who could eventually own it.
Here’s how it works: work one season with us. If the fit is right — you work like an owner, you sweat the details, and we get along — the conversation turns to a real stake in the business and a path to taking it over.
You earn 35% of the fees on the returns you prepare. During the season we pay you an hourly wage — typically starting at $40 an hour, negotiable based on your experience and skills — so there’s money coming in from the first week. At the end of the season we total up your production, and if 35% of what you billed is more than you’ve drawn, we pay you the difference. The hourly pay is yours either way.
For scale: a preparer who turns out $80,000 in billed work over the season earns $28,000 for roughly three and a half months of work. $120,000 in production is $42,000. We’ll show you what our returns bill for so you can do the math on your own pace.
A full-time preparer at a franchise office typically earns a fraction of that for the same season. We’d rather pay for production than for hours.
Email 1040@taxshop.tax with your resume, your credentials and PTIN status, and a short answer to one question:
We read every reply and will answer yours. Questions? Call 303-734-1040.
We’re filling seats for the coming season now and expect to have decisions made by early December.
Students: we take on a few bright high school and college students each season as office helpers. If that’s you, email us too.