Shaker Heights businesses tend to be small and personal: consultants and professionals working from home offices, therapists and practitioners in shared suites, shops and restaurants in the Van Aken District and along Lee Road, and a good number of landlords managing rental properties. I am Josh Katz, a CPA in neighboring Beachwood, and I have spent more than fifteen years keeping the books and handling taxes for businesses exactly like these.
The Shaker Heights tax detail most owners miss
Shaker Heights has a municipal income tax of 2.25%, collected by RITA. What surprises people is the residence credit. A Shaker resident who pays tax to the city where they work only gets credit for one half of the first one percent paid there.
In practice, that means a Shaker Heights resident who works or runs a business in a city like Cleveland, with a 2.5% rate, still owes a meaningful amount to Shaker on top of the tax paid to Cleveland. Many residents learn this from a RITA bill after the fact. Business owners who pay themselves wages from a company located in another city are especially likely to be caught by it, and it is a big reason estimated payments matter here.
For businesses located in Shaker Heights, the city taxes net profit and employers withhold for staff who work in the city. The broader rules are in my guide to Ohio municipal income tax, RITA and CCA.
Bookkeeping for small and home based businesses
You do not need a big business to benefit from real books. For a consultant or a solo practice, clean monthly bookkeeping means you always know what you earned, what you can set aside for taxes, and which expenses are deductible. For a rental property owner, it means income and expenses tracked by property, so tax time is straightforward.
Monthly reconciliations of every bank, card and loan account.
Clear financial statements, a balance sheet and profit and loss you can actually read.
Current numbers all year, so when city, state and federal estimated payments come due, you are working from real figures instead of a guess. Tax planning is also available as a separate service.
Direct access to your CPA throughout the year, not just at filing time.
Monthly bookkeeping starts at $350, individual tax returns start at $800, and business returns start at $1,500. Every fee is flat and quoted up front. See everything that is included on my services page.
Close to home
My office is in Beachwood, a few minutes from Shaker Heights. Most clients work with me remotely, sending documents electronically and meeting by video, but meeting in person is easy when you prefer it. More about my background is on the about page.
Let us talk
The first conversation is free. Tell me about your business and how things are set up today, and I will tell you what I would do and what it would cost.
Call (216) 249 6013, email info@joshkatzcpa.com, or send a message through the contact form. My office is at 3401 Enterprise Pkwy, Suite 340-387, Beachwood, OH 44122.
Serving all of Cleveland
This page covers Shaker Heights specifically. For the full picture of what monthly bookkeeping includes, pricing, and how onboarding works, see bookkeeping services in Cleveland, Ohio, or read about tax preparation for Cleveland small businesses.
