Keystone CPA: Services & Comparison With AE Tax
Explore Keystone CPA's services, client fit, pricing questions, and implementation scope. Compare its public model with AE Tax Advisors.
Keystone CPA: firm overview and services
Keystone CPA serves investors and business owners nationwide. Its homepage describes an initial review of income, businesses, entities, investments, and real estate, followed by a written tax plan with strategies and implementation steps.
- Who might compare this firm with AE?
- Investors and business owners seeking a written plan spanning their entities and real estate holdings.
- Key scope question
- Which implementation steps are performed by the firm, and which require the client or an outside professional?
Use the written plan to compare the two firms. Ask for deliverables, execution deadlines, and responsibility for filings rather than comparing lists of possible deductions. An investor with multiple entities should establish who coordinates the full return package.
Published by AE Tax Advisors, a competing provider. This comparison is not affiliated with or endorsed by Keystone CPA. The overview below was checked against the linked official materials on October 1, 2026. Public marketing describes an offered service; your signed engagement determines what is included. Unconfirmed scope is a question to resolve, not proof a service is unavailable.
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Keystone CPA: pricing and engagement scope
Request a current written quote from the firm for your income, entities, and required filings. This overview does not publish an unverified numeric competitor fee. Separate the planning project, implementation, annual returns, monthly accounting, and future advisory costs; a starting preparation fee is not the price of a complete planning engagement.
AE Tax Advisors publishes $7,800 Strategic Tax Advisory and $9,800 Complex Tax Advisory. Returns, amendments, cost segregation, and additional work are separately scoped and priced. The standard advisory engagement has no required annual planning renewal; future work is governed by its agreed scope. See current AE pricing.
Request matching written proposals using the tax advisor engagement scorecard. Compare the complete work and total cost on the same facts.
AE Tax Advisors: $7,800 Engagement, No Required Annual Planning Renewal
$7,800 advisory engagement. No required recurring annual planning fee.
Two payments of $3,900, 30 days apart. Tax returns, amendments, cost segregation, and additional services are separately scoped and priced. No annual planning renewal is required by the standard engagement; this does not promise unlimited future planning or free annual filing.
See service pricing | Compare engagement fees with annual retainers | Book a discovery call
Which firm fits your situation?
Keystone CPA and AE Tax Advisors both discuss real estate tax planning, business owners and high-income taxpayers. Keystone was founded by Amanda Han and Matt MacFarland, whose real estate tax books and education are prominent parts of its public practice. Its website describes a written tax plan, implementation steps and tax preparation for planning clients at a separate fee. AE Tax Advisors offers a $7,800 advisory engagement and separately scopes returns, amendments and cost segregation. Both firms should be judged by the written work they will do for your particular entities and properties.
Keystone is a strong shortlist candidate when you value its real estate education, group strategy sessions and a planning relationship that can cover investments across states. AE is a strong shortlist candidate when you need an operating-business review alongside residential rentals, a lookback for prior-year errors, and a defined route from a depreciation study to the affected tax return. These are fit questions, not claims that either firm lacks the other's capabilities.
Research basis: Keystone's published FAQ and service description, AE Tax pricing, and AE Tax process. Reviewed September 27, 2026. AE Tax Advisors authored this independent comparison and is not affiliated with Keystone CPA.
Compare the written scope
| Question | Keystone CPA | AE Tax Advisors |
|---|---|---|
| Client focus | Real estate investors, business owners and high-income earners nationwide | Profitable business owners and real estate investors, especially where both need coordination |
| Planning deliverable | Website describes a written tax plan and implementation steps | Written advisory plan with review of prior returns, entities, books and depreciation |
| Real estate planning | Publicly discusses cost segregation, passive losses, short-term rentals and entity structure | Cost segregation, passive activity and Form 3115 analysis, subject to engagement scope |
| Return preparation | Available to planning clients for a separate fee, according to Keystone | Business and individual returns separately scoped |
| Published advisory price | Keystone states planning fees can range from $20,000 to $55,000 | $7,800 standard engagement; no required annual planning renewal; other work separately scoped |
| Founder access | Keystone describes twice-monthly group sessions and select levels of private access | Ask which named AE professional is responsible for your plan and review |
The fee lines do not describe identical deliverables. Ask each firm for its full first-year cost, recurring fee, entity and individual filing costs, study fee, amendment cost, advisor access and work excluded from the engagement.
Real estate loss usability matters more than a projected deduction
A study can accelerate depreciation without making a loss available against W-2 or operating-business income. Before paying for one, identify the property basis, placed-in-service date, average guest stay, material participation evidence, grouping choices if relevant, passive-loss carryovers, and expected sale horizon. Ask who will prepare and sign the return, whether a Form 3115 is needed for prior-year depreciation and who is responsible for the supporting asset schedule.
Keystone's public FAQ expressly discusses cost segregation and short-term-rental participation. AE's cost segregation service and REPS versus short-term-rental guide address the same underlying decisions. Request the same property facts and written scope from both firms before comparing expected outcomes.
What to ask on the discovery call
- Who personally designs, reviews and implements the plan?
- Are the entity and personal returns included, separately quoted, or handled by my existing preparer?
- Will you review three prior years and quantify amendment or accounting-method opportunities?
- Who documents passive-loss usability before a cost segregation study is ordered?
- How are state filings, quarterly updates, audit support and founder access priced?
- What records and decisions do you need from me, and when will each deliverable be ready?
For a wider shortlist, see the Hall CPA comparison, cost segregation provider guide, and owner advisory scope guide. Tax results depend on complete facts, current law and properly supported filing positions.
Review Your Business and Properties Together
Bring your entity list, returns and property schedule to a discovery call. We can outline the work and quote the scope in writing.
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This side-by-side comparison is one part of the decision. Browse dedicated alternatives guides for each named provider:
AE Engagement and Renewal Fees
Does AE Tax Advisors charge an annual planning renewal?
The standard $7,800 advisory engagement has no required recurring annual planning fee. Annual returns and any additional work are separately scoped. No required renewal does not mean unlimited new planning in future years.
Is the $7,800 advisory engagement an all-inclusive tax package?
No. Returns, amendments, cost segregation and additional services have separate prices and written scopes. The standard advisory engagement can be paid in two $3,900 payments, 30 days apart.
Planning evidence to review before choosing a firm
When choosing between Keystone CPA and AE Tax Advisors, ask to see the work behind the recommendation. A relevant AE planning story covers practice income and rental-property planning. The documented roadmap connected compensation, reimbursements, a state tax election and rental planning. The source is a proposed tax plan, not proof of completed elections or achieved savings.
Use the story to evaluate your own proposal
Which implementation steps are performed by the firm, and which require the client or an outside professional? Ask each prospective firm to show how its written scope would handle a similar situation: the records required, the professional responsible for each action, the deadline, and any separately billed implementation or filing work. This example describes AE work only; it does not establish what Keystone CPA would recommend or deliver.
Use the tax advisor fit assessment · Explore Keystone CPA alternatives · Browse AE planning stories and worked examples