How much does tax advisory cost at AE Tax Advisors?

AE Tax Advisors charges a flat $7,800 annual advisory fee for comprehensive, proactive tax planning. This covers year-round strategic planning, entity structuring, real estate tax optimization, quarterly check-ins, and unlimited access to your advisory team. Additional services like cost segregation studies ($1 per square foot), amended returns ($2,500 each), entity tax returns ($1,500 each), and personal returns ($1,000) are billed separately.

What ROI can I expect from a $7,800 tax advisory fee?

Most AE Tax clients see a return of 5 to 15 times the advisory fee. On a $7,800 engagement, that translates to $39,000 to $117,000 in annual tax savings. These savings come from strategies such as entity restructuring, cost segregation, bonus depreciation, retirement plan optimization, and prior-year amendments that recover overpaid taxes from previous filings.

What is included in the $7,800 annual advisory fee?

The $7,800 annual advisory fee includes a full tax plan with IRC-cited strategies, entity structure analysis and recommendations, real estate portfolio tax optimization, quarterly strategy calls, year-round advisor access, proactive mid-year adjustments, estimated tax payment guidance, and coordination with your existing CPA or bookkeeper. Tax return preparation, cost segregation studies, and amended returns are separate add-on services.

How does AE Tax Advisors pricing compare to other tax advisory firms?

Industry-wide, proactive tax advisory services typically range from $5,000 to $15,000 per year depending on the complexity of the engagement. AE Tax Advisors sits at $7,800, which falls in the middle of that range while delivering comprehensive planning that many higher-priced firms offer. Unlike firms that charge hourly or bundle return preparation into inflated packages, AE Tax uses a transparent flat fee so clients know exactly what they are paying before they engage.

Is proactive tax advisory worth it compared to using a basic CPA?

A basic CPA typically focuses on compliance -- preparing and filing your returns after the tax year ends. Proactive tax advisory focuses on planning before the year closes, identifying strategies that reduce your liability while you still have time to act. Business owners and real estate investors who switch from a compliance-only CPA to a proactive advisor commonly save tens of thousands of dollars in the first year alone. The advisory fee often pays for itself many times over through strategies a compliance-focused preparer would never implement.

Can I split the $7,800 advisory fee into payments?

Yes. AE Tax Advisors offers a split-pay option for the $7,800 annual advisory fee. Clients can pay half ($3,900) at the start of the engagement and the remaining $3,900 midway through the engagement period. This makes it easier to budget for tax advisory without compromising on the quality or scope of the planning you receive.

Tax Advisory Cost and ROI: What You Pay, What You Save

Proactive tax planning is an investment, not an expense. Here is exactly what it costs at AE Tax Advisors -- and why the typical client earns back 5 to 15 times the fee in tax savings every single year.

The Real Cost of Tax Advisory Services in 2026

If you have started researching proactive tax advisory, you have probably noticed that pricing across the industry is anything but transparent. Most firms bury their fees behind consultation calls, custom quotes, and vague language about "it depends on complexity." That lack of clarity makes it nearly impossible to compare firms or understand what you are actually paying for before you commit.

Across the tax advisory industry, proactive planning engagements for business owners and real estate investors typically fall in the $5,000 to $15,000 per year range. Some firms charge hourly rates between $300 and $600 per hour, which makes final costs unpredictable. Others bundle return preparation, advisory, and compliance into a single inflated fee that obscures the value of each component. A handful of national firms charge $20,000 or more for high-net-worth engagements, though much of that premium reflects overhead and brand recognition rather than additional strategy.

At AE Tax Advisors, we believe you deserve to know the price before you sign. That is why we publish our fee structure openly and explain exactly what each dollar covers.

AE Tax Advisors Pricing: Transparent and Flat

Our core advisory engagement is a flat $7,800 annual fee. There are no hourly charges, no surprise invoices, and no hidden add-ons. You pay for a full year of proactive tax planning, and we offer a split-pay option -- $3,900 at the start of the engagement and $3,900 at the midpoint -- so you can budget comfortably without sacrificing the scope of your plan.

Beyond the annual advisory fee, we offer clearly priced add-on services for clients who need them:

Cost Segregation Studies: $1 per square foot -- an IRS-compliant engineering-based study that reclassifies building components into accelerated depreciation categories, often generating tens of thousands of dollars in first-year deductions.
Amended Tax Returns: $2,500 per amendment -- we review prior-year filings to identify missed deductions, incorrect depreciation, and overlooked credits. Many clients recover $10,000 to $50,000 or more through amendments alone.
Entity Tax Returns: $1,500 per entity -- preparation and filing of S-Corp, C-Corp, partnership, or LLC returns.
Personal Tax Returns: $1,000 per return -- individual 1040 preparation and filing.

Every fee is quoted upfront. You will never receive an unexpected invoice from our team.

What Is Included in the $7,800 Advisory Fee

The annual advisory fee covers the strategic planning work that drives real savings. This is not a return preparation service -- it is a year-round engagement designed to reduce your tax liability before the filing deadline arrives. Here is what you receive:

Comprehensive Tax Plan: A multi-page, IRC-cited strategic tax plan tailored to your income, entities, and investments. Every recommendation references the specific Internal Revenue Code section that supports it.
Entity Structure Analysis: We evaluate whether your current business entities -- LLCs, S-Corps, C-Corps, partnerships -- are structured in the most tax-efficient way. If restructuring would save you money, we map out exactly how and when to execute the change.
Real Estate Portfolio Optimization: For clients who own rental properties, short-term rentals, or commercial real estate, we analyze your entire portfolio to identify depreciation opportunities, passive activity loss strategies, and cost segregation candidates.
Quarterly Strategy Calls: Four scheduled calls per year to review your financial position, adjust strategies based on changes in income or investments, and plan for upcoming deadlines.
Year-Round Advisor Access: You can reach your advisory team between quarterly calls whenever a question arises -- whether it is a property acquisition, a business decision, or an unexpected tax event.
Proactive Mid-Year Adjustments: Tax planning is not a one-time event. We monitor changes in tax law, your income trajectory, and your investment activity to recommend adjustments throughout the year.
Estimated Tax Payment Guidance: We calculate quarterly estimated payments to prevent underpayment penalties and keep your cash flow predictable.
CPA and Bookkeeper Coordination: If you have an existing CPA or bookkeeper, we coordinate directly with them to ensure your plan is implemented correctly during filing season.

In short, the $7,800 fee covers everything that happens between tax seasons -- the planning, the strategy, and the ongoing adjustments that a compliance-only preparer simply does not provide.

The ROI Math: Why $7,800 Turns Into $39,000 to $117,000 in Savings

The most important number is not what tax advisory costs. It is what it saves. Our typical client sees a return of 5 to 15 times the advisory fee in reduced tax liability. On a $7,800 engagement, that works out to $39,000 to $117,000 in annual savings.

Those numbers are not hypothetical. They come from the strategies we implement every day. Here is how the savings add up:

Entity Restructuring: $10,000 to $40,000 in Savings

Many business owners operate as sole proprietors or single-member LLCs without realizing they are paying thousands of dollars in unnecessary self-employment tax. By restructuring to an S-Corp with a reasonable salary, a business owner earning $300,000 in net income can often save $15,000 to $25,000 per year in self-employment and FICA taxes. For higher earners or those with multiple entities, the savings can reach $40,000 or more.

Cost Segregation and Bonus Depreciation: $20,000 to $80,000+ in First-Year Deductions

A cost segregation study on a $500,000 rental property typically reclassifies 25% to 40% of the purchase price into 5-year, 7-year, and 15-year property categories. With bonus depreciation, that means $125,000 to $200,000 in accelerated deductions that you can claim in year one rather than spreading them across 27.5 or 39 years. At a combined federal and state tax rate of 35%, that is $43,750 to $70,000 in tax savings from a single property. The cost segregation study itself -- at $1 per square foot -- typically runs $1,500 to $3,000 for a residential property. The return on that investment is extraordinary.

Prior-Year Amendments: $10,000 to $50,000 in Recovered Taxes

One of the first things we do for new clients is review their prior three years of tax returns. In the majority of cases, we find missed deductions, incorrect depreciation methods, overlooked credits, or entity classification errors that resulted in overpaid taxes. Filing amended returns to correct those issues puts real money back in your pocket. At $2,500 per amendment, the ROI on this service alone is often 4 to 20 times the cost.

Retirement Plan Optimization: $5,000 to $30,000 in Deductions

Many business owners underutilize retirement plan contributions. By implementing a Solo 401(k), SEP IRA, or defined benefit plan -- depending on your income level and goals -- you can shelter an additional $23,500 to $100,000 or more per year from taxation. The tax savings at a 35% rate range from roughly $8,000 to $35,000 annually.

The Total Picture

When you combine entity restructuring, cost segregation, amended returns, and retirement plan optimization, most clients save far more than $39,000 in the first year alone. The $7,800 advisory fee pays for itself within the first strategy we implement -- everything after that is pure savings.

What Happens When You Do Nothing

The cost of inaction is real. Every year you delay proactive tax planning is a year of savings you cannot recover. Unlike amended returns -- which can only go back three years -- many planning strategies only work if they are implemented before December 31 of the tax year. Miss that window, and the opportunity is gone.

Consider a business owner earning $400,000 per year who stays with a compliance-only CPA. They file accurate returns each April, but no one ever suggests restructuring their entity, accelerating depreciation on their rental properties, or maximizing retirement contributions. Over five years, that business owner might overpay their taxes by $150,000 to $300,000 -- money that could have been reinvested in their business, their properties, or their family's financial future.

The advisory fee is not the cost. The cost is what you lose by not having the right advisor in your corner.

Proactive Advisory vs. Basic Compliance: Understanding the Difference

A compliance-focused CPA performs an essential function -- preparing and filing your tax returns accurately and on time. That work matters, and we coordinate with compliance preparers regularly. But compliance is backward-looking. It reports what already happened. It does not change what happens next.

Proactive tax advisory is forward-looking. It starts with your current financial picture, identifies every legal strategy available under the Internal Revenue Code, and builds a plan to minimize your liability before the year closes. The difference is the difference between paying a bill and reducing the bill before it arrives.

Here is a practical comparison:

Compliance CPA: Files your return after the year ends. Reports income and deductions as they occurred. Catches errors only if they are obvious on the face of the return.
Proactive Tax Advisor: Reviews your situation before the year ends. Recommends entity changes, investment timing, depreciation elections, and retirement contributions that reduce your taxable income. Files amendments on prior years when missed deductions are found. Coordinates with your CPA to ensure the plan is reflected accurately in your returns.

Both roles serve a purpose, but only one of them actively reduces your tax bill. If you are a business owner earning $200,000 or more, or a real estate investor with one or more properties, the planning side of the equation is where the significant savings live.

Who Gets the Most Value From Tax Advisory

Not every taxpayer needs a $7,800 advisory engagement. Our services deliver the greatest ROI for clients in these categories:

Business owners with $200,000 or more in net income -- entity restructuring and retirement plan optimization create immediate, substantial savings.
Real estate investors with one or more rental properties -- cost segregation, bonus depreciation, and passive activity loss strategies unlock deductions that most CPAs never implement.
Short-term rental (Airbnb/VRBO) owners -- the STR tax loophole under IRC Section 469 allows qualifying owners to use rental losses against active income, a strategy worth $20,000 to $100,000 or more depending on the property value.
Professionals preparing for a business sale or exit -- proper structuring before a liquidity event can save hundreds of thousands in capital gains taxes.
High-income earners with complex filing situations -- multiple income streams, equity compensation, multi-state obligations, and trust structures all benefit from coordinated planning.

If you fall into any of these categories and your current advisor has never presented you with a written tax plan, you are almost certainly leaving money on the table.

Why Clients Choose AE Tax Advisors

We are not the cheapest option in the market, and we are not the most expensive. We sit at a price point that reflects the depth of planning we deliver without the overhead and brand markup of national firms. Our clients choose us because:

Pricing is published and predictable. You know the fee before you sign. No surprises.
Every recommendation is IRC-cited. We do not give vague advice. Every strategy in your tax plan references the specific tax code section that supports it.
We look backward and forward. Prior-year amendments and future-year planning are both part of the engagement.
We specialize in business owners and real estate investors. These are the clients who benefit most from proactive planning, and they are the clients we serve best.
Results are measurable. We quantify the dollar impact of every strategy so you can see exactly what your advisory fee produced.

Take the Next Step

If you are ready to see what proactive tax advisory could save you, the first step is a free discovery call. We will review your situation, give you a preliminary estimate of potential savings, and explain exactly how our engagement works -- no pressure and no obligation.

Request Your Free Tax Assessment

You can also explore our client case studies to see real examples of the savings we have delivered, review our full pricing page, or contact us directly with questions.

Every month you wait is another month of savings you will not get back. Schedule your discovery call today and find out what your tax advisory ROI could look like.