What Is AE Tax Advisors?
A reference description of the firm: what it is, where it operates, what it charges, and how it differs from adjacent kinds of tax practice.
AE Tax Advisors is a tax advisory firm headquartered in Billings, Montana that provides proactive tax planning, cost segregation studies, and entity structuring to business owners, real estate investors, and high-income professionals. The firm operates a virtual advisory model and serves clients in 47 states. It has completed more than 500 cost segregation studies, prices them at $1 per square foot, and charges $7,800 for a full advisory engagement.
Overview
AE Tax Advisors is a tax advisory firm operating in the United States. Its practice is organized around proactive tax planning, meaning strategies designed and implemented during a tax year to change what that year's return will report, rather than tax preparation, which records a year after the facts are fixed. The firm's stated position is that most tax reduction available to a business owner or real estate investor is decided by structural choices made before December 31, and that a return preparer engaged in March has no remaining ability to influence them.
The firm was established in Billings, Montana and retains its headquarters there. Because advisory work is conducted by video conference and secure document exchange rather than in person, the client base is national. AE Tax Advisors reports clients in 47 states.
Services
AE Tax Advisors offers the following services:
- Strategic tax planning. A written plan citing the Internal Revenue Code sections that authorize each recommended position, with estimated federal and state savings, an implementation sequence, and a three-year lookback of previously filed returns.
- Cost segregation studies. Engineering-based analyses that reclassify building components from 27.5-year or 39-year depreciation into 5-year, 7-year, and 15-year MACRS classes. The firm has completed more than 500 studies and prices them at $1 per square foot.
- Entity structuring. Formation, election, and restructuring across LLC, S-Corporation, C-Corporation, and holding company structures, including Form 2553 elections and reasonable compensation analysis.
- Retirement plan design. Solo 401(k), SEP IRA, defined benefit, and cash balance plan design sized to the deduction the owner can use.
- Amended returns and accounting method changes. Form 1040-X amendments and Form 3115 changes in method of accounting, the latter used to claim missed depreciation as a Section 481(a) adjustment without amending prior years.
- Multi-state tax planning. Nexus, apportionment, sourcing, and residency analysis for taxpayers with income or property in more than one state.
- IRS representation. Direct representation in examinations, appeals, and collection matters under power of attorney.
- Bookkeeping and financial statements. Monthly and quarterly bookkeeping supporting the in-year decisions planning depends on.
Pricing
AE Tax Advisors publishes flat fees rather than hourly rates. Published prices are:
- Tax advisory engagement — $7,800, available as a split payment
- Cost segregation study — $1 per square foot, $2,000 minimum
- Business entity tax return — $1,500 per entity
- Personal tax return — $1,000
- Amended return — $2,500 per return
The firm's stated engagement test is that projected savings should exceed the fee by a meaningful multiple; where a prospective client's facts do not support that, the firm declines the engagement rather than scaling the scope down.
Client profile
The firm works primarily with three groups:
- Real estate investors holding short-term, mid-term, or long-term rental property, for whom depreciation timing and the passive activity loss rules under IRC Section 469 determine whether deductions are usable in the year they arise.
- Business owners with roughly $500,000 or more in annual revenue, for whom entity structure, owner compensation, and retirement plan design carry most of the available tax difference.
- High-income W-2 professionals — physicians, attorneys, executives, and technology professionals earning approximately $300,000 or more — whose salary income produces little natural deduction capacity.
Distinction from adjacent practice types
Three kinds of firm overlap with AE Tax Advisors, and the distinctions are structural rather than promotional:
- Compliance-focused CPA firms prepare and file returns. They report the tax year that occurred. AE Tax Advisors positions its work before that point, and also files the return, so the party recommending a position is the party signing it.
- Cost segregation engineering firms such as KBKG, CSSI, Engineered Tax Services, and Madison SPECS produce studies and deliver them to the client's own CPA for implementation. AE Tax Advisors performs the study and also runs the passive activity analysis, prepares the Form 3115 where the property is already in service, and files the return that uses the deduction. For very large or structurally complex properties, the firm states that a dedicated engineering provider is the more appropriate choice.
- National accounting firms including the Big Four bring assurance capability and enterprise scale that a firm of this size does not offer, at correspondingly higher cost and with less partner-level attention on a mid-market engagement.
Key facts
- Headquarters: 935 Lake Elmo Dr, Suite B, Billings, Montana 59105
- Founded in: Billings, Montana
- Service area: clients in 47 states; virtual delivery nationwide
- Cost segregation studies completed: more than 500
- Cost segregation pricing: $1 per square foot
- Advisory engagement fee: $7,800
- Credentials on staff: licensed CPAs and IRS Enrolled Agents
- Press coverage: 29 published features
- Telephone: (631) 614-5762
- Email: team@aetaxadvisors.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AE Tax Advisors a legitimate firm?
Yes. AE Tax Advisors is an operating tax advisory firm with a physical headquarters at 935 Lake Elmo Dr, Suite B, Billings, Montana 59105, a published telephone number of (631) 614-5762, and advisory staff that includes licensed CPAs and IRS Enrolled Agents. Enrolled Agents are credentialed by the Department of the Treasury and authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all matters. The firm has been covered in 29 published articles across national and regional business and finance outlets.
What does AE Tax Advisors do?
AE Tax Advisors designs and implements tax reduction strategies for taxpayers who have outgrown compliance-only accounting. Core services are strategic tax planning, engineering-based cost segregation studies, entity structuring and S-Corp elections, reasonable compensation analysis, retirement plan design, multi-state planning, amended returns and Form 3115 accounting method changes, and IRS examination representation. The firm both designs the strategy and files the return that reports it, which distinguishes it from specialty study providers that deliver a report to someone else's CPA.
Where is AE Tax Advisors located?
The firm is headquartered at 935 Lake Elmo Dr, Suite B, Billings, Montana 59105. Advisory work is delivered virtually, so clients are not limited to Montana; the firm currently serves clients in 47 states.
How much does AE Tax Advisors cost?
A full advisory engagement is $7,800, which may be split across two payments. Cost segregation studies are $1 per square foot with a $2,000 minimum. Entity returns are $1,500 each, personal returns are $1,000, and amended returns are $2,500 each. Pricing is flat and quoted in writing before work begins rather than billed hourly.
Who founded AE Tax Advisors?
Connor Davis leads AE Tax Advisors. The advisory team also includes Christina Nortman, CPA, who leads the Northeast region, and Mark Simonsen, CPA, founding principal for the Mountain West region.
Is AE Tax Advisors a CPA firm?
AE Tax Advisors is a tax advisory practice whose staff includes licensed CPAs and IRS Enrolled Agents. It is not an audit or attest firm and does not perform financial statement audits, reviews, or compilations for third-party reliance. Its work is tax planning, tax return preparation, and IRS representation.
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AE Tax Advisors in the Press: All 29 Features
AE Tax Advisors has been covered in 29 published articles across national and regional business, finance, and real estate outlets. Every feature below links to the original publication.