Claim your seat
First — who are we
building this for?
building this for?
Seven quick questions. Nothing is submitted anywhere; your answers stay in this window and print
onto the summary at the end.
- On the front lines, you are the product — your income stops exactly where your calendar does.
- A Service Bureau moves you into the C-suite — you own the software, you set the prices, and every office you bring on files on your platform.
- Their volume becomes your revenue, and none of it depends on hours you personally work.
Step 2 of 8 · Your network
How many offices will
run on your platform?
run on your platform?
A Service Bureau doesn't file returns — it licenses the software other offices file on. Start with
what you can realistically bring on in year one. Solo preparers are one-person shops; tax firms have multiple
preparers under one roof.
Solo preparers under you12
One-person shops — each is one seat
Tax firms under you3
Multiple preparers under one roof
Preparers per firm5
Each preparer is a seat you license and bill
Step 3 of 8 · Volume
How many returns does
each of them file?
each of them file?
This is the engine. Every return in your network pays you a per-return fee, feeds the prep-revenue
share, and sizes the revenue-share pot. You never touch any of them.
Returns per solo preparer / season50
Returns per firm preparer / season50
Step 4 of 8 · The market
What does the market
pay for those returns?
pay for those returns?
Defaults are 2026 published national averages. Adjust to your market — this figure drives the
prep-revenue share and the revenue-share pot, so it matters more than any other number on this page.
Avg individual return fee$323
2026 national avg: 1040 + Schedule A + state
Avg business return fee$1,000
2026 national avg corporate return
Business returns as % of volume15%
Most practices sit between 10% and 25%
Blended average fee: $0 per return across your whole network.
Step 5 of 8 · Your pricing
Now the part that
makes you the owner.
makes you the owner.
You buy the platform from TSB at fixed cost and resell it at whatever you decide. The ranges shown
are what bureaus typically charge — the spread between the two is yours. White label puts the software in
someone else’s name for firms that want their own brand.
Setup per preparer$350
Costs you $250 per preparer — your one-time $2,500 TSB setup across the first ten.
Your margin: $100 per preparer.
$250 · your cost$500
Software, per office / yr$475
Costs you $250 per office — your $2,500 base licence across ten seats.
Your margin: $225 per office.
$250 · your cost$700
Software, per extra seat / yr$475
Costs you $250 per seat past the tenth at one office.
Your margin: $225 per seat.
$250 · your cost$700
Tax Systems App, per seat / mo$40
Costs you $20 per seat per month.
Your margin: $20.00 per seat per month.
$20 · your cost$50
White-label licenses you sell / yr2
Firms or bureaus that want the software in their own name.
025
Price per white-label license / yr$3,000
Costs you $2,000 each, annually.
Your margin: $1,000 per license.
$2,000 · your cost$3,500
Per return — you set it once$10
Costs you $5 — TSB always takes $5. Your margin: $5.00 per return.
$5 · your cost$30
Step 6 of 8 · Marketing
Now fill the network
you just built.
you just built.
Every other line on this walkthrough prices volume you already have. This is the only one that
creates it — each enrolled location generates new clients, and every new client is a return your network files.
Marketing — the growth engine
Pick the package, set how many locations run it, and watch what those new clients are worth to
you. Most bureaus pass the package through at cost and keep the downstream income.
Marketing package
Spelled out in full below
Billing frequency
How the package is billed to each location
Locations enrolled15
Offices in your network running the package
New clients per location / yr12
DIY generates 10–15
You resell marketing at, per locationoptional$50
Defaults to cost — leave it there for a pure pass-through
What Do It Yourself marketing includes
What DIY marketing produces for you
| New clients generated | 0 |
| Per-return margin on those returns | $0 |
| Prep-revenue share on those returns | $0 |
| Cross-sell share on those returns | $0 |
| Marketing resell position | $0 |
| Income from marketing | $0 |
Step 7 of 8 · The streams you don't invoice for
Two more streams —
and you bill nothing.
and you bill nothing.
These come off the volume you already built. The preparation-revenue share has two terms you
negotiate; the cross-sell split is set by the program and is the same for every bureau.
Stream one · Prep-revenue share
$0
Returns filed under your EFIN earn you a negotiated share of the preparation
revenue — .
Network preparers using your EFIN30%
How much of your network files under the bureau's EFIN
Negotiated share of preparation revenue
Your cut of the prep fee on those returns
Compliance note. Prep-revenue share must be structured as a disclosed
percentage-of-prep-fee platform fee, never as consideration for use of an EFIN — see IRS Pub. 3112.
Have counsel review before it appears in any signed agreement.
Stream two · Cross-sell revenue share
$0
Your network refers insurance, financial, CPA planning, audit, bookkeeping and tax
attorney work. You take a flat 10% of everything the professional invoices — 10% of a
$0 pot.
Your 10% never changes
| Program | Referring | You | Pro & TSB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance | 40% | 10% | 50% |
| Financial | 40% | 10% | 50% |
| CPA planning | 25% | 10% | 65% |
| Audit | 25% | 10% | 65% |
| Bookkeeping | 40% | 10% | 50% |
| Tax attorney | 20% | 10% | 70% |
Percentages of what the professional invoices the client. Every row totals 100%; your 10%
is constant regardless of program. TSB negotiates the Pro & TSB share case by case with each
professional relationship, so the split within that column varies by engagement.
Pot sizing: 25% of what solo preparers gross and 30% of what tax firms gross
flows through the cross-sell programs. Assumptions can vary widely based on clientele, location, and the
types of services provided.
Your seat in the C-suite — net annual income
$0
Revenue you command
$0
Cost of the platform
$0
You keep
0%
On the front lines
$0
Gross prep fees, one preparer working alone
- What you sell
- Your own hours — you are the product
- Your ceiling
- Wherever your calendar runs out, usually April 15
- Income streams
- One — prep fees
In the C-suite
$0
Net to your bureau, after everything you pay TSB
- What you sell
- A platform every downstream office runs on
- Your ceiling
- The offices you bring on — and they file the returns
- Income streams
- Seven — software, seats, app, white label, setup, prep-fee share, revenue share
Your economics — line by line
| Line item | You pay TSB | You charge | Your margin |
|---|
Resold services carry a TSB cost, so only the spread is yours. The prep-revenue share and the
cross-sell take have no cost line — TSB's cut of those is already inside the split table, so there is no
separate override.
Net position
| Revenue | $0 |
| Less cost paid to TSB | $0 |
| Net to your bureau | $0 |
| Monthly equivalent | $0 |
| Net per office in your network | $0 |
| Net per preparer seat | $0 |
| Year-2 netSetup drops off both sides | $0 |
What the network produces
| Solo preparer returns | 0 |
| Tax firm returns | 0 |
| Marketing-generated returns | 0 |
| Total network returns | 0 |
| Network gross prep revenueYour downstream's revenue, not yours | $0 |
| Cross-sell pot | $0 |
| Your take of the pot | $0 |