Services

We prepare federal and state income tax returns for most types of entities including individuals, proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, trusts, estates and nonprofit organizations.

Heman Lawson Hawks LLP represents audited taxpayers before the IRS and state agencies. We can assist with the audit process by attending the interviews on your behalf or by attending with you.

To see IRS forms and instructions, visit www.irs.gov, but remember that you should not rely upon the IRS publications nor answers the IRS provides by phone.

Our library is updated daily; and we research online to stay abreast of the latest changes from the courts, the IRS, Congress, and legislatures.

We work for you to help you avoid confusion and errors while paying the least amout of tax permitted by law.

Heman Lawson Hawks LLP consults at clients' offices, our offices, or by phone regarding the selection, installation, and utilization of accounting software. We are experienced with most of the accounting software used by small businesses and individuals.

We help clients select the products best suited for their needs, budgets, capabilities, and commitment.

For more than thirty years Heman Lawson Hawks LLP has been financial consultants to thousands of successful, knowledgeable, conscientious clients.

We now advise about 3,000 individuals and businesses each year regarding various financial matters. We have become seasoned and wise from our continuing education and the experiences shared with so many successful clients.

The success of our practice allows us to remain independent of the consolidations that have compromised the integrity of many advisors in the financial services industry. This independence better suits our determination to never be influenced by any forces other than our desire to act and advise in the best interests of our clients.

Fees are based on the time and expertise devoted to our client. We do not accept commissions, finder fees, kickbacks, or royalties associated with any financial products purchased by our clients, their brokers, or their agents.

Heman Lawson Hawks LLP helps clients determine how much must be saved in order to meet goals for retirement income and financial security. We also help select and implement qualified retirement plans that enable clients to deduct the amounts that best fit their budgets.

We help clients select from IRAs, SEPs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), profit sharing plans, and defined benefit plans. We understand the different parameters that usually cause one plan to be clearly more suitable than the others.

Heman Lawson Hawks LLP will coordinte your saving and investment goals with other advisors who have earned your trust and confidence.

We know the rules regarding penalties for withdrawing too soon, too late, too much, and not enough.

To learn more about Social Security, visit www.ssa.gov.

We help clients find ways to distribute more of their estates to family and charity, and less to taxes. We suggest methods that begin this process early enough to take advantage of many good opportunities rather than waiting until very few choices remain. We show clients how to properly avoid potential tax problems without setting themselves up for probable IRS challenges later.

We don't write wills and trusts: we work with our clients' attorneys to help them include the language the client wants and understands.

We don't sell life insurance; we work with our client's agents to help select the best coverage for the anticipated needs.

We don't invest your assets; we work with your broker to help identify strategies that are likely to achieve your objectives.

Heman Lawson Hawks LLP helps clients understand the need to save early and the methods by which taxation of education funds can be minimized. Postponing and avoiding taxes usually yields a greater accumulation of funds that have been set aside for college expenses.

We also help families decide which family members should pay for which types of college expenses in order to maximize the savings available in the form of tax credits. In many cases more savings are available on the return of the child than on the return of the parent.

Tax-advantaged programs which might be helpful include:

• Education IRAs
• Gifts to children or grandchildren
• Payment of specific college expenses by grandparents
• State programs to defer taxation of income and growth
• Investments in growth stocks and mutual funds
• Employment of children for fair rates of pay
• Financial aid programs
• Establishing family businesses that get funds to students

The following sites provide details regarding colleges and funding

1. To learn more about Purdue University, visit www.purdue.edu
2. To learn more about Indiana University, visit www.indiana.edu
3. To learn more about financial aid, visit www.finaid.com
4. To learn more about college costs, visit www.collegeboard.com
5. To learn more about paying for college, visit www.salliemae.com

We are very timely in our preparation of quality financial statements. We work with clients to develop formats that are most suitable for management purposes; and we complete the process quickly so that owners and managers can use the statements as a basis for action as soon as possible.

We carefully comply with all requirements of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) so that lenders and other users can readily respond to the needs of the client.

We customize supplementary reports to provide useful comparisons, relevent historical data, and expressions in percentages.

Lenders appreciate the quality and timeliness with which our clients can provide necessary data. Our clients appreciate the ability to make financial decisions and obtain loans as soon as possible.

If your financial statements are not helping you run your business better, let us explain how we can help.

Heman Lawson Hawks LLP prepares the personal statements that banks usually require from customers who are borrowing large sums of money for themselves or their closely held businesses. Our statements meet the requirements of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Personal financial statements also provide a basis for personal financial planning and allow clients to better recognize progress in their efforts to accumulate wealth and/or achieve greater financial security.

Cash flow is a common problem despite the accumulation of wealth. Sometimes cash flow is a problem because of the accumulated wealth, its tax consequences, and its lack of liquidity. Periodic reviews can identify assets deserving replacement and can provide reassurances that progress has indeed occurred despite continued pressures on cash flow.

A summary of income and expenditures helps identify waste and enables individuals to review their priorities and find ways to concentrate their efforts where there is the greatest potential for reward and satisfaction.

We help bring balance to the competing objectives of saving for later and spending for current needs and wants. We can help!

Heman Lawson Hawks LLP helps clients recognize and understand the circumstances in which trusts can be useful vehicles for saving taxes and/or preserving wealth.

In order to be clearly independent and to demonstrate our determination to be continually accountable to the client, we prefer not to be corporate trustee. Instead, we prefer to serve as the advisor and tax accountant for the corporate trustee or as consultant to the friend or relative selected by our client to be the personal trustee.

By serving in this manner our fees are incurred only when there is a service for which the trustee believes our time and expertise are truly needed. This approach is usually more affordable than other means of contracting for professional services.

We prepare all tax forms required of trusts. We provide tax preparation services for families, trustees, attorneys, and trust departments.

Entity selection can be critical to achieving desired tax benefits, liability protection, and management control.

We understand the differences and can explain why some entity forms are excellent choices and why others might be terrible choices. Our clients include the following forms:

• Individuals
• Proprietorships
• Partnerships
• Joint Ventures
• Corporations
• S Corporations
• Personal Service Corporations
• Limited Liability Companies
• Limited Liability Partnerships
• Not-for-profit Organizations
• Revocable Living Trusts
• Irrevocable Trusts
• Estates

We are comfortable and experienced with the federal and state tax forms needed by each of these entities.