Your taxes and your books, handled by people who know your name.
Personal tax prep, solopreneur bookkeeping, and quarterly estimates for Californians. One practice, one relationship. No shoebox required.
The Saini Ledger prepares California individual tax returns, Form 1040 and Form 540, and provides bookkeeping and quarterly estimated-tax support for freelancers, solopreneurs, and single-member LLCs. Year-round help with IRS and FTB notices is included in every engagement.
If any of these sound like your year, you’re in the right place.
- A W-2 job plus something on the side
- Full-time self-employment where quarterly taxes are still a mystery
- RSUs that vested and made April complicated
- A mid-year move into or out of California
- A shoebox of receipts you’d rather not explain
- Or you simply want your return done carefully, once a year, by a person
How we work
It starts with a conversation, not a 30-question form dumped in your inbox. Books and taxes live under one roof here, so your return gets built on numbers we already know, and nothing falls into the gap between “your bookkeeper” and “your tax person.”
Situations we handle especially well
Side income
People remember “$400” but forget what it measures. It’s your net earnings, income minus business expenses, not the total you collected. At $400 net or more, the IRS adds self-employment tax on top of income tax. Under it, the income is still reportable. We figure out which side of the line your year landed on and file it right either way.
RSUs, options, ESPP
Here’s the trap. Your shares get taxed as wages the day they vest. Then you sell, and the broker’s 1099-B reports a cost basis that leaves out the value you were already taxed on. On paper, you now owe tax on the same money twice. The IRS has a specific fix for this, and we apply it to every affected sale.
Part-year and multi-state
Moved during the year? California uses Form 540NR, plus whatever your other state wants. A messy corner of personal tax. We know it well.
Quarterly estimates
Federal payments kick in once you expect to owe $1,000 beyond your withholding. California starts at just $500, or $250 if you’re married filing separately. We calculate every installment and tell you what to pay and when. That’s it.
ITINs
A tax ID for someone who needs to be on a return but can’t get a Social Security number. We handle the W-7 and file accordingly.
Behind on everything?
Catch-up bookkeeping is a one-time project with a fixed quote, done without judgment. Then the tiers keep you current.
Where we refer out. Some situations call for a CPA, an Enrolled Agent, or a tax attorney: IRS audit representation, U.S. Tax Court matters, complex foreign income, trust and estate returns, and corporate or partnership returns (Forms 1120, 1120-S, 1065). We’re clear about that line. When we reach it, we connect you with a trusted partner and stay involved as needed.
Three levels, one question: how often do your finances need attention?
Once a year, once a quarter, or every month. Every tier includes the same support standard: a response within 12 hours. No prices on this page by design; every engagement is custom-quoted after we talk. Not sure? That is what the first conversation is for.
Essential
Your tax return, done carefully. Once a year.
- Income from a job; taxes are an April event
- Every California credit you qualify for, claimed
- A real person when the FTB writes in August
Guides: one federal return (Form 1040) and one California return (Form 540), filed once a year
See everything included
- How it workswe start with a real conversation, not a form sent to your inbox. We prepare your federal return (Form 1040) and your California return (Form 540). We check every California credit you might qualify for, renter’s credit, child care, education, and more. We e-file, and you get a clean copy for your records.
- After filing, you’re not alonea letter from the IRS or the Franchise Tax Board goes to us, we handle it all year. A short year-end conversation to look ahead, if you want one.
Outgrowing it? First side income, freelancing, rideshare, selling online, points toward Momentum.
Start a ConversationMomentum
Books and taxes, handled together. Every quarter.
- You work for yourself, freelancer, contractor, sole proprietor, single-member LLC
- Quarterly estimated taxes: what to pay, and when
- Clean books, so tax time isn’t a shoebox
Guides: up to 300 transactions/mo · up to 2 bank and credit accounts
See everything included
- Everything in Essential, plus your businessyour business income and expenses go on Schedule C, we prepare it. Every three months, we tidy your business transactions and match them against your bank, so tax time starts clean, not from a shoebox.
- The quarterly payments, decodedself-employed people pay taxes four times a year instead of once, smaller payments, no giant April bill. We calculate each payment and tell you exactly what to pay and when.
- What lands in your inboxa short quarterly summary of how your business is actually doing, and deduction guidance you can act on.
Outgrowing it? Contractors to pay, RSUs vesting, monthly attention needed, points toward Pro.
Start a ConversationPro
For real complexity, year-round. Every month.
- You pay contractors, or hold RSUs and stock options
- Multi-state moves, ITINs, the messy situations
- A relationship, not an April appointment
Guides: up to 600 transactions/mo · up to 4 bank and credit accounts
See everything included
- Everything in Momentum, every monthbooks closed and reconciled monthly, you always know where you stand. Monthly reports, readable in two minutes.
- The complicated things, made uncomplicatedcontractor payments made on or after January 1, 2026 generally need a Form 1099-NEC once you pay $2,000 or more in the year (2025 payments still follow the old $600 rule); we collect the W-9s, prepare the forms, and file them. RSUs or stock options are often taxed twice by mistake because the reported cost is wrong; we catch it and fix it. Moved into or out of California? We file every state correctly. ITIN for a family member? We handle the application and file accordingly.
- Planning, not surprisesquarterly check-ins so your tax bill is never news to you.
Not a clean fit? If none of these quite matches your year, start a conversation and we’ll shape the right scope around what you actually need.
Start a Conversation| Included | Essential | Momentum | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form 1040 + CA 540, all schedules | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CA credit review + e-filing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| IRS/FTB notice support, year-round | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Schedule C (business income) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bookkeeping cadence | None | Quarterly | Monthly |
| Quarterly estimates (1040-ES/540-ES) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| 1099 filings for your contractors | — | — | ✓ |
| RSU / multi-state / ITIN complexity | — | — | ✓ |
| Planning | Year-end optional | Quarterly summary | Quarterly check-ins |
Every tier includes the same support standard: a response within 12 hours.
Questions we hear most
I have a W-2 and some side income. Do I really need help?
It depends on your net number, income minus business expenses. Once that reaches $400 for the year, self-employment tax applies on top of income tax, and that’s the calculation DIY software most often mishandles. Below $400 the income is still reportable, just without the extra tax. A conversation costs nothing.
What are quarterly estimated taxes?
Instead of one large bill in April, the IRS and California collect through the year when withholding won’t cover what you owe. Federally that starts once you expect to owe $1,000. California starts at $500, or $250 if you’re married filing separately. We calculate each payment and tell you what to pay and when.
My RSUs vested. Do I owe more tax?
Probably, and the bigger risk is overpaying. The vesting value was already taxed on your W-2, yet brokers routinely report a cost basis that omits it. An uncorrected return taxes the same money twice. We review every 1099-B and make the IRS’s prescribed correction.
In our clients’ words.
“Working with Avneet was smooth and stress-free. He took the time to explain everything clearly and walked me through the new OBBBA rules, which I had not come across on my own.”
Individual tax preparation client, and a member of Avneet’s family.Also from The Saini Ledger