Sometimes clients don’t come to us looking for planning or projections. They come to us because something feels wrong—and they’re right.
One local business in Plantation, FL came to Polaris Tax & Accounting after years of unclear filings, missed deadlines, and financial statements that simply didn’t make sense. Their prior firm had rebranded itself with a new name and a modern-looking website. But under the surface? The same old habits persisted: poor documentation, unfinished returns, and unusable financial records.
Here’s what we found:
What Went Wrong
- The business’s 2020 amended return was prepared—but never filed.
- Their 2020 personal tax returns were completed—but never e-filed.
- 2021 individual tax returns were filed using outdated or incorrect financials.
- The 2022 financials had negative bank balances on the balance sheet—clearly inaccurate.
- Their prior bookkeeping work was done without verification, review, or reconciliation.
To make matters worse, no one at their previous firm had ever requested Power of Attorney or pulled IRS transcripts to confirm what had or hadn’t been filed. There was no audit trail. No compliance review. Just a string of assumptions and unfinished work.
What We Did
When Polaris took over, we performed a full compliance check and began rebuilding from the ground up:
- ✅ Retrieved IRS transcripts and matched each year’s activity
- ✅ Filed the missing 2020 individual tax returns
- ✅ Recreated and amended the business return for 2020
- ✅ Corrected the 2021 personal return based on real financial data
- ✅ Rebuilt financials using proper reconciliation methods—not guesswork
Why It Matters
This isn’t just about catching errors—it’s about protecting the client. If we hadn’t intervened:
- The IRS would have had incomplete records
- Refunds may have been forfeited
- Penalties for unfiled or incorrect returns could have compounded
And perhaps worst of all, the client would’ve continued relying on false information to make important financial decisions.
Rebranded Isn’t the Same as Reliable
In today’s accounting world, it’s easy to slap a fresh name on a business and call it modern. But marketing buzzwords mean nothing if the work doesn’t match. We’ve seen it time and again—firms talking about transparency and trust while skipping the basics like filing completed returns or reviewing client records.
At Polaris Tax & Accounting, we don’t cut corners. We pull transcripts. We get POAs. We reconcile every bank account. And we don’t file anything unless it’s been reviewed by a qualified team member.
Based in Plantation, FL, we help clients nationwide fix past mistakes, stay compliant, and move forward with clarity.
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🌐 Business Accounting & Bookkeeping | Polaris Tax & Accounting