Craig L. Elggren CPA PC

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Craig L. Elggren CPA PC No annoying tax professional lingo. Just straight, authoritative and friendly advice. Visit us: www.clecpa.com
Or give us a call: (480) 464-0205

Craig L Elggren, CPA PC is a full service CPA practice, servicing small to medium size businesses and their owners. We provide tax planning, preparation and successful business planning, payroll and tax resolution services. Our team brings the experience of a large accounting firm but we make it our priority to provide the personal attention that only a small accounting firm can offer. We are experienced, affordable, and strive to treat others as we would like to be treated.

๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ข๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—ฆ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜… ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐˜?Yes, when you submit an Offer i...
10/26/2026

๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ข๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—ฆ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜… ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐˜?

Yes, when you submit an Offer in Compromise and it's pending, the IRS collection clock stops running.

Here's why that mattersโ€ฆ The IRS has 10 years from the date your tax debt was assessed to collect it. That deadline is called the Collection Statute Expiration Date (CSED).

But when your settlement offer is pending, that 10-year clock is suspended.

So, if the IRS spends months reviewing your offer and ultimately rejects it, you've extended the amount of time the agency has to pursue collection.

You could also lose money on the application fee and initial payment without getting the debt settled.

If you're considering an Offer in Compromise, reach out before filing. We can review your IRS account history and determine whether an offer makes sense for your situation.

10/23/2026

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ?

It's probably on this list of spending decisions that haunt Americans long after Halloween.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/finance/studies/2026-financial-regrets-study

10/22/2026

๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—ฆ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ผ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ?

Yes, the IRS can impose an Accumulated Earnings Tax on C corporations that retain profits beyond their reasonable business needs to avoid paying shareholder dividend taxes.

The tax rate is 20%. But having a large cash balance doesn't automatically mean you owe this tax. The IRS first looks at ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ your corporation is holding onto that money.

Maybe you're building reserves to cover operating expenses during a slow period. Or you're planning a major equipment purchase.

Those are legitimate reasons for retaining cash, but you still need documentation showing why the money is necessary.

๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ?

๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜๐—š๐—ฃ๐—ง ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—ฆ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐—œ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ป'๐˜ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜… ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐˜?ChatGPT us...
10/21/2026

๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜๐—š๐—ฃ๐—ง ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—ฆ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐—œ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ป'๐˜ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜… ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐˜?

ChatGPT usually defaults to basic math (dividing your equity in half), but figuring out how much home equity the IRS can actually count toward your settlement is far more complex.

An AI tool can't accurately calculate this because it can't evaluate:
1. Your actual mortgage balance and payoff terms
2. Priority liens filed against the property
3. How your deed is titled and your spouse's legal ownership interest
4. IRS-specific valuation rules (like the Quick Sale Value discount)
5. State property laws governing marital assets (such as Tenancy by the Entirety or Community Property)

Those details matter because the IRS uses strict formulas to determine available equity.

If ChatGPT gets your available equity wrong, you could submit an offer the IRS rejects outright. Or worse, offer thousands of dollars more than the IRS is legally entitled to collect.

An AI chatbot can't read your deed or verify county records. When I review a potential settlement, I analyze the actual property and lien records before determining what equity should legally count.

If you're considering an IRS settlement and own property with a spouse who doesn't owe the tax debt, comment ๐—˜๐—ค๐—จ๐—œ๐—ง๐—ฌ below. We can review how your ownership and property equity will actually affect the amount you offer the IRS.

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ต ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—œ ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜?A good starting point is enough cash to cover three to six month...
10/20/2026

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ต ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—œ ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜?

A good starting point is enough cash to cover three to six months of essential operating expenses. You'll also want to set aside money for taxes, based on what you expect to owe.

But the exact amount depends on how your business brings in money.

If you have predictable, recurring revenue (like monthly retainers or subscriptions), three months of expenses may be enough.

If you carry inventory, work on large projects, or experience big seasonal swings, you'll likely need closer to six months.

As for taxes, for most pass-through entities (LLCs, sole props), a good starting point is transferring ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ%โ€“๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜ into a dedicated tax account to cover both income and self-employment taxes.

Remember, the IRS expects quarterly estimated payments, so you'll be emptying that reserve four times a year. (We can help you dial in your exact percentage.)

๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ?

10/19/2026

๐——๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜… ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ป, ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜?

Mistakes happen, whether a return was prepared by tax software or another preparer. We can take a second look, identify errors or missed opportunities, and amend the return when a correction is needed.

Comment ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—œ๐—˜๐—ช so we can set up a time to talk.

10/16/2026

๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—ฆ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐˜ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜ ๐—œ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ?

Yes, if you qualify for the IRS's Offer in Compromise (OIC) program, you might be able to settle your tax debt for less than the full amount. But getting approved isn't easy.

In 2025, fewer than 1 in 6 Offers in Compromise were accepted.

To determine if you qualify, we would need to review your...
โ€ข income
โ€ข expenses
โ€ข assets
โ€ข tax debt
โ€ข ability to pay

If these match up, we can help you prepare the required financial documentation and present your case based on the criteria the IRS uses to evaluate offers.

๐——๐—  ๐˜‚๐˜€ if you have tax debt and want to determine your eligibility for an OIC.

๐—ช๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ?Your business can show a profit on paper even w...
10/15/2026

๐—ช๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ?

Your business can show a profit on paper even when you haven't actually collected all of that money from your customers.

If you use accrual-basis accounting, revenue gets recorded when you issue an invoice, not when the customer actually pays you.

That means your Profit & Loss statement can include revenue you haven't collected yet.

So you might see a healthy profit number while a chunk of that money is still sitting in Accounts Receivable.

This is why your P&L and bank balance tell you different things about your business.

Your P&L shows financial performance based on your accounting method. Your bank account shows the cash you actually have available.

If there's a big gap between the two, pull your Accounts Receivable aging report and look at how much of your revenue is tied up in unpaid invoices, especially those that are 90+ days past due.

๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด?
DM us if you want clearer visibility into your true cash position.

Top financial moves in the last few months of the year...GO
10/14/2026

Top financial moves in the last few months of the year...GO

๐—ช๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜†๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€?Employment taxes aren't like regular vendor bills. When you run pay...
10/13/2026

๐—ช๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜†๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€?

Employment taxes aren't like regular vendor bills. When you run payroll, you're holding federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare in trust for your employees.

Because that money belongs to the government, the IRS moves fast when deposits are late. Penalties add up. Interest piles on. Even worse, business owners can be held personally responsible for unpaid trust fund taxes, putting your personal assets at risk.

Instead of trying to sort through IRS notices alone, let us handle it. We'll pull your official transcripts and pinpoint exactly which quarters were missed. We'll check if you qualify to get penalties waived, then build a clear plan to resolve the debt and protect your business.

๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฃ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—Ÿ๐—Ÿ if you want us to review your situation privately and help you figure out the next step in handling your payroll tax problem.

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1467 W Elliot Road Ste 102
Gilbert, AZ
85233

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Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

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