Your MSP prints cash. Your financial structure is still built for a freelancer.
Most IT firms running $2-5M are overpaying taxes by $40-80K a year and carrying insurance that doesn't cover their actual risk. The IRS knows your industry is booming. Your financial infrastructure should too.
Based on typical client scenarios. Individual results vary depending on your specific situation.
The problems hiding in plain sight.
These are the issues we see most often with it services & technology businesses. Most owners don't know they have them.
The IRS Is Auditing IT Worker Classification at 3x the Rate
Your 1099 developers might legally be W-2 employees. The IRS has tripled audits on IT services firms because the industry is ripe with misclassification. The penalties are retroactive — back taxes, penalties, and interest on every misclassified worker, for every year. A proactive classification audit costs a fraction of what the IRS will charge you.
R&D Tax Credits You're Almost Certainly Leaving on the Table
If you build custom software, integrate systems, or develop new processes, you likely qualify for the R&D tax credit. The IRS defines 'research' more broadly than most CPAs realize — and the credit runs 6-8% of qualifying expenses. Published case studies from the AICPA show IT firms recovering $50-150K annually. Most never file because their CPA doesn't specialize in it.
Your Cyber Policy Probably Doesn't Cover Your Biggest Threat
Social engineering fraud is the #1 attack vector for IT firms — and standard E&O policies exclude it. The FBI's IC3 report shows business email compromise caused $2.7 billion in losses in 2023 alone. If your policy was written more than two years ago, it almost certainly has gaps you haven't been told about.
You're Still Running as an LLC Past the S-Corp Threshold
The math is straightforward: an LLC owner netting $150K pays roughly $20K more in self-employment tax than the same owner with an S-corp election. According to the IRS's own data, the S-corp election is the most common tax optimization for service businesses — and the most commonly delayed. Every year you wait is money you don't get back.
Want to see what you're leaving on the table? A 30-minute Foundation Review built specifically for it services & technology.
Book Your IT Services & Technology Review →What it services & technology owners get wrong.
And what to do instead.
Not filing for R&D tax credits on software development work +
Carrying cyber insurance that excludes social engineering fraud +
Operating as an LLC when net income exceeds $80K +
No buy-sell agreement between partners in a growing IT firm +
Where the money actually is.
Opportunities we typically identify for it services & technology businesses — and coordinate with your tax and legal professionals to capture.
What a Foundation Review actually looks like.
An anonymized engagement from our work with it services & technology businesses.
Managed Services Provider
$3.2M annual revenueA 22-person MSP with two co-founders had been operating as an LLC for six years. Neither partner had a buy-sell agreement, there was no key person coverage, and their retirement plan was a basic SEP-IRA that wasn't keeping pace with their growth. Insurance was purchased piecemeal — separate E&O, cyber, and GL policies from three different carriers.
- No buy-sell agreement despite two equal partners — if one died or became disabled, the surviving partner had no funding mechanism to buy out the family and no protection against an unwanted new co-owner
- Zero key person coverage: losing either founder would cost 6-12 months of revenue in client attrition, but neither carried life or disability insurance tied to the business
- Cyber liability policy excluded social engineering fraud — the firm's single largest exposure based on industry threat data
- Also identified: S-corp election opportunity (~$24K/year in tax savings) and three years of unclaimed R&D tax credits (~$185K in recovery)
The Foundation Review led with a funded buy-sell agreement (life and disability insurance on both partners through Ash Brokerage), key person policies sized to cover 12 months of operating expenses, and a cyber policy that actually matched their risk profile. The tax items were referred to their CPA with specific recommendations. Total protection gap closed: over $4M in coverage that didn't exist before.
Details anonymized and modified. Individual results vary — your Foundation Review will be specific to your situation.
We've sat in your chair.
Not just advisors — operators.
Most financial advisors look at your business from the outside. Our team has actually been inside — as internal CFOs, management consultants, and business operators. We've built the financial models, managed the cash flow cycles, and navigated the entity structure decisions firsthand.
That means when we look at your situation, we're not guessing. We've seen the patterns from the operator's seat — and we know which moves actually move the needle.
Good Deals is an independent fiduciary. We don't work for an insurance company or a wirehouse. We work for you. No proprietary products, no sales quotas — just the best path forward for your specific situation.
- CFA charterholder — one of the most rigorous credentials in finance
- Internal CFO experience — we've managed P&Ls, cash flow, and entity structure from the inside
- Management consulting background — financial modeling, growth strategy, and M&A advisory for businesses from startup to $50M+
- Licensed insurance professionals — life, disability, and commercial coverage, not just referrals
- Independent and fiduciary — legally required to act in your best interest
- Austin, TX based — we know the local market, the tax landscape, and the business community
Ready to keep more of what you earn?
30-minute conversation built for it services & technology. No pressure. We'll look at your specific situation and identify the highest-leverage opportunities.
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