University City CPAs for Small Business and Professional Practices
University City is a different kind of St. Louis suburb. You have Wash U faculty and grad students, professional service firms tucked along Delmar, restaurants and independent retail in the Loop, and homeowners who have been there for decades. The accounting needs across that mix run wider than most CPA firms are built for.
Thompson Flaherty is an Illinois and Missouri-licensed CPA firm headquartered in the Metro East. We work with University City small business owners, professional practices, and families who want a year-round CPA, not a once-a-year tax preparer. To talk through what your business needs, get in touch with our team.
Areas of University City We Serve
We work with clients across University City and the immediate surrounding towns: the Loop, Parkview, University Heights, the area north of Olive, Clayton just to the south, Richmond Heights and Olivette to the west. Most of the work is virtual, so the address on the file matters less than what the business needs.
What a University City CPA Costs
University City pricing is in line with the broader St. Louis market. Solo tax return work for an LLC or S-corp runs roughly $1,200 to $3,000. Monthly bookkeeping for a small business is typically $400 to $1,500 a month depending on transaction volume. A year-round CPA relationship with bookkeeping, tax strategy, and quarterly check-ins lands most clients between $1,200 and $3,000 a month, all-in. We will quote a real number after a 30-minute intro call.
Missouri Tax Issues University City Owners Run Into Most
Missouri’s individual income tax rates are adjusted from year to year, so the planning question is rarely what the headline rate is. For University City businesses the items that actually move the number are earnings tax exposure if any of your staff work inside St. Louis city limits, the Missouri Pass-Through Entity Tax election, which is similar to the Illinois PTE but not identical, and sales tax treatment across the food, retail and professional service mix that dominates the Loop.
The earnings tax is the one most often missed. It reaches city residents wherever they work and non-residents employed by a business operating in the city, and we cover how it applies in our breakdown of the St. Louis earnings tax. We work current Missouri Department of Revenue rules into every Missouri return rather than relying on last year’s figures.
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and CFO Work — What U City Owners Need
Bookkeeping is the day-to-day record. Accounting is the cleanup and interpretation. CFO work is the strategy layer. Most University City small businesses past $250,000 in revenue need monthly bookkeeping. The ones past $1M usually start to need CFO-level support. Our monthly accounting and St. Louis bookkeeping services cover the full stack.
Industries We Work With in University City
Professional service firms (architects, attorneys, designers, consultants), independent restaurants and Loop retail, healthcare and dental practices, and small e-commerce. We are a generalist firm by design, which means a single CPA who actually knows your business across the tax, bookkeeping, and advisory work.
How to Start With Thompson Flaherty
The intro call is no cost and roughly 30 minutes. We talk through where your business sits, what is working with your current CPA setup (if anything), and whether Thompson Flaherty is the right firm. If we are, we quote the engagement on the call. Schedule that through our contact page.
Related St. Louis Pages
- St. Louis CPA services, the main page for the firm’s work across the metro.
- St. Louis tax accountant, for tax preparation and year-round planning.
- St. Louis bookkeeping, for monthly bookkeeping and financial statements.
- Clayton tax accountants, just to the south.
- St. Charles CPAs, covering St. Charles, St. Peters and O’Fallon.
Frequently Asked Questions About University City CPAs
Do you have an office in University City?
No. We work from our Edwardsville office and serve University City clients virtually, with in-person meetings when they are worth the trip. The Missouri licensing is what matters for your return, not the address on our door.
What does a University City CPA cost?
Tax return work for an LLC or S-corp runs roughly $1,200 to $3,000. Monthly bookkeeping is typically $400 to $1,500 a month depending on transaction volume. A full year-round relationship lands most clients between $1,200 and $3,000 a month.
Do you work with Washington University faculty and staff?
Yes. Academic households often have a mix of W-2 income, consulting or speaking income, and sometimes grant or royalty income, which is exactly the sort of combination worth planning around rather than sorting out in April.
Can you handle both Missouri and Illinois returns?
Yes. We are licensed in both states, so multi-state filings are prepared in one place rather than handed between two firms.