After completing a busy tax season and filing hundreds of tax returns by the April 15th deadline, Jonathan Frost wasn't about to fall into a post-tax season slump.
"We wanted to make sure that Chattanooga business owners knew that May is a much more important month for your taxes than April," Frost says. "Taxes are the largest expense that a business undertakes every year, yet it's often the thing business owners plan for the least."
So J.D. Frost & Co., the downtown CPA firm Jonathan Frost launched nearly eight years ago, is ramping up its client education efforts with a series of complimentary seminars about the new tax law adopted last year.
Frost, who is called "Frosty" by his friends and colleagues, also has begun a weekly video podcast, hosted at the Mountain City Club, called "Morning Frosty with CT." The show offers entrepreneurs practical advice and inspiration from weekly guests and the show's hosts, Jonathan Frost and Chris Travis.
"I'm a naturally driven person and I've always been interested in business," says Frost, a 34-year-old CPA whose father and grandfather also earned their CPA and have operated Tuftco Inc. in Chattanooga for the past half century. "And 2018 is the year that I've decided to drive just little bit harder."
The company has grown to 31 employees and Frost says he is eager to continue to add business and staff. To accommodate the growth, Frost and Hulco Inc. President Matt Hullander are building a new 20,000-square foot building at the 1400 block of Chestnut Street, where Frost plans to relocate his business by October.
Frost said the firm offers a full suite of tax, assurance, and management accounting services to support clients' in-house accounting staff, to plan for and prepare all tax matters, and to serve as a trusted business advisor.
In the next year, Frost said he expects to hire eight additional team members to the growing practice while altering pricing to provide more transparency and service-based pricing schedules, rather than just hourly billing.
Frost is offering a range of individual tax packages from $600 to $1,620, which he says are even more critical this year due to the many changes and tax opportunities from the tax reforms adopted last year.
"We've completely revamped our pricing model to what we call 'fixed pricing" with no more hourly rates for a clearer understanding of the services we provide for clients," Frost says. "Our clients are the reason we're here, so we want to make sure they know they're treated with respect and honesty, which includes the way we seek to educate them as well. Educating clients builds credibility, establishes value, and boosts their confidence that they're working with the best."