What competent cross-border work costs — and why.
Fixed fees, quoted in writing before anything begins. But the number only makes sense once you see the choice you're actually choosing between. Start there.
Why the cheaper options aren't actually options.
A $2M–$8M foreign-owned company sits in a gap most of the market isn't built to serve. Here's the honest lay of the land.
The Big 4 & large firms
Genuinely capable of the technical work — but their model is built for companies many times your size. A $2M–$8M account is below their engagement minimums, so you're either turned away or quoted $40,000+ and assigned to the most junior person in the building.
Expat & volume tax shops
Built to push high volumes of individual returns at a low price. That model works for a simple expat 1040 — but a foreign-owned entity with Form 5472, treaty positions, transfer pricing, and CFC exposure is a different animal, and the wrong form filed cheaply is how the $25,000 penalties happen.
A cross-border boutique
Fortune 500–level international tax depth, priced for a company your size, with a CPA who does this all day actually on your file. This is the tier most owners don't know exists — which is exactly why they end up stuck choosing between the two that don't fit.
So when you see the fees below, read them as the cost of the only competent option in your bracket — not as a markup over the volume shop, which was never equipped to do this work safely in the first place. You're not paying more for the same thing; you're paying for the thing that's actually right.
Foreign-owned U.S. company — monthly tiers.
The full inbound compliance package: federal international filings, in-house bookkeeping, and one state included. Bands are by your U.S. revenue; your exact quote comes from a free scoping call.
Starter
- Form 5472 + pro-forma 1120
- Monthly bookkeeping (≤50 txns)
- State franchise/annual filing — one state included
- Annual federal return
Growth
- Everything in Starter
- Bookkeeping (≤200 txns)
- Transfer-pricing method & agreements
- Multi-state filings
Strategic
- Everything in Growth
- Bookkeeping (≤750 txns)
- Sales-tax registration & filing
- Fractional CFO layer
Premium engagements ($18M–$25M+) are scoped individually. Outbound (CFC), FIRPTA, e-commerce, SaaS, and transfer pricing each have their own fixed-fee schedules on their service pages.
Want a number for your exact mix?
The tiers above cover the common path. If your situation has specific add-ons — extra CFCs, FIRPTA work, multiple states — build a more precise estimate here. No email required; nothing leaves your screen.
Pricing Estimator
Get a ballpark in under a minute. Choose what you need, add any extras, and see an estimated fixed fee. Your exact quote is confirmed on a free call.
Ready for your exact number?
A short, free consultation turns these ranges into a written fixed-fee quote for your situation — and answers the questions the cheaper options can't.
Book a free consultation