Accounting services in the USA: books, federal returns and state filings
We keep the books of your US company, prepare the federal return for your signature and file the state reports and taxes.
Filing dates
1 March Delaware: annual report and franchise tax of a corporation
15 Mar Form 1065 of an LLC with two members or more
15 Apr Form 1120, or Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 for an LLC with one foreign member
1 Jun Delaware: the $400 tax of an LLC
What accounting services for a US company include
What we do each month, each quarter and each year.
Every month
- Bookkeeping from bank, card and payment-processor statements, each account reconciled
- Customer invoices to collect and supplier bills to pay
- Payroll and its federal tax deposits, once the company has staff
- Sales tax returns, on each state's schedule
- The month's income, costs and missing documents, in your account
Every quarter
- Estimated income tax of a C corporation that will owe $500 or more: 15 April, 15 June, 15 September, 15 December
- Form 941, the employer's return, by the last day of the month after the quarter
- A report on cash, margin and results against your budget
Every year
- Forms W-2 and 1099-NEC for the people the company paid
- The annual report or tax of each state where the company is registered
- The federal return for your company type
- Financial statements: balance sheet, profit and loss, cash flow
Bookkeeping for a US company: US GAAP or tax basis, software, signature
$32 millionThe cash method for tax
The IRS, the federal tax authority, prescribes no bookkeeping system: any one that shows the company's income and expenses qualifies. A company whose receipts averaged $32 million or less over the 3 prior years can keep the cash method for tax years that begin in 2026.
US GAAPTax basis or US GAAP
We keep your books on the basis the tax return uses, or under US GAAP, the American accounting standards, when investors, a lender or your parent company ask for it.
1 working dayTo an answer, with the ledger in Zoho Books
We keep the ledger in Zoho Books. You photograph a receipt or upload a statement in your account on the Legarithm platform, and each closed month appears there with its figures. The accountant who keeps your books answers there within 1 working day.
Form 1120Who signs the return
We prepare each return, you sign it as officer or member, and our US tax partner signs as paid preparer. Form 1120 takes the signature of the president, vice president, treasurer or another authorised officer, Form 1065 that of a partner or an LLC member. Then we file it with the IRS.
The IRS asks a company to keep the records behind a return for 3 years, and employment tax records for 4.
The filing year of a US company
Federal dates for a calendar tax year, and the yearly dates of Delaware. We keep this calendar for your company.
- Jan
- Feb1 W-2, 1099-NEC, 940, 2027
- Mar1 Delaware report15 Form 106515 Forms 1042, 2027
- Apr15 Form 1120 or 5472
- May
- Jun1 Delaware LLC tax
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct15 Extended return
- Nov
- Dec
Every quarter with staff Form 941: social security, Medicare and the income tax withheld
Wyoming the annual report, by the first day of the anniversary month
What clients write about Legarithm
4.8 on Google from 26 reviews.
What accounting services in the USA cost
One monthly fee is fixed in your quote before the first month. The state amounts are the official ones of October 2026. For what a US company costs in a whole year, state fees and our services together, see the USA services page.
Accounting for a US company, our fee
Fixed in your quoteYou get the figure in writing by the end of the next working day.
Get a quote- Yearly federal return: Form 1120, 1065 or 5472
- in your quote
- Payroll and its returns
- in your quote
- Delaware LLC tax, a year
- $400
- Delaware corporation: report and minimum franchise tax, a year
- $225
- Wyoming license tax with the annual report, a year
- from $60
Federal tax returns of a foreign-owned LLC or corporation: forms, due dates, extensions, penalties
Calendar tax year, penalties as set for returns due in 2027. Form 7004 moves the filing date, never the payment.
| Company | Return | Due | With Form 7004 | IRS penalty when late |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C corporation, or an LLC taxed as one | Form 1120 | 15 April | 15 October | 5% of the unpaid tax a month, up to 25% |
| LLC with two members or more | Form 1065, with a Schedule K-1 for each member | 15 March | 15 September | $260 a member for each month, for up to 12 months |
| LLC with one foreign member | Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120, sent by fax or post | 15 April | 15 October | $25,000 for each form, and $25,000 more for each 30 days once an IRS notice is 90 days old |
State taxes and annual reports in Delaware and Wyoming
The state that registered the company bills it every year, with sales or without.
$400Delaware: the lower of two franchise tax sums
A Delaware corporation counts its franchise tax by two methods and pays the lower sum. For a startup with 10,000,000 authorised shares the Authorized Shares Method comes to $85,165. With shares of $0.0001 par, 8,000,000 of them issued, and gross assets of $100,000, the Assumed Par Value Capital Method gives $400, and that is what we file.
1 MarchDelaware's report and franchise tax are due
- Corporation: a $50 annual report and franchise tax, both by 1 March. The tax starts at $175 by the Authorized Shares Method, at $400 by the Assumed Par Value Capital Method, and stops at $200,000.
- LLC: a flat tax of $400 by 1 June, no report.
$60Wyoming: license tax with the annual report
Wyoming has no corporate income tax. Each company files an annual report by the first day of its anniversary month. The license tax with it is $60, or $0.0002 per dollar of assets in Wyoming when that is more. Sixty days after a missed date the state dissolves the company, so we file ahead of it.
A Delaware franchise tax or LLC tax paid late costs a $200 penalty and interest of 1.5% a month. Delaware's income tax is 8.7%, on income from business done in Delaware only.
Sales tax nexus after Wayfair: when a state makes a seller from outside register
Since the Supreme Court ruled on 21 June 2018, sales alone create nexus, a state's right to tax a seller from outside.
| State | Register once sales into the state | Counted over |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota, the ruling's state, and Wyoming | Pass $100,000 | The current or the previous calendar year |
| Florida | Pass $100,000 of taxable sales | The previous calendar year |
| California | Pass $500,000 | The current or the previous calendar year |
| Texas | Reach $500,000 | The preceding 12 months |
| New York | Pass both $500,000 and 100 sales | The preceding four sales tax quarters |
| Delaware | No sales tax | No threshold |
Payroll taxes, Form 1099 and Form 1042-S when the company pays people
$50,000Withholding and deposits
A company that hires in the USA withholds income tax from each salary and pays payroll taxes on it. Deposits reach the IRS by electronic transfer: monthly while the past year's taxes stayed at $50,000 or less, twice a week above that. Each state where staff work adds its own withholding and unemployment insurance, and we register the company there.
W-8BENContractors who work from abroad
The IRS sources pay for services to the place where the work is done, so a contractor who works from abroad earns foreign-source income. That contractor's Form W-8BEN, a certificate of foreign status, stays on file. A US contractor gives Form W-9 with a tax number.
| Tax or form | The rule in 2026 | Filed |
|---|---|---|
| Social security | 6.2% from the employer and 6.2% from the employee, on pay up to $184,500 | Form 941, each quarter |
| Medicare | 1.45% from each, on all pay; 0.9% more from the employee above $200,000 | Form 941, each quarter |
| FUTA, the federal unemployment tax | 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each salary; 0.6% after the credit for state unemployment tax | Form 940, by 1 February 2027 |
| Form W-2 | Each employee's pay and tax withheld | By 1 February 2027 |
| Form 1099-NEC | $2,000 or more paid in the year to a US contractor | By 1 February 2027 |
| Forms 1042 and 1042-S | US-source income paid to a foreign person: 30% withheld, or the treaty rate | By 15 March 2027 |
Outsourced accounting for six kinds of US company
We book each contribution and payout between the LLC and its owner through the year, so Form 5472 takes its figures from the ledger.
We keep US GAAP books for your investors, compute the 21% tax and its quarterly estimates and work out Delaware's franchise tax by both methods.
We prepare Form 1065 and a Schedule K-1 with each member's share. For members abroad with US business income we add Forms 8804 and 8805: tax withheld at 37% for an individual and 21% for a company.
We count your sales state by state each month, register the company where they pass a threshold and file that state's sales tax returns.
The books follow the parent's chart of accounts and close on its calendar. Loans, services and sales between the two go onto Form 5472.
We rebuild the books from bank statements, prepare each missed return and list what the IRS and the state are owed.
Taking over from another accountant
No filing date slips while the books change hands.
- day 11
You authorise us
You sign Form 8821, the IRS's tax information authorisation. It lets us read the company's IRS record: the returns filed, the payments and the notices.
- week 12
We collect the records
We ask your present accountant for the ledger, the last returns, the payroll reports and the state logins.
- week 23
You see where things stand
Your account lists what is filed, what is due and what is overdue, federal and state.
- from the next due date4
We take over
We close the open months and prepare each filing from the next due date. A company we formed starts here with no handover: company formation in the USA.
A platform where you open
and run the company online
Your whole company is in your pocket. Sign documents, check the books and write to your accountant from your phone.
Your Company LLC
- Registration in progress
- Next deadline prepared
- Last month closed on time
- Passport copy Uploaded
- Proof of address Checked
- Company documents Sign
- Source of funds declaration Upload
You upload scans and sign the forms in the account. We keep the certificates and registers here afterwards, ready for a bank or an auditor.
The Legarithm team
We prepare your documents, check them before they are filed and keep your books.
Legal
Christina Agapiou Corporate Lawyer
Vasiliki Chatzigeorgiou Compliance Officer
Iryna Hrabovetska Associate
Anastasiia Kolomiiets Associate
Ivanna Plieshivtseva Junior Associate
Vladyslav Khamenushko Paralegal
Alisia Navrotska Paralegal
Vladyslav Syliava Paralegal
Finance and accounting
Ioannis Akritidis Accountant
Elizaveta Pytkina Accountant
Nataliia Dobrynina Accountant
Anna Kyrylova Finance specialist
Questions about accounting services in the USA
What are the best bookkeeping services in the USA?
For a company owned from abroad, the one that reconciles every account each month, prepares Form 5472 or the full return and files the state reports. We do all three in one account.
Does a foreign-owned LLC with no income file with the IRS?
Yes, for each year in which money moved between the LLC and its owner: Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120. A capital contribution or the payment of the formation costs is enough.
Does a C corporation with no profit file a return?
Yes. Every US corporation files Form 1120 each year, with taxable income or without.
Can Form 5472 be filed online?
No. A foreign-owned disregarded LLC sends it to the IRS by fax or by post, with the words Foreign-owned U.S. DE across the top of the pro forma Form 1120. We fax it and keep the confirmation in your account.
How much do accounting services cost in the USA?
Our fee is in your quote. It follows the number of transactions a month, the states where you sell or hire, the payroll and the returns your company type files. Each is explained on outsourced accounting services.
Does a non-resident's LLC pay US income tax?
A single-member LLC pays none itself: the IRS counts its income as the owner's, who pays US tax on income effectively connected with a business in the USA. For how the company types differ, see company formation in the USA.
Get a quote for your company in the USA
Book a 30-minute call about your company
Your consultant Vladyslav Babaiev Opens in a new tab Business Setup Specialist
- We email you the Google Meet link.
- 30 minutes, free, no obligation to order.
- After the call we email you the checklist of documents for your country.
We reply by the end of the next working day with the cost and the dates for your case. The first call is free and confidential.
Also for a company in the USA
Guides to a company in the USA
Updated 21 October 2026. Reviewed by Vladyslav Drapii, Founder.
