Collective is a back-office solution designed for solopreneurs running a “business of one.” It takes care of everything from business incorporation and accounting to bookkeeping and tax services, making it easier than ever before to manage your small business.
If you're an entrepreneur or freelancer who's tired of managing the struggles of running your own company, Collective can take the burden off of your shoulders. With its top-of-the-line expertise and excellent customer support, I recommend checking out Collective today.
Collective has created a new class of back-office solutions that caters to solopreneurs running a “business of one.”
It takes care of the time-consuming tasks involved in running a business, including business incorporation, bookkeeping, accounting, and tax services.
In short, Collective handles the tedious aspects of managing a company so you can focus on building your business, not doing paperwork.
How Does Collective Work?
Collective is designed to benefit business owners running S corporations, so it's worth taking a moment to understand what an S corp is.
What's An S Corp?
S corps are corporations that pass corporate income, losses, credits, and deductions through to their individual shareholders for federal tax purposes. This is advantageous from a tax perspective, since shareholders claim that income only once their personal tax returns, avoiding double taxation on corporate income.
S corps make the most sense for very small companies—for example, solo consultants—where corporate income and personal income are more or less the same. Collective helps you launch and run your S corp.
Collective Features
Here are some of the features and benefits you'll receive from Collective:
#1 Forget About Paperwork
Collective allows you to focus on running your business rather than worrying about paperwork.
Their automated process eliminates the need to keep track of time-consuming tasks (like business registration and filing taxes) which results in significant savings of both money and time.
#2 Access To A Wide Array Of Tools
When you become a member of Collective, you'll also get access to their online platform that features business tools designed for ease of use, which greatly reduces the stress associated with running your own business.
In particular, you'll get QuickBooks and Gusto subscriptions along with your Collective subscription, and these two popular business accounting software will make it easy for you to stay on top of your finances.
#3 In-Depth Training
Collective not only gives you a wide array of tools for running your business effectively, but they also offer extensive training on these tools for you and your staff.
With their online learning platform, you'll be able to teach your whole team the best-of-breed business technologies and how to properly utilize them.
On top of all of these features, here are some of the more specific benefits you'll receive with Collective. I've broken them down into five unique categories: company formation, tax, accounting, payroll, and communication/education as a Collective member.
#1 Company Formation
- Free consultation with a tax advisor
- LLC formation in your state
- Creation of an operating Agreement
- Obtain Your Tax ID Number (EIN)
- File an S Corp election with the IRS
- Employer Registration in your state
- Provide Registered Agent for your business
- Alerts provided for annual corporate filing
#2 Tax
- Quarterly tax estimates
- Annual salary recommendations
- Owner paycheck calculator
- Business income tax returns (federal and states)
- Individual income tax returns (federal and states)
#3 Accounting
- Set-up company books and payroll
- Bookkeeping and payroll training
- Quickbooks Online subscription ($40/month value)
- Assisted or full-service monthly bookkeeping
- 3rd Party Verification by CPA for lending purposes
#4 Payroll
- New hire reports filed with State
- Preparation and filing of quarterly payroll returns
- Gusto subscription for payroll ($45/month value)
- Gusto payroll system training
- Automated payroll
- Unlimited payroll runs
- Issue and file W-2s
#5 Member Communication & Education
- Year-round bookkeeping, payroll, accounting and tax support
- A member relationship manager
- Newsletters, blogs, guides, and educational webinars
Collective also runs a helpful blog and publishes thorough guides on topics such as starting an LLC, starting an S Corp, and more.
Collective vs. Running A Business Traditionally
Running a business traditionally can be pretty time-consuming when compared to using Collective, especially if you're running it on your own.
For starters, you'll have to track and balance your business' bank accounts by yourself.
You'll also have to spend hours at the end of every quarter ensuring that you pay the right amount in taxes, and that's without mentioning the hours you'll spend finding out whether or not you're eligible for any deductions or tax credits.
With Collective, all of this is done automatically on your behalf so that you have more time to focus on what matters most: growing your business.
Pro-tip: If you're growing your business's online presence or managing one or more websites, exchanging traffic with other websites is a great way to get highly valuable web traffic to your site.
Collective Fees
Collective currently costs $199/month. This fee is tax-deductible and pays for itself in a matter of months.
The monthly fee covers filing a single-member LLC and an S Corporation tax election, obtaining your EIN, getting your own accounting and tax advisor (who will file both personal and business taxes as well as provide you with tax advice when necessary), and free subscriptions for Gusto Core and QuickBooks Online Essentials.
Getting started with Collective is simple—you just have to follow these 6 steps.
#1 Calculate Your Potential Tax Savings
Calculate your potential tax savings by becoming an S Corp and running your business with Collective by answering a few questions about yourself and your company.
#2 Have A Word With A Collective Advisor
Get advice from one of Collective's business advisors to see where you can save money and whether joining Collective is appropriate for you.
#3 Organize Your S Corp
The next step is to use Collective's online wizard to easily and properly organize your brand-new S Corp.
They'll also help you open a business bank account, get an Employer Identification Number (EIN), and a business license in this step.
If you need assistance, Collective's trusted advisors will be there to assist you every step of the way.
#4 Meet Your Team And Tools
You will then meet your team of accounting and tax professionals, who will help you set up your payroll and bookkeeping systems as well as filing your company and personal taxes.
You get a free subscription for both QuickBooks and Gusto with Collective's membership at no extra cost, and you'll also be assigned a dedicated Member Relationship Manager who will handle all of your tax and financial issues.
#5 Automated Quarterly Tax Estimates
In this step, your Collective team will conduct a financial quarterly review with you at regular intervals to assist you in closing your books and evaluate your finances.
They'll then advise you on how much to pay yourself, work out your quarterly taxes, and keep track of your tax payments.
#6 Get Personalized Advice And Peace Of Mind
By this step, you'll have a dedicated finance team and tools created for your success, and you'll be able to run your company confidently and without much hassle.
Collective Reviews & Testimonials
Here are some of the reviews and testimonials that Collective has gathered over time:
“Collective gives me quick access to experienced tax advisors, guidance to optimize my taxes and keeps me updated with state fees. They make it super easy to get started as a freelancer and remedies the headache involved with running an actual business.” – Doug Binder, Founder of WindSprint
“Collective team gives me step-by-step instructions of what to do and they file my paperwork for me. In the past I'd have to research, take my best guess and randomly try out things.” – David Gamache, Freelance Designer
“Collective saves me time, helps me stay more organized and gives me financial guidance on how to save on my taxes. Collective is your full-time bookkeeper and CPA at < 1% of the cost you would normally pay to hire someone in-house.” Michael DePetrillo, Freelance Software Engineer
“Collective helped me set up my business, bookkeeping and payroll. They walked me through the process of setting up an LLC and took care of everything!” – Camille Tintle, Founder of Tintle Digital Marketing
“Collective is an affordable service that guides you through the formation of a single-member LLC. And they offer ongoing coaching and practical assistance with taxes, bookkeeping and payroll for a low monthly fee.” – Jason Loftis, Digital Brand Consultant
“If you value your time and want to feel in control of your freelance business, you should use Collective. Collective helped me with my taxes AND bookkeeping AND my S Corp, all online. I now have my own team of experts answering my questions and guiding me for success. It has been great, I wish I had done it sooner!” – Lilli Keinaenen, Founder of Changemaker Creative
Collective FAQs
#1 Is Collective available in my state?
Collective is currently available in the following ten states. More states are being added as we speak, though, so it's always worth checking to see if yours gets added to the list.
| Arizona | California |
| Florida | Georgia |
| Massachusetts | Pennsylvania |
| Texas | Virginia |
| Utah | Washington |
#2 How does Collective help with tax savings?
Your advisor team will look at your financial data and identify where you may save money in taxes on a quarterly basis.
Collective will also conduct quarterly file reviews to ensure that your bookkeeping is up to date, allowing them to provide tailored tax advice that maximizes your tax savings.
#3 What's not included in the price?
The price does not include third-party costs (such as fees and taxes imposed by your city, state, or federal government), company registration charges, or other licensing expenses, which are determined on a city-by-city basis.
The price does include assisted bookkeeping, tools setup, training, quarterly reviews, and year-round support, though, and you can add full-service bookkeeping for an additional fee.
#4 Why does Collective only work with select businesses of one?
Collective's primary objective is to assist those who would benefit the most from utilizing the platform, and it's intended to help these “businesses of one” the most.
This means that full-time freelancers (such as marketing consultants, designers, software developers, and creatives who make more than $80,000 per year) are most likely to benefit from Collective.
In Summary
If you're an entrepreneur, freelancer or business owner who's tired of trying to keep up with all the paperwork and managing your own company, Collective may be just what you need.
This back-office solution is designed specifically for people with a “business of one” so they can spend more time on their passion instead of filling out endless forms.
It takes care of everything from business incorporation and accounting to bookkeeping and tax services in one place – making it easier than ever before to manage your small business.
Taking that into consideration, I suggest giving Collective a try today.
