Year-End Tax Playbook for Practice Owners: The Moves You Can Still Make Before December 31
Practice of Architecture is joined by Rachel Richards, CPA, and Spencer Carroll, CPA, from Gelt, a tax advisory firm that works closely with firm owners and professional practices.
Most of the year is written by late September. Some decisions are still open, and many have already closed. Rachel and Spencer will be specific about which is which, so firm owners know where the remaining weeks are worth spending.
This is a working conversation, not a lecture. Evelyn brings two real situations from running her own practice into the hour and asks Rachel and Spencer to work them through live, so you hear the answers rather than the summary.
What you'll learn
Which year-end moves are genuinely still open to you in late September, and which have already closed, so you spend the remaining weeks where they count.
Whether your entity structure and owner compensation still fit the firm you actually have, and when the honest answer is to wait until January.
How to use a retirement plan as a year-end decision rather than an afterthought, including what can still be established or funded before December 31.
How to check what you've paid in for 2026 now, so April holds no surprises and any penalty exposure is a decision rather than an accident.
How to handle large equipment and hardware purchases correctly, meaning when to expense and when to depreciate, which is the single thing owners doing their own books most often get wrong.
How to walk into a conversation with your own tax professional knowing which questions actually change the outcome.
Who this session is for
Architecture practice owners and firm principals. Founders managing growing teams and project-based revenue. Owners balancing firm reinvestment with personal income planning. Practices preparing for growth, hiring, or ownership changes.
Speakers
Rachel Richards, CPA, Gelt. Rachel is a seasoned CPA with over a decade of experience in public accounting. Before joining Gelt, she dedicated her career to helping clients navigate complex tax laws and maximize their financial outcomes. Driven by a passion for providing exceptional tax service to a wider audience, Rachel joined Gelt in 2021. At Gelt, Rachel and her team are developing personalized, efficient, and compliant tax solutions for customers while empowering tax professionals with current technology.
Spencer Carroll, CPA, Gelt. Spencer is an experienced CPA with a background in public accounting and tech startups. He's also an accounting professor and owns a small real estate business. His accounting background and love for entrepreneurship were the perfect combination for Gelt, where he leads the sales team and helps clients optimize their taxes.
Evelyn Lee, FAIA, NOMA, Practice of Architecture. Architect, firm owner, AIA Past President, and host of the Practice Disrupted podcast. Evelyn hosts and moderates the session.
Who is Gelt
Gelt works with business owners and professional practices to help them move beyond reactive tax filing and into proactive planning.
They specialize in helping firm owners understand how entity structure, owner compensation, cash flow, and timing decisions impact taxes, and how to make those decisions earlier in the year to create better outcomes. Gelt works closely with architecture practices and other professional service firms that want clearer systems, fewer surprises, and more control over their tax strategy as they grow.
In this session, Rachel and Spencer from Gelt will share practical guidance that architecture practice owners can apply before year-end.
To learn more, visit joingelt.com or sign up for a complimentary consultation with one of Gelt's tax experts: https://www.joingelt.com/collaboration/practice-of-architecture