Tennessee · Small Business
Your Tennessee small business accountant, starting with the books.
Bookkeeping, QuickBooks setup, and cleanup for Tennessee small businesses — entity-aware books for LLCs, S-corps, and partnerships, no individual income tax (the Hall tax was repealed in 2021, so payroll has no state withholding), the Franchise & Excise (F&E) tax kept ready (a 6.5% excise on net earnings plus a 0.25% franchise tax on net worth, $100 minimum), the business (gross-receipts) tax tracked at the $100,000 threshold across state and city, the high combined sales tax charged correctly by location (7% state plus a local option up to 2.75%), and a named Certified ProAdvisor. We keep the books; your CPA files. Fixed-fee, all 95 counties.
Independent firm · not Intuit, not a CPA firm. Coordinates with your CPA.
Intuit certifications
Every engagement is reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor (QuickBooks Online Level 2, Payroll) — verification on request. Intuit’s ProAdvisor program becomes ProPartner Accountants in early 2027; the certifications continue.
Tennessee small business accounting, in brief.
TechBrot is the day-to-day financial backbone for Tennessee small businesses — Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor bookkeeping, setup, cleanup, an entity-aware chart of accounts, and the sales tax configured at the correct combined rate by location (the 7% state rate plus a local option up to 2.75%), with the business (gross-receipts) tax tracked at the $100,000 threshold across state and city, the books kept Franchise & Excise (F&E)-ready (a 6.5% excise on net earnings plus a 0.25% franchise tax on net worth), and payroll set up with no state income-tax withholding because Tennessee has no individual income tax, kept in your own QuickBooks file by a named ProAdvisor and coordinated with your CPA, who files. The full Tennessee small-business summary is below.
Maintained by the Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor team at TechBrot Inc., an independent firm — not affiliated with Intuit Inc., and not a CPA or tax-prep firm. Tennessee facts (no individual income tax, following the full repeal of the Hall income tax for tax years beginning January 1, 2021, so payroll carries no state income-tax withholding; the Franchise & Excise (F&E) tax — a 6.5% excise on net earnings plus a 0.25% franchise tax on net worth ($0.25 per $100, a $100 minimum), computed on net worth only since the 2024 property-measure repeal; the business (gross-receipts) tax — a state and a city business tax owed once a business grosses $100,000 in a jurisdiction; and the sales tax — a 7% state rate plus a local option up to 2.75%, among the highest combined rates in the country) reflect current Tennessee Department of Revenue guidance.
Tennessee small business accounting, in five questions.
Do I need an accountant or a bookkeeper?
Most Tennessee small businesses need both, in sequence — a bookkeeper to keep books clean monthly, a CPA to file and advise. TechBrot does the bookkeeping/QuickBooks side and coordinates with your CPA, who files. If budget is tight, clean books come first.
What does it cost?
The bookkeeping/QuickBooks work runs from $400/mo for monthly service, with QuickBooks setup from $750 and cleanup from $1,500 — fixed-fee against a written scope. CPA tax-return prep is billed separately by them.
I’m just starting — what do I need?
The right entity & QuickBooks setup, a clean industry-specific chart of accounts, the sales tax configured at the correct combined rate by location (the 7% state rate plus a local option up to 2.75%), gross-receipts tracking so the $100,000 business-tax threshold is visible, and payroll set up correctly — Tennessee has no state income-tax withholding — from day one. We handle setup and the books; your CPA or attorney handles entity filing and tax registration.
My books are a mess from fast growth — help?
Yes — a one-time cleanup to get the file CPA-ready, then monthly bookkeeping so financials keep pace as you scale — including the sales tax at the combined rate by location, the gross-receipts tracking for the business tax, a clean equity section for the franchise-tax net-worth base, and correct multi-state payroll.
Is TechBrot a CPA firm?
No — an independent Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor & bookkeeping firm. We run the books; your CPA files and represents you. We do not file returns. Most Tennessee small businesses use both.
The short version.
Most Tennessee small businesses need both a bookkeeper and a CPA — and in that order. TechBrot is the day-to-day financial backbone: bookkeeping, QuickBooks setup and cleanup, payroll coordination, sales-tax tracking at the correct combined rate by location (the 7% state rate plus a local option up to 2.75%), and payroll with no state income-tax withholding — because Tennessee has no individual income tax — kept by a named Certified ProAdvisor, fixed-fee against a written scope (monthly from $400/mo; cleanup from $1,500).
We keep entity-aware books — an LLC, S-corp, or partnership each reads differently on the balance sheet, and the chart of accounts is built so owner draws, distributions, guaranteed payments, and reasonable S-corp compensation land where your CPA expects them — and so the net-worth and net-earnings figures behind the Franchise & Excise (F&E) tax (a 6.5% excise plus a 0.25% franchise tax, $100 minimum) are clean. If you run a healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, or professional-services operation, we keep payer reconciliation, job and standard costing, inventory, WIP, and per-location books clean; if you have employees, payroll is simpler on the income-tax side — Tennessee has no state income-tax withholding — and we track the business (gross-receipts) tax so the $100,000 threshold across state and city stays visible, and charge the high combined sales tax at the right rate by location. Your CPA files your returns and advises on tax; we keep the books that make their work fast and accurate.
We’re not a CPA or tax-prep firm — we don’t file income-tax returns, the Franchise & Excise (FAE 170) return, the business (gross-receipts) tax return, or the sales-tax return, and we don’t represent you before the Tennessee Department of Revenue. We’re the bookkeeping and QuickBooks side, coordinating directly with yours. All 95 Tennessee counties — from Nashville’s healthcare-management and music economy to Memphis’s logistics hub, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, Franklin, and the Tri-Cities — most industries. Independent firm — not affiliated with Intuit Inc.
The financial backbone, built and maintained.
Every engagement is scoped to your business and entity, delivered in your own QuickBooks file by a named Certified ProAdvisor.
QuickBooks setup, done right
The right QuickBooks edition, a clean industry-specific chart of accounts built around your entity (LLC, S-corp, or partnership), and the sales-tax items configured for the combined rate by location plus no-state-withholding payroll set from the start.
Monthly bookkeeping
Reconciled accounts and owner-ready, CPA-ready statements every month, by a named bookkeeper — so you always know where the business stands.
Cleanup & catch-up
Behind from growth, or commingled across entities? We get the file accurate and CPA-ready — reclassifying transactions, fixing a single sales-tax rate that missed the local layers and a tangled equity section, and reconciling to a known-good baseline — then keep it that way.
Sales tax, business tax & payroll
The sales tax configured at the correct combined rate by location (the 7% state rate plus a local option up to 2.75%), the business (gross-receipts) tax tracked by jurisdiction so the $100,000 threshold stays visible, and payroll set up with no state income-tax withholding (Tennessee has none) — so the returns reconcile to the books rather than being guessed at filing time.
Year-end CPA handoff
Clean, documented, entity-aware books delivered to your CPA at year end — F&E-ready (a clean net-worth base for the franchise tax and net earnings for the excise), with the sales tax sub-reconciled by location and gross receipts tracked for the business tax — for faster, cheaper, audit-ready filing.
What we do — and what your CPA does.
We’re bookkeepers and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors, not a CPA or tax-prep firm. The split is clean, and we coordinate directly across it.
Bookkeeping & QuickBooks — not tax filing
TechBrot
- Bookkeeping, reconciliation & monthly statements
- QuickBooks setup, cleanup & management
- Entity-aware books (LLC, S-corp, partnership)
- Sales tax at the combined rate by location (7% state + local up to 2.75%)
- Business (gross-receipts) tax tracked by jurisdiction (the $100,000 threshold)
- F&E-ready net-worth & net-earnings figures for the FAE 170
- Payroll with no Tennessee state income-tax withholding; multi-state set per work state
- Payer reconciliation, job costing, inventory, WIP & per-location books
- Year-end handoff to your CPA — sales tax and equity sub-reconciled
Files returns & represents you
Your CPA
- Files Tennessee & federal income-tax returns
- Files the Franchise & Excise (FAE 170) return
- Files the business (gross-receipts) tax return & the sales-tax return
- Represents you before the Tennessee Department of Revenue
- Tax planning & formal advice
- We coordinate directly — bookkeeper vs accountant →
What a Tennessee business’s books have to get right all year.
These are the Tennessee rules that decide how the books are kept — not once at filing, but every month. Each is a standing obligation, and each is a reason the accounting here is not the same as the state next door.
Franchise & Excise is the real business tax
6.5% excise on net earnings plus 0.25% franchise on net worth, with a $100 minimum. Two measures, one return.
The business tax is per jurisdiction
A state and a city gross-receipts tax once you pass $100,000 in that jurisdiction — tested city by city, not in total.
There is no individual income tax
The Hall tax was fully repealed in 2021, so payroll is simpler and the entity accrual is where the risk sits.
7% state plus up to 2.75% local
Among the highest combined rates in the country.
Figures maintained against Tennessee’s own published sources. The full picture is on the Tennessee page →.
Automation handles the data entry. We handle the judgment.
Apps can categorize transactions; they can’t tell a Tennessee founder their margins are slipping, their owner draws are outrunning profit, when they’ve crossed the $100,000 business-tax threshold in a new county, or whether their equity section will support the franchise-tax net-worth base this year. Clean books are the foundation; judgment is the value.
Once your books are solid and entity-aware, the question shifts from “are the numbers right?” to “what do they tell me to do next?” That’s where fractional-CFO advisory comes in — a Certified ProAdvisor who knows your numbers turning them into pricing, cash-flow, multi-state nexus, and entity-structure conversations to have with your CPA. Explore fractional CFO & advisory →
Maintained by the TechBrot Certified ProAdvisor team.
This page reflects how TechBrot handles Tennessee small-business engagements. It is maintained by the Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor team at TechBrot Inc., a Delaware-incorporated independent ProAdvisor firm serving Tennessee businesses remotely across all 95 counties, and reviewed for accuracy on the bookkeeping scope, the entity-aware chart of accounts, and the Tennessee references (no individual income tax following the full repeal of the Hall income tax for tax years beginning January 1, 2021 — so payroll carries no state withholding — the Franchise & Excise (F&E) tax of a 6.5% excise on net earnings plus a 0.25% franchise tax on net worth, the business (gross-receipts) tax at the $100,000 threshold, and the high combined sales tax of a 7% state rate plus a local option up to 2.75%). TechBrot keeps the books and coordinates with your CPA, who files; we do not file Tennessee or federal returns, the F&E (FAE 170) return, the business-tax return, or the sales-tax return, and do not represent clients before the Tennessee Department of Revenue.
Certifications
Active Intuit Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Online (L2) and Payroll
Scope
Bookkeeping, QuickBooks, the sales tax at the combined rate by location, the business (gross-receipts) tax at $100,000, F&E-ready books, no-state-withholding payroll, job costing · income-tax filing coordinated with your CPA/EA (out of our scope)
Engagement
Fixed-fee, written scope before work · delivered in your own QuickBooks file
Independence
Independent Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor firm · Not affiliated with Intuit Inc.
Talk to a ProAdvisor
One call tells you exactly where your books stand.
No form, no sales script. You speak with a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who has looked at files like yours — and you get a written fixed-fee scope within three business days.
(877) 751-5575Available 24/7 · we reply within one business day
- You talk to a ProAdvisorA real Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor — not a call center.
- We review your fileWe look at what’s actually in your QuickBooks and what it needs.
- You get a written scopeA fixed fee in writing within 3 business days. Then you decide.
Tennessee small business accounting questions.
Do I need an accountant or a bookkeeper for my Tennessee small business?
What does a small business accountant do in Tennessee?
How much does a small business accountant cost in Tennessee?
I’m just starting a business in Tennessee — what do I need?
Can you help if my business is growing fast and the books are a mess?
Is TechBrot a CPA firm?
How do we get started?
Get the books right — the rest gets easier.
Book a free discovery call. We’ll review your situation and your books, recommend setup, cleanup, monthly service, or a mix, and send a written fixed-fee quote within 3 business days. No pitch. We keep the books and coordinate with your CPA, who files; we do not file Tennessee returns, the F& E (FAE 170) return, the business-tax return, or the sales-tax return.