Tax Counsel for Lake Forest and Lake Bluff
William D. Briggs has prepared tax returns and advised taxpayers for four decades, and resided in the Lake Forest area for more than 25 years. The firm’s offices have been in Lake Forest, then fifteen years in Lake Bluff and now Lake Forest again. Many of our clients have been with us through every one of those 40 years, including families who have since moved to Florida, Alabama, the Carolinas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and beyond.
“Bill Briggs is the best CPA in the North Shore of Chicago. I have been a partner in 2 top ten public accounting firms over the past 20 years but I still use Bill to do my personal and other business returns.”
Personal Tax Returns, Done Right
We prepare individual returns for families whose finances have grown beyond simple: investment income, stock compensation, rental property, trusts and multi-state filings.
We don’t hand you a portal and ask you to enter your own numbers. Bill Briggs works from your original documents and enters every figure himself, checking each one against its source.
That matters more than most people realize. Tax law changes constantly, and the forms inside tax software are not always in step with the latest federal and state updates. On a complicated return, the software’s default answer may not reflect current law. Bill knows when to question it, and he makes the adjustments needed so your return is right.
It is more exacting than letting the software decide. It is also how errors get caught before the IRS finds them.
Business Taxes and Financial Statements
For business owners, we prepare business returns and the financial statements that support them. Working from your bookkeeper’s records, we produce statements your bank, your lenders and the tax authorities can rely on, from straightforward statements to full compilations.
Tax Planning Before You Act
The best tax decisions are made before the year closes, not after. Depending on each client’s fiscal and reporting cycle, we are available for annual review sessions to look ahead: timing income, managing gains and preparing for the changes coming in their lives.
The bigger the decision, the more planning matters. Selling a business, receiving an inheritance, settling a trust or stepping into retirement all carry tax consequences that are far easier to shape in advance.
When Life Changes Who Handles the Taxes
Sometimes the spouse who managed every return for fifty years can no longer do so. We make sure the filings are right and the deadlines are met while the other spouse finds their footing, and we answer every question along the way.
How We Work
Clients meet with us by phone, Zoom or Teams, as they prefer. Documents are exchanged by secure arrangement, and all meetings are by appointment only, a practice that protects the privacy of everyone we serve.
You will always work directly with Bill Briggs.
We invest in the work, not the trimmings. Our clients have measured us by our work for forty years.
Let’s Talk About Your Taxes
Whether you need a return prepared, a business set on solid footing or a plan before a major decision, we would be glad to talk.