Bizee vs. Doola for CPA Firms: Why the Entity Type Isn't Optional

Requirements vary meaningfully by state: some require a PLLC, some a professional corporation, some allow a standard LLC with the right licensing disclosures, and ownership rules differ too, from CPA-only ownership to a majority-CPA-ownership threshold that allows a minority non-CPA partner. Confirm the exact requirement with your state board of accountancy before you file, since forming the wrong entity type can mean refiling later and potentially operating out of compliance with your license in the meantime. This one phone call to your board can save months of rework.

If you're a solo CPA or a small partnership operating in one state and you've already confirmed the correct entity type with your board, Bizee's flat filing fee and first-year included registered agent are a low-cost way to get the paperwork filed. It doesn't verify professional-entity compliance for you, so that confirmation step is on you or your attorney beforehand.

It's less common but not unheard of for a CPA practice to have a partner or key hire based outside the US, particularly in tax practices serving expatriate clients. Doola's EIN process as a third-party designee skips the Social Security number requirement, and the bundled bookkeeping is useful if you'd rather not manage your own books while you're managing everyone else's.

Forming the entity is only the first step; most states also require registering the firm itself with the board of accountancy, separate from each individual CPA's license, and many require the firm to enroll in a peer review program on a recurring cycle if it performs attest services. Build these into your launch timeline, since a client who needs audited financials won't wait while you catch up on registration.

Build these steps into your launch timeline, in order:

1. Confirm with your state board of accountancy whether you need a PLLC, a professional corporation or a standard LLC, and what ownership rules apply.
2. File the entity and get your EIN, using whichever formation platform fits your situation.
3. Register the firm itself with the board of accountancy, separate from each individual CPA's license.
4. Enroll in a peer review program on the required cycle if the firm performs attest services.
5. Put errors and omissions coverage in place, ideally from a carrier that specializes in accountant's professional liability.

Errors and omissions coverage is close to essential for a CPA firm, given that a missed deduction, a misapplied rule, or a late filing can cause a client real financial harm that a general liability policy won't touch. Carriers that specialize in accountant's professional liability understand the specific risks of tax and attest work better than a generic small-business policy does.

Accountants and auditors earn a median annual wage of $83,680 nationally, with the top quarter earning above $109,810¹. If you're setting hourly or engagement-based rates for your own practice, that range is a useful floor: pricing your time below what a mid-career staff accountant earns on salary, once your overhead and non-billable hours are accounted for, usually isn't sustainable.

Say a CPA firm based in one state starts taking on remote clients who live in several others. Most states have rules about who can legally prepare returns or sign off on filings for a resident of that state, sometimes requiring the preparer to be licensed there or working under an exception for out-of-state practice. This is separate from your entity's home-state registration, and it's easy to miss until a client's home state questions who prepared their return. Check your state board's reciprocity rules, and your client's home state rules, before accepting a meaningful volume of out-of-state work, rather than assuming a CPA license is automatically portable everywhere.

State filing fees for the underlying entity average $132 nationally², a small piece of the total cost of getting properly licensed and registered. If you're a domestic, single-state practice that's already confirmed its entity type with the board, Bizee gets you filed cheaply. If you have an international partner or want bookkeeping bundled in, Doola is the better starting point. Whichever platform you choose for the filing, keep your board registration and peer review status documented somewhere you can produce quickly if a client or a bank asks.