Bookkeeping, Tax Preparation Support and Virtual CFO Services for Washington DC Businesses

DC taxes business income through a franchise tax. The Office of Tax and Revenue lists the rate at 8.25 percent for tax year 2025, the same for corporations and for unincorporated businesses. Corporations file Form D-20. Unincorporated businesses, a category that includes LLCs and partnerships, file Form D-30 and may deduct an owner salary allowance of up to 30 percent of net income and a $5,000 exemption from net income. The minimum tax is $250 when DC gross receipts are $1 million or less and $1,000 above that.

Two rules surprise new owners. The District does not recognize S corporation status: the 2025 D-20 booklet says that for DC purposes an S corporation is a C corporation and must file the D-20 in full. And an unincorporated business doesn't have to file the D-30 when more than 80 percent of its gross income comes from personal services the owners perform themselves and capital isn't a material income-producing factor. A two-partner consultancy can sit on either side of that line, so the ledger has to show where revenue came from and what capital the business uses.

Calendar-year returns on both forms are due April 15. The extension forms are FR-120 for corporations and FR-130 for unincorporated businesses, and neither one extends the payment date. A business with $5 million or more in annual DC gross receipts also files the Sports Facilities Fee on Form FR-1500, electronically.

DC's general sales tax rate is 6 percent, and the Office of Tax and Revenue says the increase to 7 percent has been postponed, so 6 percent holds through September 30, 2027. Food and drink for immediate consumption and on-premises alcohol run 10 percent, hotel rooms 15.95 percent and parking 18 percent. Returns and payments are due the 20th of the month after each monthly, quarterly or annual period, which puts the annual due date on October 20. A restaurant with a bar and a catering line collects at more than one rate in the same month, so the ledger needs a tax account for each.

Payroll adds two DC items. Employers pay the Paid Family Leave tax at 0.75 percent of wages for 2026, filed with the Office of Paid Family Leave through its Employer Self-Service Portal, and the third quarter is due October 31. DC withholding follows where the employee lives: someone who lives in Maryland or Virginia gives the employer Form D-4A, the Certificate of Non-residence. Withholding returns on Form FR-900Q are filed electronically on MyTax.DC.gov by the last day of the month after each quarter.

A DC for-profit entity files a biennial report with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, due April 1 of the year it's required. The fee is $300 for for-profit entities and $80 for nonprofits, and a report filed after April 1 adds a $100 late fee for a for-profit and $50 for a nonprofit. Because it only comes around every other year, it's easy to forget. We put it on the compliance calendar when the entity is set up.

An unincorporated business with $12,000 or less in gross income files the short Form D-30N affidavit instead of a full D-30. Nonprofits and associations keep a separate federal calendar: Form 990 is due the 15th day of the fifth month after year-end, May 15 for a calendar-year organization, and Form 8868 adds an automatic six months.

Federal contractors are common in this metro, and their books answer to a rulebook most small businesses never meet. FAR 31.201-2 puts it on the contractor to keep records, with supporting documentation, showing that costs claimed were incurred, are allocable to the contract and follow the applicable cost principles. In practice the chart of accounts separates direct labor from fringe, overhead and general and administrative pools, and timesheets tie to contract numbers before the first invoice goes out. That's the bookkeeping side. Indirect rate submissions and any government audit stay with the contractor and the firm that signs for them.

Associations and nonprofits need fund accounting, restricted grants tracked by funder, and a Form 990 file that doesn't start from scratch each spring. Law and advocacy practices keep client money apart from operating cash. Restaurant and hotel operators carry the multi-rate sales tax described above. Consultancies and small agencies mostly want one answer first: whether the D-30 applies to them at all.

The Census Bureau's definition of the Washington metro covers the District plus counties and independent cities in Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia. In practice that means Arlington County and Alexandria in Virginia, Fairfax County's Tysons, Reston, McLean and Vienna, Montgomery County's Bethesda, Silver Spring, Rockville and Gaithersburg, and Prince George's County's Hyattsville and College Park. A business based in one of those places can have DC-source income and employees who live in two other jurisdictions.

One chart of accounts doesn't handle that without help. The ledger carries a payroll liability account for each state where withholding is due, a sales tax account for each jurisdiction that taxes your sales, and a note on which return picks up which income. Virginia and Maryland returns follow those states' own rules, which this page doesn't cover; the Baltimore page sets out Maryland's annual report and sales tax basics, and you can ask for the state you need on the first call.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 41,470 jobs for accountants and auditors in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro, with a mean annual wage of $113,640 in its May 2025 estimates. Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks number 18,550 at a mean of $60,030, and financial managers, the controller and finance director level, number 26,430 at a mean of $205,640. Those are salaries only. Payroll tax, benefits, software seats and the weeks spent recruiting come on top.

A Finbryn plan covers the clerk seat, or the gap beside an internal bookkeeper, at the published monthly rates. It doesn't replace someone who sits in your leadership meetings every day. For finance leadership by the month instead of a full-time controller, the virtual CFO service is the alternative.

October 15, 2026 is the extended deadline for federal C corporation and individual returns. October 20 is the annual sales tax due date for DC annual filers, and October 31 is the third-quarter Paid Family Leave payment. January 31, 2027 is the fourth-quarter Paid Family Leave payment, and February 1, 2027 is the due date for Form 1099-NEC, moved from January 31 because that date falls on a Sunday. Federal S corporation and partnership returns are due March 15, 2027. The DC biennial report is due April 1 of each year it's required, and April 15, 2027 brings the DC D-20 and D-30 for tax year 2026 alongside the federal C corporation and individual returns. DC dates come from the Office of Tax and Revenue, the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection and the Office of Paid Family Leave, and federal dates from IRS Publication 509, all checked on October 8, 2026.

There's no Finbryn office in Washington and no on-site bookkeeper. Documents move through a client portal instead of email attachments, and bank and card feeds connect into QuickBooks Online or Xero read-only. A named team handles the monthly close, and every return we prepare support for goes to a credentialed preparer for review and signature. Who that is, and which credentials they hold, is on the about page. Representation before the IRS or the District comes only from a CPA, enrolled agent or attorney, never from Finbryn itself.

Rates are published, not quoted after a sales call. Essentials is $249 a month for businesses with up to $50,000 in monthly expenses, Growth is $549 a month up to $150,000, and multi-entity groups get a Scale quote; the pricing page has the details. On a first call we look at your last D-20 or D-30, the date of your next biennial report, and whether payroll covers people who live outside the District. Book through the contact page. Nearby metros: Baltimore and Philadelphia, or browse every city on the locations hub.