Industry
Built for Indiana manufacturers.
Tax, accounting, and advisory for Northeast Indiana manufacturers — section 179, bonus depreciation, R&D credit, job costing, and the year-round planning that comes with capital-intensive operations.
Northeast Indiana manufacturing is an $8B economic engine — toolmakers, fabricators, GM, Fort Wayne Metals, Shambaugh, and a dense supply chain. We work with manufacturers across the size spectrum, from 5-person shops to multi-plant operations.
Manufacturing tax has specifics: depreciation strategy, R&D credits for process improvements, inventory methods (FIFO/LIFO/specific-ID), and the bonus-depreciation phase-down currently in motion. These move money — they should be modeled, not left to default.
Why does manufacturing tax planning matter more than service-business planning?
Manufacturers buy equipment, build inventory, hire skilled labor, and run on tighter margins than most service businesses. Each of those has tax levers — section 179 and bonus depreciation on equipment, R&D credit for process work, inventory method choices, Indiana's manufacturing exemption from sales tax — and the levers compound. A manufacturer without a year-round CPA is leaving money in tax that could be in retained earnings.
What's the R&D credit and does my Indiana manufacturer qualify?
The federal R&D credit (and Indiana's state version) rewards spending on qualified research and experimentation — which manufacturers do constantly: new tooling, process improvements, custom fixtures, prototype development. Many manufacturers underclaim it.
Qualification requires meeting four tests (technological uncertainty, process of experimentation, qualified research, qualified expense). We model whether the credit is worth pursuing before incurring documentation overhead — for most manufacturers above $1M in qualified spend, it is.
How is the bonus-depreciation phase-down affecting Indiana manufacturers?
Bonus depreciation dropped to 80% in 2023, 60% in 2024, 40% in 2025, and is set to be 20% in 2026 before sunsetting (absent legislative change). Indiana doesn't conform — there's a state add-back, so the Indiana benefit is different than federal. Timing of major equipment purchases now matters more, and we model it explicitly.
Common questions
Manufacturing — questions we get
Do you handle inventory accounting?
What about Indiana's manufacturing sales tax exemption?
Do you do job costing for custom manufacturers?
Can you help with Indiana economic development tax credits?
How do you handle workers' comp for manufacturers?
Do you offer fractional CFO for manufacturers?
Most relevant services
Where to start
Strategic
Strategic Tax Planning
We model the year before it ends. Estimated payments, retirement contributions, entity-level moves, and family income shifting.
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Advisory
Fractional CFO
A CFO for businesses that don't need one full-time. Cash-flow models, owner-comp planning, scenario forecasts, monthly read-outs.
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Foundational
Monthly Bookkeeping
Clean books, on time, every month. Reconciled bank and credit accounts, categorized transactions, financials you can actually read.
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Annual
Business Tax Prep
Federal and Indiana returns for S-corps, partnerships, LLCs, and schedule-C filers — modeled before they're filed.
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Next step
Ready to keep more of what you earn?
Talk to a CPA who actually picks up. Quick scoping call, no pressure — we'll tell you straight if we're the right fit.