Highbridge StudiesFor accountants
Cost segregation for CPAs and their clients
Highbridge Studies treats cost segregation for CPAs as a matter of delivering something you can rely on and work with. This page sets out what arrives, how it is supported, and what is left to you.
What you receive
A fixed-asset schedule, delivered as a spreadsheet in the layout you work in, whether that is an import file for your depreciation software or your own workpaper. Each line gives the description, cost, placed-in-service date and class of the asset, with the recovery period, method and convention as the preparer understands them. New York and New Jersey do not follow the federal rules in every respect, so federal and state treatment are shown in separate columns instead of being left for you to unwind.
Behind each line is a citation and, where the component was observed, a photograph or a time reference in the site recording. The full report accompanies the schedule, including the reconciliation of classified costs to the client’s total basis. The schedule reflects the preparer’s reading of the authorities. The positions taken on the return are yours and your client’s, and items that could reasonably be classified either way are flagged so that you can decide them.
During filing season
Questions go to the preparer directly, by phone or by email, and they are answered by the preparer who did the work. How a study is prepared describes each step behind the schedule.
Which clients
The studies the firm prepares are for clients who have recently built, bought or substantially renovated a building held for rental or business use: apartment and mixed-use buildings, retail, office and medical space, hotels, warehouses and industrial property. The page on property types goes through each. If you are unsure whether a property justifies the work, the preparer will look at the basic facts informally and tell you what the documentation is likely to support.
What Highbridge Studies does not do
It does not give tax advice, prepare or file returns, or project the tax effect of a study for a client. It does not represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service or any state taxing authority. Its engagement is limited to preparing the study and explaining it. An estimate of what a study is worth to a particular client is better made by the accountant who knows that client’s whole position.
Referrals
Accountants who would like to refer a client, or to talk through a particular building before raising it with one, can write to [email protected] or call (646) 974-4208. The services page describes the kinds of buildings and situations the firm takes on.