How to Name Your Tax Office

Selecting the name of your new tax office can seem a little overwhelming but it does’t need to be so complicated. Many, if not most, franchises require you to use that name. After all, you are essentially buying the goodwill that accompanies that tax service name.  However, if you are a Federal Direct partner or another tax professional starting your business, you get to name your business whatever you want and work on building your own goodwill. 

There are a few general categories of business name styles and of those, there is one that generally revolves around refund anticipation or implied guarantees.  For example, “Max Tax Refunds” or “Fast Tax Service” would fall into those categories, indicating the size of the refunds, being maximum, or indicating the time frame around which you will receive your refund. 

Another category of tax business names would be the personal business names. Naming your business or consulting company after yourself clearly indicates who is responsible for this business and what you are offering. “Smith’s Tax Service” or “Williamson Tax & Accounting” are good examples of tax business names in this category. If you offer additional services, you might add some variation such as “River’s Tax Services & Representation.”

One category that I see frequently is a tax business owner who names the business using their initials. This method makes one clear indication of their offering.  “JB Tax Services” would be an example this naming style. While we may not know who “JB” is, we can presume to guess that they offer tax services. 

Using the geographic region as part of the name is another category of tax names.  “Tornado Alley Tax Services” or “Emerald Shore Tax Representation” indicate possible area of service in addition to the services offered.  Another example using a more specific region would be, “Palm Springs Tax & Accounting” or “Indy Tax Prep & Rep.” 

Using an adjective when naming your tax business is something that we see frequently, such as “Professional Tax Services” or ‘Friendly Tax Services.”

Generally speaking, we encourage partners to name their business something that they personally like.  If you’re having a hard time coming up with a name, try to do some brainstorming. Come up with as many possible tax business names as you can think of in an hour, and start to whittle it down from that. Keep whittling until you’re down to only a handful, and then sleep on it. After a few days of thought, you may start to prefer one over the others. 

If you are a Federal Direct partner, you are welcome to use the Federal Direct Tax Services name for as long as you’re a partner, but if you’d like additional help on selecting a tax business name, give us a call. If you are not a Federal Direct partner yet, but would like more information on the partnership opportunities that Federal Direct provides, give us a call at 866-357-2052.