Retirement is supposed to feel lighter. But for a lot of people, taxes are the part that still feels… heavy.
Maybe you’ve got Social Security, a pension, IRA withdrawals, brokerage income, and a couple non-traditional tax items (selling a home, a big RMD year, a Roth conversion) that suddenly make your tax return feel difficult and another set of eyes would be a good thing.
Maybe you’re just retiring and moving to The Villages in Florida and know a knowledgeable expert in tax preparation could save you a lot of future money.
Finding a true tax expert that focuses on retirees is difficult. That’s the gap Blue Heron CPAs exists to fill: we help Florida retirees file taxes accurately, educate retirees on their tax obligations, and work to save retirees on their lifetime tax bill.
What is Blue Heron CPAs?
Blue Heron CPAs is a licensed CPA firm primarily serving clients in The Villages and across Central Florida with tax preparation, tax planning, and related guidance. Our theme is simple: build confidence, peace, and reassurance—and “go beyond the numbers” by turning tax work into clear decisions, not confusing paperwork.
We’re not trying to be everything to everyone. For retirees, that means we focus on the things that actually move the needle in retirement:
- Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
- Social Security taxation
- Roth conversions
- Medicare surcharges (IRMAA)
- Investment income and capital gains
Our average retiree client
A “typical” retiree client for us looks like this:
- Understands paying the least amount of tax throughout their entire life is better than chasing immediate tax savings which sets them up for overpaying later in life.
- Lives in Central Florida (often The Villages, Clermont, or the Greater Orlando area)
- Wants a reliable, repeatable annual tax process (not a scramble every spring)
- Has a mix of income sources: Social Security, retirement accounts, and investments
- Cares about keeping Medicare premiums and taxes predictable.
Many retirees we work with also want something that’s hard to find: a CPA who is accessible and who can explain the “why” in plain English, then help turn that into an action plan.
How our retiree tax process works (simple, structured, and built to reduce stress)
We have heavily invested in technology to make the process simpler for our clients and be as accessible as possible. You’ll find us available often the very next day for time sensitive questions if needed. If you’re ever stressed in the process, please schedule a meeting or call us and we will help solve the problem with you. Even during tax season.
The following is what you can expect from our tax process, all of which can be done from the comfort of your home.
1) Start with a Discovery Call
The goal here is to understand your situation and what “success” looks like for you. Some retirees want proactive planning (Roth conversions, IRMAA management, RMD timing). Others mainly want a clean, accurate return with fewer loose ends. This 30 minute call allows both of us to evaluate the relationship and understand how we both intend to operate.
You can schedule a meeting directly through our site.
2) Secure portal setup and document flow
After agreement that it is a good fit, we will send an engagement letter and our questionnaire through our online portal. The portal is where the majority of our communications flow through and has been developed to make the tax process less stressful and allow clients to respond at their own pace.
We have invested in and use a secure client portal (TaxDome) so you can upload documents, answer questions, sign your return, and keep everything in one consolidated space that is easy to access.
3) Tax preparation: accurate filing + clean communication
Once we have everything to prepare the return, we start preparation of the return while asking targeted follow-up questions to anything uncertain. The goal is not just “get it done,” but get it done accurately, and find opportunity to save you on tax. The tax preparation step typically takes two weeks unless complications exist.
4) Client Review
Once the return is prepared, we will ask you to review and approve the return in our portal prior to signatures.
It is our preference for you to review and understand your return. We inform our clients that they are ultimately responsible for the tax return as filed no matter who files it. If you would like to setup a meeting to walk through the return and understand each line, we are available to help you understand.
5) Signature and e-filing of tax return
Signatures can be provided through the portal. Once signed, Blue Heron CPAs will e-file the tax return for prompt processing.
6) Planning layer
In our questionnaire, we will ask if you’re looking for tax planning.
For many retirees, the biggest wins come from multi-year thinking around Medicare premiums (IRMAA), Roth conversions, and the timing of withdrawals. This planning is usually initiated throughout the last three quarters of the year.
If you want a preview of the kind of planning we do, our retirement-focused tax planning service page outlines it well.
If IRMAA is on your radar (or you’ve been surprised by Medicare premium increases before), we also have a plain-language breakdown in our Insights library here.
7) Wrap-up: clarity for the next decision
At the end of the process, you should feel like you can answer:
- What happened on my return?
- What should I watch this year?
- What decisions could change next year’s taxes (or Medicare premiums)?
That’s what “peace and reassurance” actually looks like in real life when it comes to taxes.
Why we exist as a tax firm
A lot of firms treat a tax return like a transaction: drop off paperwork, get a PDF back, next.
We don’t. We understand that tax returns are compliance while tax planning is there for saving money. If you don't focus on both, you leave a lot of money on the table going to the IRS at the taxpayer's expense.
Blue Heron CPAs exists because we believe tax preparation should reduce anxiety through confidence and education—and because retirees deserve advice that respects the real goal: Paying the least amount of taxes over your lifetime.
Our purpose is embedded right on our site:
- Make the tax process less stressful and less complicated
- Go beyond the numbers with practical guidance and clear decisions
If you’re the kind of retiree who wants to understand what’s happening (and why), you’ll fit right in.
Want to see if we’re a fit?
The simplest next step is a Discovery Call—no pressure, just clarity on whether we can help and what the right scope looks like.