Schmidt & Associates

What Schmidt & Associates does

Schmidt & Associates is a privately held, family-owned tax consulting firm headquartered in Santa Ana, California, specializing in fiduciary taxation and trust and estate accounting alongside individual income tax preparation. Founded in 1981 by Del C Schmidt, EA, the firm has operated continuously for over 40 years and is currently in its third generation of family leadership, with founder Del Schmidt's granddaughters Debbie Schmidt Moore and Kathryn Harrington serving as Enrolled Agents alongside aunt Kathy Rossow. The practice is staffed by five individuals: four federally-credentialed Enrolled Agents (EAs) authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS at all administrative levels, plus an Office Administrator.

The firm's service offering is organized around two client segments. Individual clients receive personal income tax preparation ranging from straightforward to complex returns, specialized ministerial tax filings (housing allowances, dual-status situations), and federal estate (Form 706) and gift (Form 709) tax return preparation. Fiduciary clients — including trustees, executors, conservators, and guardians — receive fiduciary income tax returns for estates and trusts, trust accountings compliant with California Probate Code, reconstructive accountings for litigation, conservatorship and guardianship accountings, and split-of-asset calculations. The firm explicitly does not operate a technology product or platform; service delivery is conducted by credentialed practitioners using standard tax preparation and accounting software.

Commercially, Schmidt & Associates operates on a fee-for-service professional services model with custom engagement-based pricing determined by complexity and scope. The go-to-market motion is sales-led and relationship-driven, relying on direct client engagement, professional referrals, and membership-driven networks (National Association of Enrolled Agents, California Society of Enrolled Agents Orange County Chapter). Marketing is minimal, consisting of the firm's website with service descriptions, downloadable PDF organizers, and links to IRS and California FTB resources. The firm serves clients primarily in California with stated capability to support clients in other US states, and relocated to a new Santa Ana office in December 2025.

Name

Schmidt & Associates

Legal name

Schmidt & Associates

Website

https://schmidt-tax.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Schmidt & Associates is a privately held, family-owned tax consulting firm in Santa Ana, California, founded in 1981. Its four Enrolled Agents serve individual taxpayers and fiduciary clients with income tax preparation, estate and gift tax returns, and trust and conservatorship accountings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tax Preparation & Fiduciary Services

NAICS

Other Accounting Services (541219), Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Trust & Estate Tax Planning & Compliance (FSAEAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Personal Trust & Fiduciary Administration (FSAEAKAA), Family Office Advisory (Single/Multi-Family) (FSAEAAAI)

Keywords

• Tax preparation services
• Fiduciary tax returns
• Estate tax returns
• Trust accountings
• Enrolled agent services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tustin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Tax Services: Fee-for-service professional services revenue from preparing individual income tax returns, fiduciary income tax returns, federal estate and gift tax returns, and providing fiduciary accounting services. Services are billed based on complexity and scope of engagement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Schmidt & Associates is a family-owned tax consulting firm that prepares individual, fiduciary, and trust income tax returns, files federal estate and gift tax returns (Forms 706 and 709), and produces trust, conservatorship, guardianship, and reconstructive accountings for individuals and non-professional fiduciaries. The firm also provides Enrolled Agent representation services before the IRS for clients facing notices, audits, and collection matters.

Product overview

Schmidt & Associates is a professional tax, trust, and estate consulting firm offering a unified suite of advisory services rather than a software product. The core offerings include individual and fiduciary income tax preparation services, specialized ministerial tax filings, federal estate and gift tax return preparation, and comprehensive trust accounting services. These services are delivered by a team of Enrolled Agents authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS. The firm serves both individual clients and fiduciary clients (estates, trusts, conservatorships) with no technology platform or software product component.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Individual Income Tax Returns
• Ministers Income Tax Returns
• Fiduciary Income Tax Returns
• Federal Estate Tax Returns (Form 706)
• Federal Gift Tax Returns (Form 709)
• Trust Accountings
• Reconstructive Accountings
• Conservatorship & Guardianship Accountings
• Split of Assets
• Enrolled Agent Representation Services

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• Trust & Will: Direct-to-consumer digital estate planning platform offering online wills, trusts, and estate documents. Competes at the consumer end of the trust/estate service spectrum that Schmidt & Associates' individual clients sit within, signaling long-term tech-enabled competition.
• Wealth.com: Tech-enabled platform for estate planning and trust services serving wealth managers, trust companies, and advisors. Represents the technology-driven disruption vector for traditional fiduciary tax and trust accounting services, targeting adjacent workflows to Schmidt & Associates' core offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Andersen: Global tax and advisory firm with a dedicated Private Client Services group focused on trust, estate, and gift tax planning for high-net-worth individuals. Operates in the same fiduciary tax preparation niche but as part of a global platform with far broader service offerings.
• CBIZ: National tax and business advisory firm with personal tax services for individuals, estates, and trusts. Provides comparable tax preparation and planning for the same fiduciary client base, though bundled into a broader outsourced finance and advisory platform.
• Anchin, Block & Anchin: Mid-market New York-based accounting firm with a Private Client practice serving high-net-worth individuals, trusts, and estates. Offers fiduciary tax, estate planning, and trust accounting services comparable to Schmidt & Associates' fiduciary segment.
• BDO USA: Top-5 US accounting firm with dedicated Private Client Services and Trusts & Estates practice serving individuals, fiduciaries, and family offices. Comparable in delivering fiduciary tax, estate tax, and trust accounting services, though at vastly greater scale with thousands of practitioners vs Schmidt & Associates' team of 4.
• H&R Block: Largest US consumer tax preparation company, serving millions of individual taxpayers annually. While not a fiduciary specialist, H&R Block competes in Schmidt & Associates' individual income tax segment and represents the scale incumbent in personal tax services.
• Marcum LLP: Major US accounting and advisory firm with a Private Client group that prepares fiduciary income tax returns, estate tax returns, and trust accountings for trustees and executors. Competes in the same fiduciary tax space with significantly larger resources.
• Eide Bailly: Top-30 US accounting firm offering personal tax, trust and estate tax preparation, and fiduciary accounting services. Comparable mid-market peer serving individuals, estates, and trusts with a regional delivery model similar in structure to Schmidt & Associates but at much greater scale.

Regional players

• Seiler LLP: California-based accounting and advisory firm serving individuals, families, and businesses with tax preparation, trust and estate services, and wealth advisory. Most directly comparable regional peer to Schmidt & Associates given California presence and similar fiduciary client focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Schmidt & Associates