Cummings Tax & Financial

What Cummings Tax & Financial does

Cummings Tax & Financial is a privately held, family-owned tax preparation and financial services firm based in Burlington, Iowa. Founded in 1945 by Hugh Cummings and now led by his grandson David Hazell, the firm operates from a single physical office at 1514 Mount Pleasant Street and serves clients across 23 U.S. states, with a primary concentration in Iowa and the surrounding region. The company delivers federal and state tax preparation for individuals, small businesses, farms, partnerships, corporations, and non-profits, alongside personalized tax planning services and a specialized cryptocurrency tax reporting offering.

The underlying technology is limited to standard commercial tax preparation software; the firm does not operate a proprietary software platform, mobile application, or API. Supporting tools consist of PDF printable worksheets (personal checklist, small business checklist, expense deductions worksheet) hosted as static resources on its website. No mobile app exists, no integrations or third-party platform partnerships are documented, and there are no disclosed AI/ML capabilities.

The revenue model is purely transactional professional services billed on a pay-as-you-go basis at the unit level. Personal tax returns are priced starting at $100, well below the 2023 NATP national average of $248, with the option for customers to pay directly out of their tax refund. Distribution is exclusively direct-to-consumer through walk-in office visits and phone scheduling; the only marketing channel identified is a Facebook page, with no digital advertising, content marketing, or referral program in evidence. Customer segments are horizontally distributed across individual taxpayers (primary), small businesses and farms, non-profits, and cryptocurrency investors, with no enterprise anchor clients.

Name

Cummings Tax & Financial

Legal name

Cummings Tax and Financial

Website

https://cummingstaxandfinancial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Cummings Tax & Financial is a family-owned tax preparation and financial planning firm in Burlington, Iowa, founded in 1945, serving individual taxpayers, small businesses, farms, and non-profits across 23 U.S. states with a single-office direct-service model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tax Preparation Services

NAICS

Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (5412), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (54121)

akta.pro primary industry

Tax Planning & Personal Tax Optimization Tools (FSAGADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Tax-Aware Investment Planning (FSAEAAAE)

Keywords

• Tax preparation services
• Personal tax filing
• Small business tax services
• Tax planning services
• Cryptocurrency tax reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

Burlington

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

Revenue model

1. Tax Preparation Services: One-time fee for tax return preparation services. Personal tax returns start at $100. Customers can pay for services out of their tax refund. No recurring subscription model; each tax season is a separate transaction.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Cummings Tax & Financial is a Burlington, Iowa-based tax preparation firm providing federal and state tax preparation for individuals, small businesses, farms, partnerships, corporations, and non-profits. The firm also offers personalized tax planning for life events (retirement, college, marriage, new business, inheritance, medical issues) and specialized cryptocurrency tax reporting that integrates virtual asset management into broader financial planning.

Product overview

Cummings Tax & Financial is a single-location tax preparation and financial planning firm offering a unified set of services centered around tax preparation and planning. The core offerings include Federal & State Tax Preparation for personal, small businesses, farms, partnerships, corporations, and non-profits (70+ years of experience), Personalized Tax Planning for individual situations, and specialized Cryptocurrency Asset Management for virtual currency traders. Supporting these services are Tax Preparation Worksheets—PDF tools including Personal and Small Business Tax Preparation Checklists and Expense Deductions Worksheets. The company does not operate a software platform with modular architecture; rather, it provides integrated professional services from its Burlington, Iowa location.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• KPMG US: Big Four professional services firm with a substantial U.S. personal and corporate tax practice. Comparable only at the broadest taxonomy level; represents the upper-bound scale and capability benchmark for tax service delivery rather than a direct competitor for Cummings' customer base.
• Ernst & Young (EY) Tax Services: Big Four firm with extensive personal, corporate, and international tax advisory capabilities. Adjacent comparable as a broader tax services incumbent; not a direct competitor but illustrates the upper end of the tax services spectrum relative to local preparers.
• BDO USA: Top-tier global accounting and tax advisory firm serving mid-market and larger businesses. Adjacent comparable on tax preparation and planning capabilities but serves enterprise customers; useful benchmark for measuring scope and sophistication gaps relative to a local firm.
• Ryan, LLC: Large specialty tax services firm focused on tax credits, incentives, and complex compliance for mid-market and enterprise clients. Tangentially comparable on the tax services core but operates at a different scale and complexity tier than a local individual/small-business preparer.

Direct peers

• Liberty Tax Service: U.S. tax preparation franchise known for seasonal walk-in offices targeting individual taxpayers, particularly in smaller markets. Comparable as a directly competing storefront tax preparation model, though Liberty operates through a franchise network rather than an independent family firm.
• Jackson Hewitt Tax Service: National tax preparation franchise with seasonal storefront locations serving individual and small business filers. Comparable as a high-volume retail tax preparation peer competing for the same refund-driven, price-conscious customer segment that Cummings addresses.
• Padgett Business Services: North American franchise network providing accounting, tax preparation, and payroll services primarily to small businesses. Closely comparable on customer profile (small business and individual filers), service mix (tax, planning, compliance), and local-presence distribution model.
• 1-800Accountant: Virtual accounting and tax preparation firm serving small businesses and individuals nationwide through phone- and cloud-based delivery. Comparable in service offering (tax preparation, planning, entity filings) and customer segment, but substitutes digital delivery for the physical office model Cummings relies on.
• H&R Block: Largest U.S. retail tax preparation chain offering in-person and online federal/state tax filing for individuals and small businesses. Directly comparable as a consumer-facing tax preparation service, though at vastly larger scale and with a retail-franchise model versus Cummings' single-office family practice.

Emerging players

• Intuit TurboTax: Dominant DIY tax preparation software that competes primarily on convenience and price for straightforward returns. A partial substitute rather than a true like-for-like peer, but a critical competitive force compressing the lower end of Cummings' addressable market and shaping customer expectations on digital experience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cummingstaxandfinancial

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Cummings Tax & Financial