What Hm Partners does

HM Partners Inc. is a privately held, women-owned tax and bookkeeping firm headquartered in a historic Victorian building in downtown Sacramento, California. Founded in 2017 by Elizabeth Williams and Julie Morandi, both Enrolled Agents with 25-30+ years of financial services experience, the firm delivers a unified professional services offering spanning individual and business tax preparation, ongoing bookkeeping, payroll administration, tax planning consultations, IRS audit representation, and IRS letter response services. The client base consists primarily of individuals, sole proprietors, and small businesses (including S corporations and partnerships) in Sacramento and across California, with multi-state filings handled for clients with out-of-state income.

The firm generates revenue through four primary streams: transactional tax preparation fees, recurring bookkeeping and payroll service fees, and hourly tax and business consultation fees. Pricing is quote-based per engagement rather than on published rate cards, with payments accepted online via PayPal, credit card, or debit card, or by phone. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer, relying on referrals, Yelp and Google reviews, and the firm website; no resellers, distributors, or third-party platforms are used. Service delivery is hybrid: in-person at the downtown Sacramento office with extended evening/weekend hours during tax season, or fully remote via a secure digital document portal, a model adopted during COVID-19 that many clients continue to prefer.

Operations are run by a small credentialed team (1-10 employees), including co-founders Williams and Morandi and tax and bookkeeping professional Susanna Hu, who joined in 2022 to bolster bookkeeping and payroll capacity. The firm holds no external funding, has no parent company, and has not pursued acquisitions or geographic expansion beyond a single Sacramento location.

Name

Hm Partners

Legal name

HM Partners Inc.

Website

https://hmpartnerssac.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

HM Partners Inc. is a Sacramento-based, women-owned tax and bookkeeping firm founded in 2017, serving individuals, sole proprietors, and small businesses across California with tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, and tax planning services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Tax Preparation Services: The firm charges fees for tax return preparation services for individuals (personal tax returns, out-of-state returns, prior-year returns, rental properties) and businesses (sole proprietorships, S corporation returns, partnership returns, estate and trust tax returns). Revenue is generated on a per-service, transaction basis.
2. Bookkeeping Services: Ongoing bookkeeping services for business clients, providing personalized recordkeeping and financial guidance. This represents recurring service revenue.
3. Payroll Services: Payroll processing services for small business clients.
4. Tax and Business Consultations: Hourly consultations for tax planning, IRS letter responses, tax audit representation, and general business advice. Clients seek year-round advice for life changes with financial implications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HM Partners Inc. is a Sacramento-based tax and bookkeeping firm that prepares individual and business federal and state tax returns (personal, out-of-state, prior-year, rental properties, sole proprietorships, S corporations, partnerships, estates and trusts) and provides ongoing bookkeeping, payroll processing, 1099 preparation, tax audit representation, IRS letter response, and year-round tax and business consultation services to individuals and small businesses.

Product overview

HM Partners Inc. is a tax and bookkeeping firm offering a unified suite of professional services rather than a software product. The core offering combines tax preparation services for individuals (Personal Tax Returns, Out-of-State Tax Returns, Prior-Year Tax Returns, Rental Properties) and businesses (Sole Proprietorships, S Corporation Tax Returns, Partnership Tax Returns, Estate & Trust Tax Returns), supported by Bookkeeping Services and Payroll Services. All clients receive comprehensive year-round service including form preparation, electronic filing, extensions, amendments, tax audit representation, IRS letter responses, and tax planning assistance. The firm serves individuals and small businesses; it does not offer C Corporation, Nonprofit, or International Tax Return services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Personal Tax Returns Preparation and filing of individual federal and state personal income tax returns for individual taxpayers, covering W-2 and 1099 income, itemized or standard deductions, and tax credits.
• Out-of-State Tax Returns Preparation of personal tax returns for individuals with income or residency in multiple states, handling multi-state filings and state-specific requirements.
• Prior-Year Tax Returns Filing of amended or late personal and business tax returns for previous tax years, including corrections from prior preparers and recovery of missed refunds.
• Rental Properties Tax Services Tax preparation for individual clients with rental income, including Schedule E preparation, depreciation calculations, and passive activity loss rules.
• Sole Proprietorship Tax Returns Business tax preparation for self-employed individuals and sole proprietors, including Schedule C preparation and self-employment tax calculations.
• S Corporation Tax Returns Preparation of Form 1120-S for S corporations, including shareholder basis tracking and pass-through income and loss reporting.
• Partnership Tax Returns Preparation of Form 1065 for partnerships, including Schedule K-1 distributions to partners and allocation of income and deductions.
• Estate & Trust Tax Returns Tax preparation for estates, trusts, and beneficiaries, including fiduciary tax returns and required distributions reporting.
• Bookkeeping Services Ongoing recordkeeping and financial management for small business clients, including transaction categorization, financial statement preparation, and personalized recordkeeping systems.
• Payroll Services Payroll processing and administration for small business clients, including paycheck calculations, tax withholding, and payroll tax filings.
• 1099 Preparation & Filing Preparation and electronic filing of Form 1099 for businesses paying contractors, freelancers, and vendors $600 or more annually.
• Tax & Business Consultations Year-round tax planning advice and business consulting, including guidance on business structure decisions, career changes, major life events, and strategic tax planning; billed hourly.
• Tax Audit Representation IRS and state tax audit representation services, including correspondence handling and defense of tax positions during examinations.
• IRS Letter Response Services Response and resolution services for IRS notices and letters, addressing notices, penalties, and requests for documentation.
• Electronic Filing Services Electronic filing of tax returns with the IRS and state tax authorities, including extensions and amended returns.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multi-state tax returns processed within 36 hours for a client who had given up on recovering refunds
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• H&R Block: H&R Block is the largest U.S. retail tax preparation chain offering individual and small-business tax services in person, online, and via Block Advisors for SMBs. It competes with HM Partners on the same core services (personal returns, small-business returns, bookkeeping) but at vastly greater scale and a multi-channel footprint.
• Liberty Tax Service: Liberty Tax operates a franchise-based national network providing individual and small-business tax preparation. Comparable to HM Partners as a similarly positioned multi-office tax preparer targeting consumer and small-business clients.
• Jackson Hewitt Tax Service: Jackson Hewitt is a national tax-preparation franchise serving individual and small-business clients, often through seasonal retail offices and virtual offerings. It overlaps directly with HM Partners on individual returns, multi-state filings, and small-business services across similar price-conscious segments.
• Intuit TurboTax Live / Intuit ProConnect: Intuit's TurboTax Live connects individual taxpayers with credentialed preparers remotely, and ProConnect / QuickBooks Live addresses SMB tax and bookkeeping. Intuit is both a substitute and a competitive threat to HM Partners, combining DIY software with on-demand expert assistance across the same service lines.

Direct peers

• 1-800Accountant: 1-800Accountant is a virtual accounting and tax services firm serving SMBs and individuals remotely, with on-demand access to CPAs and EAs. It directly mirrors HM Partners' combination of tax, bookkeeping, and advisory services delivered via phone, chat, and secure portal, regardless of geography.
• Bench: Bench provides outsourced bookkeeping for small businesses, pairing a software platform with dedicated bookkeepers and tax preparation support. It competes head-on with HM Partners' bookkeeping and SMB tax services, though Bench's primary delivery is software-first versus HM Partners' relationship-first model.
• Padgett Business Services: Padgett Business Services is a franchise network of small-business accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, and tax preparation practices serving SMB clients locally. It is one of the closest peer models to HM Partners in terms of service mix and target customer — local small businesses needing accounting, tax, and payroll support.
• Pilot: Pilot is a tech-enabled bookkeeping, accounting, and CFO services firm focused on startups and small businesses, delivering services primarily through a software platform plus remote bookkeepers. It is a direct peer to HM Partners' recurring bookkeeping, payroll, and small-business tax offerings, with a much heavier technology layer.
• Greenback Tax Services: Greenback Tax Services specializes in U.S. tax preparation for U.S. citizens living abroad and non-resident aliens — a niche that overlaps with HM Partners' out-of-state and multi-state practice. It illustrates the type of specialized tax boutique that competes for the same higher-complexity individual taxpayer segments.

Regional players

• SuretyBonds.com / Year-End Tax & Accounting (representative mid-market CPA firm comparator): BDO USA and similar mid-tier CPA firms serve Sacramento-area small businesses with full-suite tax, audit, and advisory services. They represent the larger, broader CPA competitor that small firms like HM Partners lose larger or more complex engagements to, and that growing client accounts migrate toward over time.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/HMPartnersSac
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hm-partnerssac

Compliance2 records

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 Hm Partners