We are a bookkeeper in Melville, NY, working from a staffed office at 68 South Service Road, directly on the Long Island Expressway. Books closed every month, Suffolk sales tax filed at 8.75 percent, and a return built from those books. The location puts us about ten minutes from the Hauppauge Innovation Park and a straight run in either direction along the island.
A staffed office at 68 South Service Road, Suite 100
Books closed monthly, with a fixed delivery date
Suffolk sales tax at 8.75 percent, filed on schedule
The South Service Road office, or the Route 110 corridor.
Overview
We are a bookkeeper in Melville, NY, working from a staffed office at 68 South Service Road, directly on the Long Island Expressway. Books closed every month, Suffolk sales tax filed at 8.75 percent, and a return built from those books. The location puts us about ten minutes from the Hauppauge Innovation Park and a straight run in either direction along the island.
How a month runs with us
Video coming soon
The Suffolk month end
What we need from you at month end, what comes back, and how long it takes. Filmed at the Melville office.
[confirm length once filmed]
Bookkeeping for Melville businesses
Melville is an office and light industrial town on the Route 110 corridor, and our Suffolk office sits on the South Service Road of the expressway in the middle of it. The businesses we pick up here run from professional practices and technology firms to the trades and suppliers that serve the corridor.
What they have in common is that the accounting has to support a decision rather than just satisfy a deadline. That means books closed monthly instead of at year end, margin readable by job or client rather than as one blended percentage, and a set of figures a lender or an acquirer would accept without argument.
We close every month and issue a profit and loss, a balance sheet and a short note on what moved, in the first two weeks of the following month.
Suffolk sales tax at 8.75 percent
Melville charges 8.75 percent: the state's 4 percent, the county's 4.375 percent, and the 0.375 percent MCTD surcharge. The county share rose on 1 March 2025 with the water quality surcharge, which is why Suffolk sits above Nassau.
One exception is worth knowing if it touches your invoices: residential energy stays at the previous 8.625 percent rather than moving to the new rate. If you sell heating oil, propane or residential utility service, that is a different rate on the same invoice run.
The South Service Road office
68 South Service Road, Suite 100, on the Long Island Expressway. It is about ten minutes from the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge, which HIA-LI puts at roughly 1,300 companies, and a straight run east toward Riverhead or west into Nassau.
Most of the work is remote. The office is for the parts where that is the wrong answer: a first meeting, a year of records that needs handing over, or a conversation where everyone should be looking at the same screen.
What this looks like in practice
These are the situations we are typically brought in to fix on Long Island. Details are generalised, and we never publish a client's business.
1
A Route 110 technology consultancy
Melville, Suffolk County
What we found
Revenue recognised when invoices were raised rather than as work was delivered, so a large annual contract landed almost entirely in one month and made the following quarter look like a collapse.
What we did
Moved to recognising the contract across its term, put deferred revenue on the balance sheet, and restated the prior year for comparison.
Where it landed
A revenue line that tracks the work, and a quarterly trend the board could read.
2
A Melville professional practice
Melville, Suffolk County
What we found
Three partners drawing irregular amounts with no distinction between salary, distribution and loan, and a partner basis nobody had tracked since formation.
What we did
Separated the three, ran salary through payroll properly, and rebuilt each partner's basis schedule from the beginning.
Where it landed
Draws that are documented as what they are, and a basis schedule that carries forward.
3
A heating oil supplier serving the corridor
Melville, Suffolk County
What we found
Charging the full 8.75 percent on residential heating oil, which is a rate the county does not apply to residential energy, so customers were overcharged for three quarters.
What we did
Corrected the tax setup to the residential energy rate, quantified the overcollection, and handled the amended filings and customer credits.
Where it landed
Customers credited, filings corrected, and the rate split built into the invoicing so it cannot recur.
What it costs
A flat monthly fee, quoted from your transaction volume, your accounts, and whether you run payroll. You get the number in writing before any work starts. Catch-up work is quoted separately so it does not inflate the ongoing fee.
Basics
$250per month
Solo owners and single-location businesses under about $50k of monthly expenses.
Monthly bank and card reconciliation
Expense categorization with bank rules
Profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow every month
Sales tax return prepared and filed at your county rate
Ro Sokhi is a New York licensed CPA. The person who signs off on your numbers is the person who can tell you what they mean for your tax bill.
Flat monthly fee
You know the number before the month starts. No hourly meter, no surprise invoice for a phone call in March.
On Long Island, not a call center
Staffed offices in Melville and Hicksville. We will come to the shop if the shoebox is easier to hand over than to scan.
Catch-up work is normal here
Most businesses that call us are behind. Some by a quarter, some by three years. That is the job, and it is quoted separately so the monthly fee stays clean.
Our offices
Both offices are staffed. Most work happens electronically wherever you are, and the offices are there for the businesses that would rather hand something over in person.
Suffolk County Office
68 S Service Rd #100 Melville, NY 11747
On the South Service Road off the LIE, serving Suffolk County and eastern Long Island.
Sales tax rates by county.Publication 718: New York State Publication 718 lists the combined rate for every jurisdiction, including Nassau at 8.625 percent and Suffolk at 8.75 percent.
Suffolk's rate change.Sales tax rates bulletin: Suffolk raised its local rate from 4.25 to 4.375 percent effective March 1, 2025, which is why the two counties no longer match.
Clothing under $110.Publication 718-C: Publication 718-C sets out which localities exempt clothing and footwear under $110 and which continue to tax their local portion.
MCTMT employer rates.MCTMT employer rates: The payroll expense threshold and the Zone 2 bracket rates that apply to Nassau and Suffolk employers.
MCTMT if you are self-employed.0.34 percent on Zone 2 self-employment earnings: Long Island is Zone 2, where net earnings from self-employment are taxed at 0.34 percent above a threshold that rises to $150,000 for tax year 2026.
The vendor collection credit.5 percent of tax due, up to $200 a period: Quarterly and annual filers who file on time keep 5 percent of the tax due, up to $200 a period. Monthly filers and PrompTax enrollees are not eligible.
Property tax, full value rates.Overall full-value tax rates by county: New York State's overall full-value tax rates by county: Nassau $36.90 and Suffolk $18.90 per $1,000 for 2021, against $27.70 statewide outside New York City.
Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge.1,300 companies at the Innovation Park: HIA-LI, the park's steward, publishes the 1,300 company count cited in the capital map.
CPA licence verification.NYSED licence register: The New York State Education Department register, where any CPA licence can be checked, including ours.
Every rate on this page links to the New York State authority that publishes it. Figures are current as of the date shown above. They explain how the numbers work and are not tax advice for your situation.
Local resources
Suffolk County Clerk Assumed name (DBA) certificates and business filings, at 310 Center Drive in Riverhead.
HIA-LI The Innovation Park's industry association, ten minutes east of the office.
Every rate on this page links to the New York State authority that publishes it. Figures are current as of the date shown above. They explain how the numbers work and are not tax advice for your situation.
Questions
Is the Melville office a real office?
Yes. 68 South Service Road, Suite 100, staffed, and you can meet us there. It is on the Long Island Expressway, about ten minutes from the Hauppauge Innovation Park.
What is the sales tax rate in Melville?
8.75 percent: 4 percent state, 4.375 percent county, and the 0.375 percent MCTD surcharge. The county share rose on 1 March 2025 with the water quality surcharge. Residential energy is the exception and stays at 8.625 percent.
Do you cover the rest of Suffolk from Melville?
Yes. The office is on the expressway, so Hauppauge, Huntington, Bay Shore and the run east are all straightforward, and most of the work is remote in any case. Nassau is covered from our Hicksville office.
How much does a bookkeeper cost on Long Island?
Our plans start at $250 a month for a solo owner and run to $850 for a multi-entity business, set by your monthly expense volume rather than by the hour. You get the number in writing before any work starts. Independent bookkeepers on Long Island often quote hourly, which looks cheaper until a busy month arrives; a flat fee is a number you can budget.
My books are two years behind. Is that a problem?
It is the most common reason people call. We work backwards from the last filed return, rebuild the periods in between, and reconcile to the bank rather than to whatever the prior file says. You get a clean starting balance and a written list of what changed. Catch-up is quoted as a one-time project, usually one to two months of the recurring fee.
Do you file sales tax returns?
Yes, and on Long Island that matters more than most places. Nassau charges 8.625 percent and Suffolk charges 8.75 percent, so a business selling in both counties collects at two rates and has to report them separately. We register you if you are not registered, review what you are collecting, and file on whatever schedule the state has put you on.
Are you a CPA firm?
Ro Sokhi is individually licensed as a CPA in New York and leads the work. The operating entity is a business corporation and is not registered with NYSED as a public accounting firm, so we do not perform audits, reviews, or compilations. If your bank or a buyer needs assurance work we will tell you plainly and point you to a registered firm.
What is the difference between a bookkeeper and a CPA?
A bookkeeper records what happened. A CPA is licensed, can represent you before the IRS, and can tell you what the numbers mean for your tax position and your decisions. Most small businesses are sold one or the other. Here the bookkeeping is done to a standard a CPA is willing to sign off on, and the same person handles the return.
Do you work with QuickBooks, or do I have to switch?
QuickBooks Online for most clients, and Xero where a business is already on it. We do not force a migration for its own sake. If you are on spreadsheets, a shoebox, or a system your last bookkeeper set up badly, that is a normal starting point and we will move you when moving is worth it.
How long does it take to get started?
A first call takes about twenty minutes and a quote follows the same day. Once you accept, we need read-only access to your bank and card feeds and your last filed return. Most businesses are fully onboarded inside two weeks; a business needing catch-up work takes longer, and we tell you how much longer before you commit.
Do we have to meet in person?
Only if you want to. Most clients send documents electronically and talk to us on a call. The Melville and Hicksville offices are there for the businesses that would rather hand over a box of receipts than scan them, and for anyone who wants to meet the person doing the work before handing over the books.
Can you handle payroll as well as the books?
Yes. We process payroll, file the NYS-45, and track the MCTMT, which applies here because Nassau and Suffolk are inside the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District. We also review worker classification, because contractors who work like employees are the payroll issue New York challenges most often.
What happens if I get a letter from New York State or the IRS?
Send it to us the day it arrives. Most notices are routine and are resolved with a reconciliation and a reply. Ro is a CPA and holds unlimited representation rights before the IRS, so if a notice turns into something more, you are not looking for help at that point.
Are you taking new clients right now?
Yes. We keep the client list small enough that the same person reviews your file every month, so there are periods when onboarding runs a few weeks out, and we tell you that on the first call rather than after you sign.