We are a bookkeeper in Suffolk County, NY working with owner-run businesses from Melville and Hauppauge out to Riverhead and the East End. That means books closed every month, Suffolk sales tax filed at 8.75 percent, and seasonal revenue read the way a seasonal business actually earns it. Our office is on the South Service Road in Melville.
Books closed monthly, with a season read as a season
Suffolk sales tax at 8.75 percent, filed on the state's schedule
Job costing and inventory for shops, trades and growers
The Melville office, or a North Fork farm stand or Hauppauge shop floor.
Overview
We are a bookkeeper in Suffolk County, NY working with owner-run businesses from Melville and Hauppauge out to Riverhead and the East End. That means books closed every month, Suffolk sales tax filed at 8.75 percent, and seasonal revenue read the way a seasonal business actually earns it. Our office is on the South Service Road in Melville.
Seasonal revenue, explained
Video coming soon
How we close a season
How a business that earns most of its money in five months should read its own numbers. Filmed at the Melville office.
[confirm length once filmed]
Bookkeeping for Suffolk County businesses
Suffolk holds 1,523,170 people across 2,373 square miles, which is more people than Nassau spread over about five times the land. That produces several different economies inside one county, and they do not keep the same books.
The western end is business parks and light industry. The Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge holds roughly 1,300 companies on HIA-LI's own figures, and the Route 110 corridor runs offices and technology firms. New York State names Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University as anchors of the county's science economy. Move east and it changes: the state calls Suffolk its biggest agricultural county, with farms and wineries through the North Fork and the East End, plus the marine and hospitality trade that comes with the coast.
What that means in practice is that a Suffolk bookkeeper cannot use one template. A machine shop in Hauppauge needs job costing and work in progress. A farm stand in Riverhead needs seasonal revenue handled properly and a payroll that triples in summer. A marina needs deposits and dockage separated from service work. We close the books monthly for all of them, and read the numbers against how each business actually earns.
Suffolk sales tax at 8.75 percent
Suffolk charges 8.75 percent: the state's 4 percent, the county's 4.375 percent, and the 0.375 percent MCTD surcharge. The county rate rose on 1 March 2025 with the water quality surcharge, which is why Suffolk and Nassau no longer match.
There is a real exception worth knowing. Residential energy sources and services stay at the previous 8.625 percent rather than moving to the new rate. If you sell heating oil, propane or residential utility service in Suffolk, that is a different rate on the same invoice run, and it is the kind of thing a general bookkeeper misses for a year.
A lot of Suffolk earns most of its year between May and October. Farm stands, wineries, marinas, landscapers, East End restaurants and the trades that serve them all work that way. A monthly profit and loss read on its own will tell such a business it is failing in February and thriving in July, and neither reading is useful.
What we do instead is straightforward. Costs that are incurred to earn the season are recognized against the season, so a spring planting or a winter refit does not land as a pure loss in the month the money left. Deposits taken in advance sit as a liability until the work is done. Payroll that scales up for summer is forecast before it arrives, not discovered in the bank balance. And we look at the year on a rolling twelve month basis alongside the month, so the trend is visible through the swing.
The practical payoff is cash. A seasonal business that knows in January what March through May will cost can hold the right reserve instead of borrowing at the worst possible moment.
The Suffolk businesses we work with
Manufacturers and distributors. Mostly around Hauppauge and the Route 110 corridor. Inventory tracked as raw material, work in progress and finished goods, reconciled to a count, and job costing that holds up on a fixed quote.
Trade contractors. The largest group. Labor, materials and subcontract cost booked to the job as they happen, so the gap between quote and actual is visible while you can still do something about it.
Food, drink and hospitality. Restaurants, caterers, farm stands and wineries, where the work is point of sale reconciliation, tips through payroll, and sales tax posted to a liability rather than to income.
Marine and seasonal service. Marinas, boatyards and landscapers, where deposits, storage and service revenue each need separating.
What we file, and when
Monthly: books closed, accounts reconciled, and a profit and loss and balance sheet issued. Quarterly: sales tax on the state's March, June, September and December schedule, payroll returns, and estimated tax. Annually: 1099s in January, then the business and personal returns.
Self-employed owners here are in Zone 2 of the MCTD, so net earnings above the threshold owe the MCTMT at 0.34 percent. The threshold rises to $150,000 for tax year 2026, up from $50,000.
Our Melville office
We are at 68 South Service Road, Suite 100 in Melville, directly on the Long Island Expressway. It is central to the western half of Suffolk, about ten minutes from the Hauppauge Innovation Park, and a straight run east when we need to be out toward Riverhead or the forks. Most of the work happens remotely.
Which jobs actually make money
What one blended margin hides, and what the split shows once the true cost lands on each job.
True cost includes the overhead and labor a blended number buries.
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 North Fork winery and tasting room
Riverhead area, Suffolk County
What we found
Tasting room sales, wholesale cases and the events business all landing in one revenue account, and the previous spring's vineyard costs expensed in the month they were paid, so the accounts showed a heavy loss every spring and an implausible profit every autumn.
What we did
Separated the three revenue streams, matched growing costs to the season they produce, and put event deposits on the balance sheet as a liability until the event happened.
Where it landed
A twelve month rolling view the owner could actually plan the season on, and a reserve set aside in January that covered the spring.
2
A Hauppauge contract machine shop
Hauppauge, Suffolk County
What we found
Fixed-price quotes with no work in progress balance and every purchase booked straight to cost of goods sold, so monthly margin swung wildly and told the owner nothing about which jobs made money.
What we did
Built raw material, work in progress and finished goods as separate balances and moved labor and materials onto the job as incurred.
Where it landed
Margin readable per job rather than per month, and a quoting basis built on what the work actually costs.
3
A Patchogue heating oil dealer
Patchogue, 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, the 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, and the route into the business community there.
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
What is the sales tax rate in Suffolk County?
8.75 percent, made up of the state's 4 percent, the county's 4.375 percent, and the 0.375 percent MCTD surcharge. The county rate rose on 1 March 2025 with the water quality surcharge. Residential energy sources and services are the exception and stay at the previous 8.625 percent.
Do you work out on the East End?
Yes. The Melville office is a straight run east on the LIE, and most of the work is remote in any case, so we take on businesses in Riverhead, the North and South Forks, and the towns along the way. Seasonal trade is a normal part of what we do here.
How do you handle a business that only earns for five months?
We match the costs of earning a season against that season rather than against the month the money left the bank, hold customer deposits as a liability until the work is done, and read the year on a rolling twelve month basis alongside the month. The point is to know in January what the spring will cost.
Do you work with the businesses in the Hauppauge Innovation Park?
Yes, and it is a large part of our Suffolk work. The park is mostly light manufacturing, distribution and contract assembly, which means job costing, inventory and equipment financing rather than straightforward retail bookkeeping.
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.
