How to start a tax service bureau.

What a service bureau actually does

A service bureau sits between a tax software developer and the tax offices that use the software. The bureau sells and supports the software, enrolls its offices in bank products, trains preparers, and answers the phone in February. Each office stays an independent business with its own clients, PTINs and EFIN. A white-label bureau does all of this under its own brand. For a deeper explainer, see what is a tax service bureau and white-label tax software.

Step 1: Decide your model and your market

Decide who you'll recruit (new preparers you'll train, experienced preparers leaving franchises, or existing offices switching software), where (local, regional or remote nationwide) and what you'll offer them (software only, or software plus training, marketing and launch help). Your answer shapes your packages, your support load and how many offices you need for the season to work.

Step 2: Set up the business

Form your entity, get an EIN, open a business bank account, and get liability coverage (errors & omissions, and cyber coverage given the data you'll handle). Write your WISP (written information security plan) now — every tax professional is expected to have one, and your offices will look to you as the example.

Step 3: Get your IRS e-file credentials

Apply for your EFIN through IRS e-Services: create an e-Services account, complete the IRS e-file application with your firm details, every Principal and Responsible Official, and your provider option (a return preparer that e-files for clients selects Electronic Return Originator). The IRS runs a suitability check — credit, tax compliance, criminal background and prior e-file compliance — and non-credentialed Principals and Responsible Officials are fingerprinted. Approval can take up to 45 days, so this is the long pole: start it first.

Depending on how your bureau handles returns, your e-file application may need more than the ERO role; IRS Publication 3112 describes the provider options. Every office in your network still needs its own EFIN — no one files under someone else's credentials.

Step 4: Choose your software and distribution partner

You don't build tax software — you distribute it. Compare partners on: what can carry your brand, which forms and states are included, how you price packages to your offices, what you pay, how bank-product fees are shared, what reporting you get on your network, who supports offices at peak season, and what happens if you leave. Get every term in writing.

Step 5: Line up bank products

Most offices want refund transfers so clients can pay from their refund. Banks approve the bureau and each office, typically through the software, and require compliance training and clear disclosures. Bureau revenue often includes a disclosed fee on each eligible funded refund transfer — paid only when the product funds, not on every return.

Step 6: Build packages, onboarding and support

Package what you'll sell offices (for example software only, software plus training, and a launch package for first-time owners), then build the machine behind it: an application and qualification process, credential verification, software setup checklists, training sessions, and a support schedule for January–April. Support quality is what keeps offices with you for a second season.

Step 7: Recruit your first offices

Start with people you know: preparers you've trained or worked with, and experienced preparers frustrated with franchise splits. Then add content, referrals and ads. Recruit for productive offices — ten offices that file and fund bank products beat forty that never get started.

Step 8: Run compliance like a bureau

Your brand is on every office. Verify PTINs and EFINs before activation, require each office's own WISP, train on due diligence for refundable credits and on bank-product disclosures, and monitor rejects, funding rates and complaints so you can act early.

Timeline for the 2027 season

What it costs and how bureaus earn

The IRS charges nothing for an EFIN, and a PTIN is $18.75 for 2027; most startup cost is your choice — software commitments, insurance, marketing and support staff. Revenue typically comes from software and training packages sold to your offices and from disclosed fees on eligible funded bank products under your partner agreement. Results depend on how many productive offices you support; nothing here is a promise of earnings — see our earnings disclaimer.

Start your bureau with Bridgepoint

Bridgepoint Tax Solutions partners with qualified bureaus that want to distribute professional tax software under their own brand. Apply with the form on this page; qualified applicants get a partner walkthrough and individual terms in writing. See the service bureau program or compare franchise vs. service bureau.