Industries / Agriculture
Built for the
crop year,
not the calendar
Accounting and advisory for farms and agribusiness across Idaho, where the season sets the timing and the numbers have to keep up with it.
See the approach
The Decision
The operation never waits
for the books to catch up.
Trade the combine or run it another season. Sell the grain across the scale or store it and wait. Bid on the neighbor's ground, and the water that comes with it, or let both pass. Every one of those calls has a tax answer and a cash answer, and both change depending on where the crop year sits when you make them. Most operations find out at filing time, months after the decision already got expensive.
Books kept current
Approved invoices paid, bank reconciliations, milk check and commodity payment postings, receivables and payables, line-of-credit monitoring, and monthly statements.
Tax planning on the crop year
Deferred payment contracts, prepaid inputs, equipment expensing elections, farm income averaging, and entity structure, set before year end while the options are still open.
Transition and valuation
A plan for the next operator, with the valuation finished and the tax consequences of the transfer priced before documents are signed.
Management advisory
Debt restructuring, lease versus purchase analysis, equipment trade timing, government program deadlines, and enterprise crop cost accounting.
Cooper Norman Approach
From the field to the filing,
one plan for the operation.
- Keep the monthly close current through planting, irrigation, and harvest
- Set tax strategy on the crop year, before year end closes the elections
- Price the equipment trade or the land bid before the handshake
- Put the transition plan and valuation in place before ownership changes
Result
Decisions made in season,
not after the return is filed.
Whether the ground has carried the family name for generations or this is your first crop year on your own, the pattern is the same. The equipment trade, the land bid, the program election, and the handoff to the next operator all price differently depending on when the numbers show up. Our job is to have them in the room first.
Frequently
asked
questions
Who needs an agriculture accountant?
If income arrives on a crop year or a milk check while the bills arrive on a calendar, you are already managing the gap an agriculture accountant closes. Farm income, equipment trades, and program payments each get their own treatment in the tax code, and the elections that matter close at specific points in the year. An accountant who works agriculture keeps those dates in front of the decision instead of behind it.
Why Cooper Norman for agriculture accounting?
Because agriculture is priority work here, not a sideline. Cooper Norman has worked Idaho and Utah operations since 1954, from offices in Blackfoot, Rexburg, and Twin Falls that sit in farm country. When a question crosses from bookkeeping into valuation or transition, it moves to a CPA, CVA, or ABV on the same connected bench, not to a referral across town.
When should tax planning happen for a farm?
Before year end, while the elections are still open. Deferred payment contracts, prepaid inputs, equipment expensing, and farm income averaging all depend on moves made during the crop year, not at filing time. We plan on the operation's calendar and file on the IRS's.
What does bookkeeping cover?
Paying approved invoices, bank reconciliations, posting milk checks and commodity payments, receivables and payables management, line of credit monitoring, and monthly statements if you want them.
Can you run payroll, including H-2A workers?
Yes. Paychecks go out correctly and on time each payday, with monthly, quarterly, and yearly filings handled, plus H-2A and e-verify assistance for seasonal crews.
Do you prepare financial statements?
Yes. Cash and accrual basis statements, audits, reviews, and compilations, fair market value statements when a lender or a transaction calls for one, and budget-to-actual comparisons through the season.
Do you work with dairies?
Yes. Dairy is priority work here. The milk check arrives monthly with its own deductions and assignments, feed costs move on their own schedule, and the herd carries accounting treatment a lender will ask about. The books have to hold all of it and stay current enough to act on.
Can you help with succession of the operation?
Yes. Business transition planning is its own service here, not an afterthought. We help you set the plan for the next operator, with the valuation finished and the tax consequences of the transfer priced before documents are signed, whether the operation is heading to family or to an outside buyer.
What do consulting and advisory services include?
Business management and planning, debt restructuring, analysis of lease and purchase agreements, equipment trade timing, government program assistance and deadlines, enterprise crop cost accounting, and help buying, selling, and trading farmland and machinery.
Who leads this work
Blake Johnson, CPA
Managing Partner, Chair of Food and Agriculture Industry
Blake Johnson, the firm's managing partner, chairs the food and agriculture industry group.
Insights
Reading for
farm and ag owners
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