Fort Lauderdale CPA
A Fort Lauderdale CPA for the people who keep this city up late.
Tax planning, monthly accounting and Fractional CFO support for Fort Lauderdale business owners, boat and real estate investors, and the bars and restaurants that light up Las Olas after dark.
The short answer
What a Fort Lauderdale CPA should actually do for you
Bette Hochberger, CPA, CGMA is a boutique South Florida CPA firm that works with Fort Lauderdale business owners, investors and professionals on tax planning, tax returns, monthly accounting, payroll, IRS notices and Fractional CFO work. The firm has served Broward County clients since 2012, meets most clients on Zoom and keeps its mailing address a short drive south in Hollywood.
Fort Lauderdale is not a generic market. A charter captain, a Las Olas restaurant group and a family that just bought a waterfront rental on the Intracoastal all live under different tax rules, different county rules and very different cash flow. Good advice starts with knowing which of those rules apply to you, and which ones the internet is getting wrong.
Who we work with
Built around how Fort Lauderdale actually makes money.
Most of our Fort Lauderdale clients fall into one of four groups. Many fall into two, which is exactly where a CPA who connects the tax return to the business earns their fee.
Marine and yacht businesses
Brokers, charter operators, captains and marine service companies with seasonal revenue, 1099 crews, sales and use tax questions and equipment that needs a depreciation plan.
Real estate and rental owners
Condo, multifamily and vacation rental owners who need clean books per property, a depreciation strategy and a handle on Florida and Broward rental taxes.
Bars, restaurants and hospitality
Owners on Las Olas, in Himmarshee Village and Flagler Village juggling payroll, tip reporting, sales tax on food and drinks and margins that move with the season.
Professional firms and founders
Law firms, consultants and startups downtown who want monthly numbers they can use, a tax plan before year end and a CPA who picks up the phone.
Short-term rentals
Renting out a Fort Lauderdale condo? The tax stack is real.
In Florida, a rental of six months or less is taxed a lot like a hotel stay. Most owners know about the state tax. Fewer realize how much Broward County adds, or that the city wants to know you exist.
In Broward County, a short-term rental generally carries the 6% Florida transient rental tax, the 1% county surtax and 6% in Broward tourist development and related taxes, for about 13% in total. Some booking platforms collect and remit part of that for you. Not every platform collects every tax, and none of them reconcile it to your books. The City of Fort Lauderdale also runs a vacation rental program that requires registration before a property operates.
The federal side is where the planning happens. How many days did you use the unit yourself? Was the average guest stay seven days or less? Did you materially participate in running it? Those answers decide whether a loss can offset other income, whether the rental is passive and how depreciation works for you. They are much easier to answer in March than in the week before the deadline.
Separate every property
Each unit gets its own ledger, so you can see real profit after cleaning, platform fees, HOA dues, insurance and repairs.
Get the tax stack right
Confirm which state and Broward taxes your platform already remits and which ones you still need to file yourself.
Plan depreciation early
Decide on a cost segregation study or bonus depreciation before the return is filed, not after.
Questions to answer before your next return
- Is the rental registered with the City of Fort Lauderdale and the Florida Department of Revenue?
- Which taxes does Airbnb or VRBO already collect for this address?
- Was the average guest stay seven days or less this year?
- How many personal-use days did you or your family log?
- Would a cost segregation study pay for itself on this property?
Bars, restaurants and nightlife
When the night runs on tips, the books have to keep up.
Fort Lauderdale nightlife pays a lot of bills, from the bars on Himmarshee Street to the beachfront spots along A1A. It also produces some of the most error-prone bookkeeping in town: cash sales, tip pools, card fees, comps, liquor inventory and staff who come and go with the season.
- Sales tax on food, drinks and service charges
- Tip reporting and the employer FICA tip credit
- Payroll for servers, bartenders and kitchen staff
- Inventory and pour cost that ties back to your POS
- A monthly close you can read before the next busy weekend
Good tip reporting helps your team, too. Servers and bartenders may qualify for the federal deduction for qualified tips created in 2025, worth up to $25,000 a year through 2028 with income limits, and it starts with accurate payroll records on your side.
See how payroll support works ↗
The yachting capital
Boat show season is a tax season, too.
Every fall the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show fills the marinas, and a lot of local businesses book a big share of their year in a few weeks. A strong season deserves a plan before the money lands, not after.
- Quarterly estimates that reflect a lumpy, seasonal year
- 1099 and W-2 decisions for captains, crew and subcontractors
- Florida sales and use tax questions on vessels, parts and services
- Vessel and equipment depreciation planned before December 31
- An entity structure that matches how the business really runs
Before the show
Plan the season in October, not April.
A quick review before the boat show lets us estimate the tax on a strong season, line up estimated payments and decide whether new equipment or a vessel purchase belongs in this tax year or the next.
After the show, the same numbers feed a cash flow forecast for the slower summer months.
How it works
Local knowledge, without the waiting room.
You get one team that knows your file all year, not a seasonal preparer who meets you in April.
Start with 15 minutes
Tell us what changed: a new property, a second location, an IRS letter or a big year you want to plan around.
Agree on the scope
You get a plain-English proposal that says what we will handle and when, before any work starts.
Clean up and set up
We fix the books, set up payroll and sales tax filings and put every Florida and federal deadline on one calendar.
Plan, then file
Planning happens during the year, so the tax return confirms what you already expected.
Fort Lauderdale FAQ
Questions Fort Lauderdale clients ask first
Short answers to the questions we hear most. Your facts decide the right move, so treat these as a starting point.
Sources: Florida Department of Revenue, 2026 discretionary sales surtax rates (DR-15DSS); Florida EDR, 2026 local option transient rental tax rates; City of Fort Lauderdale Vacation Rental Program; Florida Statutes section 205.053 (local business tax receipts); Florida Division of Corporations, annual report; Florida Form F-1120 instructions (2026); IRS, final regulations on occupations that receive tips.
Photos: Kevin Torres on Unsplash; Chip Vincent on Unsplash; Unsplash contributor; Peter Walkley on Unsplash.
This page is general information, not tax or legal advice for your situation. Rates and deadlines shown are for 2026 and can change.
Big night, big year? Let us handle the numbers.
A short call is enough to see what you need: cleaner books, a tax plan, rental tax filings or a second set of eyes on an IRS letter.
Put 15 Minutes on the Calendar ↗ Call 954.639.4060 ↗