RiverRidge works with individuals and growth-oriented Tennessee businesses who want more than a form-filer. Every engagement starts by understanding how you actually operate — your books, your patterns, your goals — so the advice that follows is yours, not a template.
Most CPA firms want to grow. We'd rather stay small and keep doing the work we love well. When a roster gets too large, the work changes — every return stops getting the partner's eye, quarterly calls lose depth, emails take days. So we've drawn a line and we keep it.
With a small roster, AJ and the team know your business, your filing history, and your goals. We don't ask you to repeat context every year — we lead with it.
Direct communication, not a ticket system. When you email, you hear back from the CPA who knows your file — and if an answer needs research, you'll get an acknowledgment and a timeline.
Quarterly tax planning calls are baked into every engagement. We flag the move before April, not after.
The full slate of services RiverRidge offers — grouped the way it's grouped on our firm page. Every engagement is scoped to your operation.
A complete accounting function without the overhead of a full in-house team. Monthly close, reporting, and the advisory layer that turns numbers into decisions.
Clean, current books you can actually run the business from — whether we're setting up from scratch, cleaning up a backlog, or taking over ongoing.
Full-service payroll handled end-to-end. Direct deposit, tax deposits, quarterly and annual filings — and a real person to call when a question lands.
The work that doesn't fit a single label — software selection, controller support, process reviews, lender packages, and special projects scoped to your ask.
Limited-assurance review engagements for lenders, bonding agents, and boards that need more than a compilation but not a full audit.
Compiled financial statements presented in proper GAAP or tax-basis form. A fast, economical deliverable when a third party needs organized numbers.
Federal and multi-state returns for individuals, partnerships, LLCs, S-corps, and C-corps. Year-round planning so April doesn't become an event.
Fiduciary accounting and tax work for trusts, estates, and private foundations. Coordinated with your estate counsel and family office team.
IRS or state notice? Back returns, installment agreements, offers-in-compromise, or audit defense. We step in and handle the correspondence from here.
AJ Hosenfeld spent a decade inside the kinds of firms he'd never hire as a client. The ones where your return sits in a stack, where "your CPA" means the associate two desks over, where the partner you met during onboarding is the partner you never speak to again.
In 2016, he started RiverRidge to run the other way. Two locations — Nashville and Knoxville — and a firm-wide commitment to staying small. Not a growth target, a ceiling. Because the only way to keep the promise of personal service is to never take on more than you can serve well.
Most new clients are onboarded in under two weeks. Here's what that looks like.
Talk to AJ. Explain the situation, the goals, the prior-year pain. We'll tell you honestly whether we're a fit.
A flat-fee engagement letter for the scope we discussed. You'll know the monthly or annual number before you sign.
Prior returns, QuickBooks access, and IRS 2848 power-of-attorney all flow through our encrypted portal.
Quarterly check-ins, proactive notices, and a CPA who already knows your business every time you call.
Responsiveness, clarity, and a CPA who thinks about the business before you do. The scenarios below are illustrative examples of the work we do — not quotes from specific clients.
We don't publish a rate card because every engagement is scoped to the work it actually takes. What we promise is how we price — a flat fee, set up front, documented in writing.
Every client gets a written scope and a flat fee — monthly or annual, depending on the work.
One firm, two locations, same team and standards. Clients work with whichever office is closer — or whichever CPA fits the engagement best.
Tax, accounting, and advisory for Nashville and the surrounding counties. Meetings by appointment — virtual or in-person.
Tax, accounting, and advisory for Knoxville and East Tennessee. Meetings by appointment — virtual or in-person.
The same questions come up on the first call. Here's what we tell people.
Yes. We intentionally keep the roster small so every client gets real attention. If we're at capacity, we'll say so on the first call — and we'll happily recommend other Tennessee firms we trust.
Emails, calls, and portal messages go to the CPA who knows your file — not a shared inbox or a ticket queue. Tax season is busy, but you'll always hear back from a real person.
Yes. About a third of our clients are elsewhere in Tennessee or out of state. Our portal and virtual-meeting setup makes geography mostly irrelevant for ongoing work.
Yes. Plenty of clients use us only for annual tax prep and planning. If you want to add monthly bookkeeping or advisory later, we make it easy — but it's never a prerequisite.
Flat fees, not hourly. We quote a monthly or annual number based on a defined scope. That number is set before you sign, and won't change mid-year unless the scope does.
Yes — and don't respond to it yourself. Forward it to us and we'll build a strategy within one business day. Most notices have tight response windows, so the sooner we see it, the better.
That's normal. Most new clients come to us with books that need a cleanup. We quote the cleanup separately from ongoing work, so you know what you're signing up for on each side.
QuickBooks Online is our default, but we work with Xero and a handful of other platforms. We meet you where your books are, not the other way around.
If we're full, we'll tell you. If we're the right fit, we'll quote a fee and outline the scope on the same call. Either way, it's a useful conversation.
Send a note and AJ will be in touch inside one business day. Prefer to talk first? Call either office.
Direct to the CPA
No shared inbox, no ticket queue.
Middle & East Tennessee
Virtual nationwide