An Oklahoma rancher turned to Ambrook Tax to help him navigate an unusually complicated tax year. With support from an advisor, he started planning ahead across three income streams and saved thousands on his return.
Meet George Mitchell
George’s family has farmed the same land in Oklahoma since the 1920s. He grew up on the ranch, working there until the ‘80s, when he started his own family and decided to move to the city for work opportunities. George put his family’s land in the USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), headed to Oklahoma City, and began a three-decade long career at one of the largest animal health distribution companies in the country.
He knew he would return to his home place eventually. "I always wanted to go back. The cattle business was my first love," George said, and so he did. In 2016, George took his family’s land back and started ranching again.
Today, Half Circle Bar is a registered seedstock operation where George runs 30 cows and sells 10-15 bulls a year to commercial operations. Recently, he started a second company called HCBL Strategies, where he consults for ranching and animal health clients.
The challenge: Handling taxes for two businesses and a day job
Initially, George started using the Ambrook platform without tax services. He had switched onto the platform after years of doing Half Circle Bar’s finances with spreadsheets, because he wanted easier ways to pull P&Ls, get an accurate balance sheet, and track operating loans.
He wasn’t really looking for a tax advisor to work with. For the most part, George did the taxes himself and his son is a CPA who could help out over the weekends. Some years he brought on external CPAs to help file his taxes.
But over time he noticed inefficiencies in the tax preparation process. For one, with income from two businesses and a day job to manage, George wanted more guidance on how to plan for tax season. He also wanted to work on business and tax strategy throughout the year, instead of resorting to the typical year-end scramble: “When they call you the week before Thanksgiving to do the plan for the end of the year, it doesn't do me any good."
Then, last tax season became especially complicated. The company he used to work for sold in the middle of the year, and suddenly, George had to figure out how to manage stock grants from years ago along with his business taxes. "I fretted about it and fretted about it," he said. "I didn't have any idea how much tax we were going to actually owe."
Switching to Ambrook Tax
In early 2025, George set up his books in Ambrook, by first connecting his bank accounts to track transactions. He later worked with members of Ambrook’s customer experience team—Ashritha, Shannon, and Haley—to manage his livestock with Ambrook Inventory and produce a clean balance sheet.
His favorite part of the platform was how easy it felt to grab income statements and oversee his assets. “I love to be able to click a button and have my P&L and my balance sheet,” he said. “And it keeps track of my loans: my operating loan and my cattle loan.”
About six months in, he started seeing information about tax and advisory services through a partnership with Uprise. It came at just the time when he was looking for more tax guidance, so he gave it a try and became one of the first Ambrook Tax customers.
"I just knew that’s what I was missing. This gave me an opportunity to have somebody along the way to help me."
He started working closely with Jason Safa, from the tax team, to understand the implications of his stock grants. George would gather the paperwork and Jason would help him sort out how to file. "They worked hard to try to get all that together for me," George said.
What changed: A shared view for tax prep
For George, prepping for tax season isn’t only about tracking business income. He wants to analyze how earnings from Half Circle Bar, HCBL Strategies, and his former workplace might impact his tax standing and retirement income, so he can plan accordingly during the year and file accurately.
In order to do that, he and the tax team needed a unified picture of the finances across his businesses and corporate income. "If you just have a job, it's one thing. But if you have a job and a business, and another business..."
The Ambrook platform helped with part of that. As part of Ambrook Tax, his advisor Sasha Hull had access to view George’s accounts in Ambrook, so the two of them could look at his ledger and income statements together. This made it easy to collaborate on calls and asynchronously. "I like the fact that they can get on there and can see my accounts," George said. "She knows what I'm doing."
Beyond the software, Sasha helped paint a holistic picture of where George stood before tax season. She laid out a plan that George could follow to prepare for both business and personal taxes throughout the year. George remembers her saying, “Here’s what you can do for the rest of the year. Here’s what you need to consider before you do this or that.”
More clarity on expense allocation
At the same time, doing the taxes for multiple businesses requires keeping neat, separate records. George worked with the tax team to determine how he could maintain clean books for each business on its own.
For example, George has a pickup that he uses for both Half Circle Bar and HCBL Strategies. He and the team talked about a system to split mileage between the two businesses. As for the phone and internet he needs to do his consulting work from home, they worked through how to properly attribute the bills to HCBL Strategies and preserve the documentation. "Those are things I would never have known that I could do," George said.
Between both of his businesses, there’s no shortage of expenses George has to keep track of and organize throughout the year. But with extra support and direction, that responsibility has become manageable.
"Sasha really helps me feel confident that if something were to happen, I've got proper documentation and records."
An experienced advisor who understands agriculture
Another big part of what makes Ambrook Tax helpful for George is the fact that his advisor knows the ins and outs of his industry. “The team understands the ag part of it,” he said.
For example, as a seedstock operator, cattle sales work a little differently than they might on other types of ranches. George generally holds bulls for a few years instead of selling them sooner. “I don’t buy calves and put them out on wheat, and then sell them in the spring,” he explains. “I’m holding my bulls until they’re mature enough to sell for breeding stock.”
Exactly how long he decides to hold cattle can change how his sales income gets taxed, but every version of that choice comes with financial and operational tradeoffs.
This is where he turns to Sasha, who helps him do the research and understand his options. She shows him what his taxes might look like if he sells in one year instead of another, so he has the information he needs to make the best decision for himself and the business.
"I never feel like she's trying to tell me what to do, but she’s offering counsel. That’s what I need."
Looking forward: A true partner for financial planning
Working with the Ambrook Tax team, George was able to go from simply reporting on the numbers to making long-term financial plans. “Before, I was reporting what I had but not planning ahead.”
The extra support on record-keeping and tax strategy has brought him more confidence in his financial standing and steadiness in his planning:
Saved over $1,000 in taxes owed, compared to prior years
Filed across 3 income streams: personal, ranch, and consulting
Made year-round financial plans by evaluating cattle sales tax implications
He’s already been preparing for this tax season and looking forward to the next check-in with the tax team. In fact, for other operators who are considering Ambrook Tax, George has two words of advice. The first is to make the most of their time with advisors: “That’s the difference in what it provides. If a person uses Ambrook Tax, it should be really imperative that you do those check-ins fairly often.”
And second, he encourages other owners to lean into tax planning and working with the team on an ongoing strategy. “If anybody hears anything out of this conversation: What Ambrook Tax provides you is planning,” he said. "They don't tell you to do this or that, but here are the tax laws and here's where you are."
Want to start planning ahead instead of scrambling at year-end? Book a free intro call with the Ambrook Tax team.
Customer results are individual and not guaranteed; your tax outcome will depend on your unique circumstances. This resource is provided for general informational purposes only, and does not constitute professional tax, legal, financial or accounting advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.