Americans are not well-versed in financial planning and over 60% believe theirs needs improving, according to the Northwestern Mutual 2022 Planning & Progress Study — but only a third of U.S. adults work with a financial adviser.
The need for tax-focused CPA personal financial planners is growing because individuals are seeking advice on how to navigate taxes, formulate retirement plans and diversify investments — sometimes at the same appointment. Changes to the tax landscape can affect all areas of people’s financial lives and they want an expert with strong professional credibility and integrity who understands the interconnected nuances.
It may be time to expand your practice and include personal financial planning (PFP) services to add value to your client services and propel the future of your practice.
Three experts discussed how they successfully integrated PFP into their tax practice in the roundtable session, “Reimaging your tax practice: Transitioning to a tax-focused CPA financial planner.” Follow their lead to successfully evolve your practice.
From tax practitioner to well-rounded adviser
Instead of answering ad hoc client questions, the financial planner takes a concerted approach to analyzing a client’s portfolio for opportunities and risks.
“It’s more about what are the other questions that I need to ask to get down to the root cause of really what it’s all about,” said Carolyn Larsen-Wieber, CPA/PFS, in the roundtable session. “How can I really branch out, and not only answer their questions, but think about the questions they’re not asking?”
Clients will feel safer working with you because you can address the big picture of their financial needs.
“You may not know every answer, but you’ll need to dive into it further and optimize it the most that you can for the client,” said accountant business coach Jackie Meyer, CPA. “Curiosity is the baseline personality factor that I think makes the most successful advisers.”
Chris Benson’s best advice is to lean on specialized experts as needed because you’ll “never be an expert in [investments and insurance] — and that’s ok.” Expanding your technical competencies as he did ensure you can easily make the pivot. The Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential program through AICPA® is designed specifically for CPAs and includes a comprehensive curriculum of estate, retirement, investments and insurance topics — and how each area is affected by tax.
“It’s a high-level knowledge of everything, and the tax piece is really important because it touches every little piece,” said Benson, CPA/PFS, principal at L.K. Benson & Company. “Having that tax knowledge allows you to be the quarterback to pull everything together for clients.”
Center relationships, not deadlines
Though not immediately obvious, the experts agree that an unforeseen advantage to adding PFP was how the culture of the firm changed — from deadline centric to relationship focused.
“I think the biggest advantage is the control that you can get back over your practice, to where it’s not so centered around certain deadlines and seasons and [intense] volume around April 15,” said Meyer. “You can really turn things around ... You can become a true project manager with the clients and everything [becomes] so much more peaceful.”
When Larsen-Wieber reimagined her practice, she also thought about her current work-life balance and what she wanted her future to entail. “What do you want your life to look like? What do you want to get up and do in the morning? Who do you want to work for?” posed Larsen-Wieber. “I envisioned what I really wanted to do … then I just started trying to build it. It starts with your own dream.”
Ready to take your client advisory services to the next level? The PFP Section provides tools, guides and other resources you need to smoothly integrate financial planning services into your tax practice and learn the key priorities you should consider on this evolutionary journey. Lean on the advice from the experts and listen to the full roundtable discussion, “Reimaging your tax practice: Transitioning to a tax-focused CPA financial planner.”