Buying a Tax Practice: How to Get New Clients Instantly

There are tons of ways you can gain new clients and grow your business—online seminars, live events, social media, search engine optimization, television appearances, etc. And while this type of marketing certainly deserves your attention, it’s a slow process. What if you could acquire new customers almost instantly? One sure way to do this is to incorporate a tax practice into your existing financial services business by either buying a tax practice, borrowing clients from one, or building your own.

Adding a tax practice to your existing financial planning business will generate additional revenue and add new leads to your sales funnel.

Did you know that 92% of wealthy investors expect their wealth manager to provide tax planning advice, but only 25% are actually receiving that service? That means that many tax experts aren’t doing everything they can to help their customers plan for the future. This leaves the door wide open for you to make a strategic move in both your clients’ and your company’s best interests.

You should consider incorporating a tax practice if you:

  • Are an entrepreneur looking to grow your business
  • Want to provide better advice to your clients by integrating tax planning
  • Aspire to become a holistic wealth professional
  • Need to find new prospects and potential customers
  • Want to add additional rainmakers to your business

We’ve identified three ways to begin integrating a tax practice into your business model.

  1. Buy it
  2. Build it
  3. Borrow it

Buying a Tax Practice

Richard James is the founder and CEO of Financial Services of America. He sat down with us on the Rainmaker Multiplier On-Demand podcast to discuss some of the best practices of buying a tax practice.

Click here to listen to the latest episode of the Rainmaker Multiplier OnDemand Podcast.

Richard has bought, built, and borrowed tax services throughout his years in the industry; his company handles over 11,000 tax returns. He has become an expert at acquisitions, purchasing seven tax firms in the last three years. Last year, they bought 7,000 new clients.

When buying a tax practice, you should always do three things.

  1. Ensure it’s a profitable entity
  2. Assess the owner’s intentions
  3. Make sure there is a solid team in place

According to Richard, he has never been the highest bidder, but he has often been the only potential buyer who took the time to create and submit a proper proposal to the owner. That is what set him apart and ultimately won him the business.

Richard prefers the owner stay on for 1-2 years after finalizing the acquisition to assist in the transition.

Instead of chasing after the clients you want, let someone else spend years cultivating relationships for you. All you have to do is buy the firm, and with it comes an A+ reputation and built-in loyalty.

Building a Tax Practice

You don’t need to have a tax background to be successful. When you build out your own tax practice, you can start by hiring an accountant or tax expert for your in-house team.

As a holistic advisor, you can work with the tax preparer to add value for your customers by looking further into the future. Instead of focusing only on annual tax prep, you can now plan by saving the client and their legacies money.

“In my opinion—if you’re putting yourself out there as a holistic financial planner…you better know tax planning.”

Jason L Smith, CFF, CEP®, BPC

What are you doing to ensure your client’s family doesn’t end up with a bill to Uncle Sam upon their death?

You want to be proactive to changes in the market, not reactive. This will help you forecast accurate predictions that will save your customers money.

Buying a Tax Practice

Borrowing a Tax Practice

Developing a tax practice from the ground up can be daunting for the most seasoned professional. Another option is to borrow clients from an existing business until you get more tax experience within your company.

Develop a relationship with a CPA or tax firm in your community to borrow their clients. After you have nurtured and developed your bond with them and their customers, you can start to look for longer-term solutions, like buying a tax practice or building a tax practice.

One way to build rapport is by creating a business plan tailored to their company. Develop a presentation with accurate financials and a strategic marketing plan for you advisor firm so they know you’re serious about creating value for both the business and its customers.

When the owner decides to retire or sell the business, you will be first in line to purchase the tax practice yourself.

Tax Planning

So, whether you’re looking into buying a tax practice, building a tax practice, or borrowing clients from an existing company—be sure you’re going above and beyond to provide the additional retirement and legacy planning service.

Now that you have your tax clients, you can use their returns to find areas where you can save them money.

By putting solutions and strategies in place to anticipate tax changes, you will differentiate yourself from other wealth and tax professionals, allowing you to charge more considerable financial planning fees.

Tax planning is one of the most significant opportunities advisors have. Clients often view taxes as their most daunting and confusing expense, especially when it comes to retirement. Our job is to make sense of the chaos and plan for a future with the best return possible.

“A competent financial planner can evaluate multiple years of prior 1040s and supporting documents to inform present tax-planning decision and identify planning opportunities and areas of concern for the current and future periods.”

– Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards

Do you want to be more confident while engaging in tax planning with your prospects and clients? When you integrate your clients’ taxes, financials, investments, and insurance into one overall plan, you provide them with a more valuable service.

Schedule a time to speak with us today for more information about incorporating a tax practice or offering tax planning services. We also provide in-depth training through our Tax Management Journey.

 

The information provided in this presentation is not intended as investment advice or legal advice. The information provided is for informational and training purposes only. The information in this presentation was accurate as of the time of the material was created. Tax laws and rulings can frequently change. Please discuss the client’s current situation with an accountant or tax advisor.

Financial Professional Use Only

The information provided in this presentation is not intended as investment advice or legal advice. The information provided is for informational and training purposes only. The information in this presentation was accurate as of the time of the material was created. Tax laws and rulings can frequently change. Please discuss the client’s current situation with an accountant or tax advisor.