How to Become a Successful Tax Planning Expert with High-Value Clients

Thanks for the detailed response. I'm wondering if you think the CPA is worth the investment at this point since I already have my EA? Also, how did you find financial advisors to partner with initially? Did you just cold call them or was there a better approach?

The CPA vs EA question depends on your goals. For tax planning with high-net-worth clients, a CPA often carries more recognition, though technically your EA gives you the same representation rights. If you're focused on tax exclusively, you might be fine with just the EA, but adding financial planning credentials like the PFS or CFP could be more valuable than pursuing the CPA. For finding financial advisors, I started by attending local financial planning association meetings and estate planning council events. These are great for networking. I also reached out to a few advisors with a simple value proposition: I offered to review their clients' tax returns for planning opportunities at no charge. This demonstrated my value, and several turned into great referral partnerships.

Sounds interesting. Does it work with handwritten documents or only digital ones? My older wealthy clients often have handwritten notes and amendments to their trusts.

I'm a bit skeptical about AI tools for something as nuanced as tax planning. How accurate is it with complex situations? And what about privacy concerns with uploading sensitive client docs?

The tool works really well with both digital documents and scanned handwritten ones. They use advanced OCR that's surprisingly accurate even with handwriting. I've successfully used it with several clients who had handwritten amendments to their trust documents. Regarding accuracy and privacy, I was also concerned initially. Their AI is trained specifically on tax documents and has been quite reliable for identifying planning opportunities. As for privacy, they use bank-level encryption and are fully compliant with professional standards for client confidentiality. No client information is stored longer than needed for the analysis, and you can delete it immediately afterward.

Wait, how exactly does this work? Do they just call the IRS for you? I'm confused how a service can "wait on hold" for someone else.

This sounds too good to be true. I've spent countless hours on hold with the IRS, and they often disconnect you after a long wait. Are you sure this actually works consistently? What's the catch?

It's a cleverly designed system that essentially maintains the hold with the IRS on your behalf. When you use Claimyr, you input which IRS number you need to call and your phone number. Their system then connects to the IRS line and navigates the initial prompts. When a human IRS agent finally picks up, their system calls your phone and connects you directly to that agent. It's all automated. There's no catch - it simply saves you from having your phone tied up for hours. It's especially useful when dealing with specialized IRS departments for trust and estate tax issues. I've used it about 15 times over the past few months, and it's worked reliably every time. The only limitation is that it doesn't help with the actual conversation once you're connected - you still need to know what you're talking about when the agent comes on the line.

I've seen the CSEP mentioned before but wasn't sure if it was worth it. How much did it cost and how long did it take to complete? Did you see an immediate impact on your practice after getting it?

The CSEP program cost me around $3,800 total and took about 8 months to complete while working full-time. It's not the cheapest option, but the ROI has been excellent for my practice. I did see an impact pretty quickly. Within the first three months after completion, I was able to raise my rates for estate planning clients by about 25% because I could offer more comprehensive services. The credential also gave me confidence to pursue higher-net-worth clients. The most valuable aspect was that it taught me to spot planning opportunities that I was previously missing. For example, I now regularly identify trust income splitting strategies that save my clients thousands annually.

I've used both BNA and Lacerte Tax Planner. BNA is more robust for complex scenario modeling, especially for trust distributions and estate planning. The learning curve is steeper, but it's worth it for high-net-worth clients. Lacerte is more user-friendly if you're just starting, though it lacks some of the advanced features.