CPA Practice Advisor - 3

FROM THE EDITOR

Who's In Your Ecosystem?
GAIL PERRY, CPA

Editor-in-Chief
gail.perry@cpapracticeadvisor.com
@gperrycpa

DOCTOR /
DENTIST
BANKER /
INVESTMENT
ADVISOR

INSURANCE
AGENT
BUILDER /
ROOFER
PLUMBER /
ELECTRICIAN

CPA

IN YOUR LIFE, you probably use a great number of experts for your personal affairs, the people
with whom you make appointments. You have a doctor, certainly, and a dentist. Maybe you
have some other medical professionals as well depending on your or your family's health
situation. You probably have a family lawyer, a hairdresser/barber, a veterinarian, a banker,
an investment advisor, an ophthalmologist, a personal trainer, and an insurance agent. You
might use a travel agent from time to time, and the occasional lab technician as well. And
then there are the plumbers, electricians, landscapers, tree trimmers, builders, roofers, and
other contractors in our lives. The one thing all of these people have in common is you.

You, or you and your life
partner, are at the center of your
LAWYER
personal or family ecosystem.
You make the appointments,
keep the wheel of life turning,
all with one central goal - to
provide you and your famVETERINARIAN
ily with the best life that is
available to you, however you
define that life.
HAIRDRESSER /
When we as CPAs meet
BARBER
with our clients, in particular
our individual tax clients, we
should keep in mind the fact that
they too already have a collection of
professionals with whom they make
appointments, people who are helping
to keep those clients' lives in order.
And while your client is ultimately at
the center of that ecosystem, to the
extent that there are financial ramifications to consider, you also should
hold a central role.
You prepare the annual tax return

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm

NSA

and work with the client to make sure
withholdings and estimated payments
are appropriate, but what is your relationship with the client the rest of the
year? Are you content to meet once a
year and report on what happened last
year, or do you want a more proactive
role in your clients' financial lives?
I believe it's appropriate for the tax
accountant to be at the center of the
client's financial ecosystem, to oversee
and even collaborate with other professionals who are a part of your client's
lives. Helping your clients achieve
their financial goals means being able
to look at the big picture, the entire
financial view of your clients' lives.
In order to best help your clients
meet their goals, you might need to be
able to recommend other professionals
who can provide expertise that you
don't possess. Having relationships
with an attorney, an investment advisor, an insurance agent, and others

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm

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VOLUME 29, NUMBER 9
Publisher: Barry Strobel
Editor-in-Chief: Gail Perry, CPA
Managing Editor: Isaac M. O'Bannon
Contributors: Ken Berry, JD
Doug Sleeter
Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP
Kristy Short
Randy Johnston
Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP
Paul McDonald
Amy Vetter, CPA.CITP, CGMA
Becky Livingston
Brian Tankersley, CPA.CITP, CGMA
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John Higgins, CPA
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Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP, CGMA, MBA
Bob Cedergren, CPA.CITP, CGMA, CISA
Randy Johnston, MCS
Greg LaFollette, CPA.CITP, CGMA
Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA
Doug Sleeter
Sandra Wiley, PHR, SPHR
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OCTOBER 2019 ■

means you can join forces as a group
to work together toward the same
end - the wellbeing of your clients. And
meanwhile, you remain at the helm,
overseeing all of the pieces and parts
to ensure your clients' financial needs
are being met.
Your first reaction might be, "But
what if I team with another financial
professional and then they take my
clients?" Obviously, you want to vet
the professionals you work with and
agree to not poach clients from each
other. You also need to have confidence
in your own skill set and your value to
your client. When you provide value
as a tax professional, and add to that
the ability to help your clients see their
complete financial picture so that they
can achieve their personal life goals,
you're not going to need to worry about
losing clients. ■
- Gail Perry, Editor-in-Chief
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