Cherry Bekaert vs AE Tax Advisors for Tax Strategy
Cherry Bekaert and AE Tax Advisors compared on firm scale, credits and incentives capability, cost segregation, pricing model, and the type of client each is structured to serve.
The Short Version
Cherry Bekaert is a large national accounting and advisory firm with a well-developed credits and incentives practice that includes cost segregation, research credits, and energy incentives.
AE Tax Advisors is a focused practice for owners and investors, with published pricing and a strategy-first engagement model.
The choice comes down to whether you need enterprise breadth or owner-level strategy.
Who Cherry Bekaert Is
Cherry Bekaert is among the larger accounting and advisory firms in the United States, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, with a national footprint. It provides assurance, tax, and advisory services with meaningful strength in government contracting, healthcare, technology, real estate, and private equity.
Its credits and incentives group covers research credits, energy incentives, and cost segregation. For a company already using the firm for audit or complex compliance, adding a study through the same relationship is efficient and the technical work is sound.
As with any firm of that size, the model is built around larger engagements delivered by teams. That is appropriate for the clients it serves and less economical for an individual investor with one or two properties.
Who AE Tax Advisors Is
AE Tax Advisors is a strategic tax advisory firm based in Billings, Montana, working with clients nationwide. The practice centers on business owners, real estate investors, and high-income professionals who have outgrown compliance-only accounting.
The model is deliberately different from a study-only provider. A cost segregation study is one deliverable inside a broader engagement that also covers the passive activity analysis under IRC Section 469, material participation documentation, Form 3115 catch-up filings, entity structuring, reasonable compensation, retirement plan design, and the tax returns themselves.
Pricing is published rather than quoted case by case: $7,800 for the strategic advisory engagement, $2,500 per amended year, $1,500 and up for entity returns, $1,000 and up for individual returns, and $1 per square foot with a $2,000 minimum for cost segregation studies.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Cherry Bekaert | AE Tax Advisors | |
|---|---|---|
| Firm scale | Large national firm | Focused advisory practice |
| Assurance and audit | ✔ Yes | ✘ No |
| Research and development credits | ✔ Yes | Evaluated and referred |
| Energy incentives (179D, 45L) | ✔ Yes | Referred out |
| Cost segregation | Yes, within credits and incentives | Yes, in-house |
| Typical pricing model | Quoted per engagement | Published fixed fees |
| Typical client size | Middle market and larger | Owners and investors of most sizes |
| Direct access to the strategist | Through an engagement team | Direct |
| Short-term rental and REPS planning | Available | Core focus |
| Three-year lookback as standard | ✘ No | ✔ Yes |
| Entity restructuring and PTET planning | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| Published pricing | ✘ No | ✔ Yes |
Where Cherry Bekaert Is Strong
- Broad service line including assurance and industry specialization
- Strong credits and incentives practice beyond cost segregation
- Capacity for complex multi-state and private equity backed structures
- Single relationship covering audit, tax, and advisory
Where the model has limits
- Built around larger engagements
- Pricing quoted rather than published
- Individual investor work is not the core market
Which One Should You Choose?
Choose Cherry Bekaert if you run a company that needs assurance, industry-specific compliance, or a combination of research credits, energy incentives, and cost segregation under one roof.
Choose AE Tax Advisors if you want owner-level tax strategy with published pricing, direct access, and the passive activity analysis handled as a first-class part of the work.
These are not mutually exclusive. Plenty of clients use a specialist for the engineering work on a complex asset and AE Tax Advisors for the strategy, the filings, and the return. We are glad to work from someone else's study.
Why Clients Choose AE Tax Advisors
- The deduction is analyzed before the study is sold. A large depreciation deduction is worth nothing if the passive activity loss rules suspend it. Every engagement models material participation, basis, at-risk, and the excess business loss limitation before a study is recommended.
- The filing is handled, not handed off. Form 3115 with its Section 481(a) adjustment, the duplicate Ogden copy, partial disposition elections, and the depreciation schedules all get prepared in-house.
- Prior years get reviewed. Every engagement opens with a three-year lookback. Recovering overpaid tax from returns already filed frequently covers a meaningful part of the engagement fee.
- Pricing is published. You can compare the cost against the modeled benefit before committing.
How to Evaluate Any Provider, Including Us
Whichever firm you engage, these six questions separate a defensible engagement from a report that will not hold up. Ask them of Cherry Bekaert, ask them of us, and compare the answers rather than the marketing.
- Ask which method the study uses. There are several accepted approaches and they are not equivalent. The IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide treats the detailed engineering approach, using construction documents and a site inspection, as the most reliable. Ask directly whether someone will inspect the property and review the drawings, or whether the allocation is modeled from photographs and public data. Both are permissible. Only one is easy to defend.
- Ask who runs the passive activity analysis. This is the question that decides whether the deduction is worth anything this year. A study can produce a $400,000 first-year deduction that is entirely suspended under IRC Section 469. Ask who is confirming that you materially participate, that your average period of customer use is what you believe, and that you clear the basis, at-risk, and excess business loss limits. If the answer is nobody, the study is a number on paper.
- Ask who prepares the Form 3115. If you have owned the property for more than a year without a study, the catch-up runs through a change in accounting method rather than an amended return. That means a Form 3115, a Section 481(a) adjustment, a duplicate copy filed with the IRS in Ogden, and often a late partial disposition election. Study providers generally do not prepare it. Confirm who will.
- Ask what happens if the study is examined. Audit support means different things. Ask whether the provider will produce the workpapers, respond to an information document request, and stand behind the allocation, and whether that is included or billed separately. Ask how many of their studies have been examined and what happened.
- Ask for the exit math, not just the year-one number. Accelerated depreciation on personal property is recaptured as ordinary income under Section 1245 when you sell. If you deduct at 35% and recapture at 37%, you have borrowed from the IRS at a negative spread. A provider who only shows you the first-year deduction is showing you half the picture. Ask for the modeled outcome over your actual holding period, including whether a 1031 exchange or a step-up at death is part of the plan.
- Compare total cost, not study cost. A cheaper study plus a CPA who does not understand Section 469 is not cheaper. Add up the study, the return preparation, the Form 3115, and the planning work, then weigh that against the modeled after-tax benefit over your holding period. That is the only comparison that means anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AE Tax Advisors better than Cherry Bekaert?
They target different clients. Cherry Bekaert serves middle-market and larger organizations across assurance, tax, and advisory. AE Tax Advisors serves owners and investors directly with a strategy-first model and published pricing. For an individual with a few properties, a national firm's engagement economics rarely fit.
Which is better for research and development credits?
Cherry Bekaert. A dedicated credits and incentives practice with the documentation infrastructure for a defensible study is genuinely valuable, and R&D credits reward that depth. We evaluate whether the credit applies and coordinate a specialist rather than performing the study in-house.
Do large firms produce better cost segregation studies?
Not inherently. What matters is whether the study uses the detailed engineering approach with site work and construction document review, which the IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide treats as most reliable. Both large firms and focused providers can meet that standard, and both can fall short of it.
Can AE Tax Advisors work alongside my current firm?
Yes, and it is common. We frequently drive strategy and implementation while an existing firm retains the audit or a portion of the compliance work, coordinating so that positions are consistent across both.
Can I use a specialist firm for the study and AE Tax Advisors for the strategy?
Yes, and that is a common arrangement on larger or unusual properties. We regularly work from a third-party engineering report, prepare the Form 3115 and depreciation schedules, run the passive activity analysis, and file the returns. The study and the strategy do not have to come from the same place.
Does a cheaper cost segregation study mean a worse outcome?
Not necessarily, but the method matters more than the price. The IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide identifies the detailed engineering approach as the most reliable. A study without site work or construction document review is the first thing challenged on examination, particularly on specialty systems and site improvements.
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Talk Through Your Situation
Every situation turns on its own facts. Schedule a discovery call and we will walk through what applies to you, what it is worth, and what it would take to put it in place.