Can You Keep Your CPA and Hire a Tax Strategist?
A separate planning relationship can work when both professionals agree on responsibilities, document sharing, and filing deadlines. Confirm that the strategist accepts a standalone planning engagement and that your preparer is willing to review the recommendations.
The buying decision
A separate planning relationship can work when both professionals agree on responsibilities, document sharing, and filing deadlines. Confirm that the strategist accepts a standalone planning engagement and that your preparer is willing to review the recommendations.
Set the division of work first
One professional may develop projections and recommendations while another maintains the books and signs returns. Write down who checks eligibility, calculates implementation amounts, prepares elections, and answers questions. The return signer needs enough support to evaluate positions rather than simply copying a strategy summary.
Plan the handoff before a deadline
Provide relevant prior returns, accounting records, ownership documents, payroll records, and a deadline list through secure channels. Agree when the planner delivers calculations and when the preparer reviews them. A late recommendation can create additional work or miss a practical implementation window.
Resolve disagreements with facts
If the professionals disagree, ask each to identify the factual assumptions, records, and reasoning behind the conclusion. Do not select the answer solely because it produces the largest projected deduction. Ask whether an independent specialist review is appropriate for the particular issue.
A workable example
An owner wants acquisition analysis while an existing CPA continues annual filing. The planner reviews the proposed transaction and delivers a written decision memo; the CPA reviews accounting and filing treatment before closing; the owner completes assigned records and approvals. Each service needs its own fee and scope, with consent for professional coordination.
Apply this to your AE proposal
Ask AE to identify the entities, years, deliverables, implementation support, and filing work in your proposed engagement. Review current published fees and confirm exclusions in the agreement. General website content does not establish that a strategy applies to your circumstances.
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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.