One Team Tax and Financial Planning: Why Your CPA and Financial Advisor Should Work Together
Most people with growing wealth have a CPA and a financial advisor. Fewer have a CPA and financial advisor who actually talk to each other. The CPA sees last year's return in March. The advisor sees the portfolio every quarter. Decisions that affect both, such as selling a position, converting an IRA, or taking a bonus in December, often get made with only half the information.
One team tax and financial planning means the people managing your investments and the people planning your taxes work from the same facts, on the same calendar, toward the same goals. This article explains what that looks like in practice and why the need for integrated advisory and tax guidance tends to grow as your finances get more complex.
Start Here: A Complimentary Wealth and Tax Review
The easiest way to see whether your current setup is leaving gaps is to put your tax return and your investment statements in front of one team. Compound offers a complimentary, no-obligation wealth and tax review that may include:
Your most recent tax return: items that may point to planning opportunities
Your investment accounts: how holdings are positioned across taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts
Upcoming decisions: a sale, a bonus, a business change, a gift, or retirement
Coordination gaps: places where tax and investment decisions may be working against each other
Request your wealth and tax review.
What Falls Between a Separate CPA and Financial Advisor?
When two professionals work separately, each can do excellent work and still miss something the other would have caught. Common examples:
Year-end gains with no warning. A portfolio rebalance in November realizes gains that the CPA first learns about from the 1099 in February, when it is too late to offset them.
Losses left on the table. A down market creates tax-loss harvesting opportunities, but nobody connects them to a large gain elsewhere on the return.
Roth conversions in the wrong year. A lower-income year, such as the year after a business sale or before retirement income begins, may be a good window for a conversion. If the advisor does not know about the income dip, the window can pass.
Charitable gifts made with cash. Donating appreciated securities instead of cash may be more tax-efficient, but only if someone suggests it before the check is written.
Estimated taxes out of sync. A large distribution or sale changes what is owed, but quarterly estimates stay the same until penalties appear.
Business decisions made in isolation. Equipment purchases, entity changes, or owner compensation shifts affect both the tax return and personal cash flow.
These are the kinds of issues we describe in more detail in why high income individuals may miss planning considerations without coordinated tax and wealth planning.
How One Team Tax and Financial Planning Works Across the Year
Coordination is less about a single meeting and more about a rhythm. A typical year for an integrated team may look like this:
Early in the year: review the prior year's results, set the investment and tax plan for the current year, and confirm estimated payments.
Midyear: project the full-year tax picture, review the portfolio, and flag any planned sales, bonuses, or business events.
Fall: model year-end moves such as loss harvesting, Roth conversions, charitable gifts, retirement contributions, and timing of income and deductions.
Tax season: prepare the return with full knowledge of what happened in the portfolio and why, then feed the results back into next year's plan.
With wealth management and tax planning and preparation under one roof, each step informs the next.
What Makes a Holistic Tax Planning Firm Different?
A holistic tax planning firm looks beyond a single tax year. It considers how today's decisions may affect taxes over the next five or ten years, how investments are located across accounts, how a business sale or retirement changes the picture, and how charitable and legacy goals fit in. The goal is to support after-tax wealth over time, which is a different target from the lowest possible bill this April.
For more on the concept, see what integrated tax and wealth management planning means and whether a wealth management firm can also do your taxes.
Not Your Father's Financial Firm
For many families, the traditional model was a broker for investments and a separate accountant for the annual return, with little contact between them. That model can still work for simpler situations. But for business owners, real estate investors, physicians, executives, and families planning across generations, coordination has become harder to do without. That is why some describe the integrated approach as not your father's financial firm. If you are rethinking a relationship that started with a parent, our article on working with a father's advisor may help.
See the Value of After-Tax Growth
Small improvements in after-tax returns can add up over long periods. The Compound calculator lets you test how hypothetical returns, contributions, and tax assumptions may affect long-term growth. Results are hypothetical and for illustration only.
Questions to Ask Any Firm
Do the CPAs and wealth advisors meet together about my situation?
Do you act as a fiduciary when providing investment advice?
How do you handle year-end planning across investments and taxes?
How are fees structured for tax and wealth services?
Compound works with individuals, families, and business owners throughout Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, Madison, Brookfield, Green Bay, Appleton, Kenosha, and Janesville, as well as surrounding areas. Request a complimentary wealth and tax review to see what one coordinated team may find.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is one team tax and financial planning?
It is an approach where your investment advisors and tax professionals work together on one plan, sharing information throughout the year so decisions are evaluated for both investment and tax impact.
Why is there a need for integrated advisory and tax guidance?
Many financial decisions, like selling investments, converting retirement accounts, or making charitable gifts, have tax consequences. Coordinating them may help avoid missed opportunities and surprises at tax time.
Can my CPA and financial advisor still be from different firms?
Yes, and that can work when both are proactive and communicate regularly. In practice, separate firms often coordinate less often than an integrated team does.
What does a holistic tax planning firm do?
It plans taxes over multiple years in connection with investments, retirement, business decisions, charitable giving, and legacy goals, rather than focusing only on preparing the current year's return.
Who benefits most from integrated planning?
Business owners, real estate investors, physicians, executives, and families with multiple income sources or complex assets often see the most value from coordination.
Compound is a registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. This article is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Tax laws are complex and subject to change. Strategies discussed may not be suitable for everyone, and there is no guarantee that any strategy will achieve its objectives or reduce taxes. Calculator results are hypothetical, are not guarantees of future results, and do not reflect any actual investment. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Please consult your tax, legal, and financial professionals before acting on any information in this article. For more information, see Compound's Form ADV, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov.
About Compound Wealth
Compound Wealth offers integrated tax planning, wealth management, accounting, and business transition services for business owners, professionals, real estate investors, and families. By considering these areas together, the firm provides a coordinated planning approach designed to help clients navigate financial complexity.
