Working with CPA firms

[Pete5]

Does anyone have good suggestions for material/ideas on how to reach out an existing client base through a CPA firm? I'd like give the clients a brief overview of how our practice runs, but like to get some feed back from someone who's been through the process.


Thanks,

Pete

[Bradly T.]

Pete - I've been the CFP in a CPA firm and the regrep/advisor in an "affiliated" firm for 6 years now. It's a wonderful life!! Your marketing depends on how you are organized. By law, CPAs may not use any client's tax return information for ANY purpose other than tax preparation without prior written permission and may not especially disseminate any data base information to any third party. So, your marketing depends on your status in the CPA firm if any. In my case, the senior CPA and I are partners in a financial services firm (both of us regrep/IAR) and the CPA firm is listed as oba (outside business activity) with our BD, CPA as owner and me as an employee.


All consulting and planning is provided by CPA firm. All investment services are provided by affiliated firm. CPA firm provides two forms of marketing support: their quarterly newsletter and website promote financial planning and they include an informational advertising insert from the financial service firm in their quarterly mailer. I do not have access to tax returns without signed permission and I don't have access to data base mailing list. The CPA does a data mining for specific return criteria in third quarter to identify clients with shared issues for more specific mailings about tax strategies to consider. There is some disclosure and balancing required to satisfy all privacy and regulatory issues.



Web site is new. We're hoping to make it more interactive and responsive. We expect to add financial planning seminars about estate, tax, risk, etc. The CPA planning services do not include security analysis, allocation or investment selection services. All investing advice and service must be performed by financial service firm. Conversly, our BD does not allow planning fees by financial firm - to their loss.