All Forum Posts by: Greg O'Brien

@Mark Collins that is not correct. Deductibility does not change based on your other income. The losses generated by those deductions could become “suspended” but you would still be deducting allowable expenses (inc depreciation) against rental income

@Jamie O'Brien well said. A concept that is misunderstood by many planners and the public. A very very specific policy must be designed for YOU based on a variety of factors. For any client that wants to learn more, I would recommend 90 days of deep studying into the concept before even talking to a provider.

@Thomas Rutkowski great summary. I have seen and believe in the power of IB as a CPA through clients and my own investing. There are a lot of misconceptions out there which you have addressed

Agreed, depends on the CPA. 95% of our clients are on subscription so emails/calls are unlimited within our paremeters. More often than not, a prof service professional will charge you.

@Daniel Sabato it also varies based on your goals. If you are just looking for tax prep, it can be quite affordable. However, if you are more interested in forward thinking planning and tax reduction, a year round relationship will be an investment for you. Too often, people assume you can “tax plan” when you are preparing taxes, but that is not really the case.

Everyone does things different nowadays and the approaches mentioned above are true for some, but not all firms.

My firm doesn't do any hourly billing. Client communication is built into our model ahead of time, similar to a subscription model. So we encourage clients to call, email or send us random questions and we don't want them to be wary of getting a bill for an hour project. 

@Zach Robbins I feel your sentiment. Some mid size/large firms become "1040 mills".  They only care about production of 1040s and business returns.  I don't understand how the owners/partners even get to know their clients in these situations.  There are a lot of firms that focus on proactive planning vs compliance only.  Having a very large client base is not always a good thing from a client services point of view.  Some of the smartest tax minds I know work with just 50-100 or so clients and have little interest in taking on more. 

For what the $2k involves, there is a lot of "self education" out there for free. It won't be laid out as neatly, but if you wanted to put in the time, you could go that route. Depending on your complexity, a full blown tax plan w/ implementation could be warranted if an ROI is there in 12-18 months.

Wealthability is a marketing arm that actually just outsources to CPA firms in their "network".  A CPA firm pays a subscriber fee to them to get the leads.  It is a new concept Tom rolled out a year or so ago.  Hope that helps!

@Michael Plaks spilt milk now.  The Expense Protection Act is currently in the chambers with bi-partisan support + AICPA support.  I think the point is, yes, it is double dipping and YES they intended for this!  We should be rejoicing as I know it is going to help my clients w/ cash flow.  THIS IS A GOOD THING! 

I can answer a few ?s

- Tax Time - you now have a partnership.  You will have to file a 1065 Partnership Tax Return which will distribute K1s to the partners.  Partner's capital accounts and basis in the partnership should be tracked.

- LLC state formation - usually not necessary to do this. You will just incur extra fees. Unless you have legal protection issues, from a tax standpoint, not necessary to register in DE and then have to register in each state (MO/KS). You usually have to register where you physically are located and/or where your trade/business is. Check the state rules.

I will leave the legal questions to lawyers!  However, don't skimp on the OP agreement, I've seen them go sideways between brothers 15 years later.  Better to get all the fine details ironed out up front.