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Client advisory service for business owners

Featuring Clint Costa, Senior Wealth Strategist, Choreo
clint-costa-choreo
In his role as Senior Wealth Strategist, Clint Costa, Senior Wealth Strategist, Choreo, leverages his 15-year career in legal practice to support Choreo advisers and clients in advanced transfer tax, income tax, estate, and business planning matters. Clients often call upon Clint to serve as “general counsel” in a wide array of business and personal matters.

Q How can CPAs add value to business owner clients?

A CPAs are often the primary adviser to business clients. While it can be easy for a CPA to fall into a pattern of tax compliance and related accounting work, we know that CPAs can do much more. An experienced CPA may find it hard to branch out into other services that businesses need and value. To overcome this issue and increase a CPA’s value proposition and stickiness with these clients, they should consider lending their expertise to individual clients’ estate and succession planning needs.

Q Is the impending estate tax sunset an opportunity to offer estate planning services to business owners?

A Absolutely, and it’s a great reason for a CPA to have a proactive discussion with clients about something other than business tax and accounting. Many business owners can benefit from estate planning before the sunset. With the estate tax exemption amount scheduled to decrease by approximately 50% after 2025, engaging in impactful planning could result in immediate, seven-figure estate tax savings for the right clients. CPAs should consider bringing a team approach to client estate tax planning by drafting in a planning-focused wealth management professional to aid and assist in estate planning considerations.

Q What other ways might a CPA provide timely value to business owner clients?

A The most recent Supreme Court session brought an estate tax–driven ruling from the Court that could affect many businesses. In Connelly, the Supreme Court ruled that the death benefit of company-owned life insurance should be counted in valuing the shares of a deceased owner for federal estate tax purposes, with no offset for the company’s redemption obligation. This decision would seem to give CPAs a timely and compelling reason to contact many business owners. CPAs can help their clients assess the impact of the Connelly decision on their buy/sell arrangements, especially those dependent on insurance-funded redemption arrangements.

Q What concrete steps can CPAs take if they are interested in extending more services to business owners?

A To start, CPAs should consider offering personal planning services that have a business crossover purpose. The owner’s estate plan is vital to the transition of business ownership and control. A complete personal financial statement is the cornerstone of estate planning and often serves as the basis for securing business credit lines. CPAs can help directly or be assisted by the owner’s financial adviser.

Choreo
Choreo is a wealth management firm built on an interconnected network of financial advisers with a shared vision servicing entrepreneurs, CPAs, and individuals through a forward-thinking approach to integrated tax and financial planning. With more than 40 locations, Choreo serves over 7,000 clients with approximately $24.6 billion of assets under management or advisement (as of December 2023).