• Traditional tax preparation business is being threatened by the proliferation of inexpensive yet sophisticated software, making it more difficult to conduct profitable business in this area. Many people are doing their own tax work.
  
• Planners and accountants who prepare financial plans for clients on a fee basis have seen the large fees and commissions going to stockbrokers and insurance agents who implement the plans rather than keeping some of them for themselves.

What is Financial Planning?

Comprehensive Financial Planning involves gathering data on all aspects of a family's financial life, organizing it into meaningful relationships, and projecting the financial consequences of future events. It requires the maintenance of a comprehensive database and the ability to update it regularly as circumstances change. It is essential to be able to organize the data into meaningful reports that permit accurate projections into the future for effective planning.

Who needs Financial Planning?

People with children need to plan for their education. People with parents need to plan for long term health care. Young people need to plan for retirement. Older people need to manage their assets so they do not run out of money. People who will die need estate planning. Business owners need to plan for succession. All people need to manage the risks of liability, property loss, health, disability, dying too soon, and living too long. People with financial assets need to invest them in a way that provides a suitable return for their comfortable level of risk tolerance. In short, nearly everyone needs some level of Financial Planning.

Crossing the bridge to financial planning and asset management

Offering Financial Planning to your clients is a natural extension of your current business - it enables you to become the total solution to all of your clients' financial needs. Getting involved in Financial Planning is easier than you think.

ACCESS as a strategic partner

Working with a strategic partner enables you to enter the Financial Planning business at your own pace, to add value to your existing client relationships, and to improve the value of your practice. Moreover, joint marketing programs with Access Wealth Planning will most likely increase the client base of both companies.

The cutting edge of technology

Providing top level Financial Planning requires the development of an extensive database to maintain all current data and the capability of updating on a regular basis to remain current. Furthermore, it is necessary to be able to transform the data into useful reports that focus on specific needs: cash flow, retirement, education, estate valuations, tax planning, business planning, insurance needs, capital needs, disability analysis, asset management, and financial statements. Be sure to work with a firm that can provide all of these services for your clients.

Several levels of involvement

Some of the largest accounting firms have complete Financial Planning departments within their firms. This arrangement is usually impractical for the smaller firm and nearly impossible for the solo practitioner. Getting started with ACCESS will enable you to start with minimal disruption of your current practice and add services directly as you gain experience and confidence. ACCESS offers several levels of involvement in Financial Planning to suit your particular needs and the needs of your clients.

Exploring further

Your firm and ours have questions that we need to explore more fully. Please express your potential interest in Financial Planning by telling us more about your practice and what you hope to accomplish by entering this field. Then we can set a convenient time to meet and discuss how we can best work together. Don't wait for your business to slow down to start providing the services your clients need now. They will get the Financial Planning services they need with or without you, but they really want to deal with their most trusted advisor - you!