September 29, 2025 • 23 mins
In this episode of 'Keep More Money,' Kimberly Tara, CPA and certified tax coach, addresses the common issue of business owners overpaying taxes She discusses how many CPAs focus on compliance and volume rather than proactive tax strategy, which results in missed opportunities to save money. Listen to hear the eight key points to evaluate whether your current tax support is adequate, or not. Kimberly encourages listeners to re-evaluate their current CPA services now while it's not tax season.
Connect with Kimberly on Instagram: @kimberlytaracpa
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Keep More Money, thepodcast for profitable women
(00:03):
business owners who are tired ofoverpaying in taxes and tired of
chasing down their CPA,deferring to someone else for
every financial decision andgetting hit with surprise tax
bills every April.
If you've ever felt like you'llnever truly get on top of your
business finances, this show isfor you.
I'm Kimberly Tara, CPA certifiedText Coach.
Multi-business owner and mom offour littles with over a decade
(00:25):
of experience and more than 15million saved for my clients.
My mission is to educate andempower women just like you to
keep more of their money, reducefinancial stress, and create
lasting wealth.
Taxes suck, but they don't haveto hold you back.
I'll show you how to make taxstrategy simple, fun and easy to
understand.
You've worked hard for yoursuccess and now it's time to
keep more of it.
(00:45):
Let's dive in.
Welcome back to the Keep MoreMoney podcast.
I'm so glad you're here with metoday because this conversation
is going to change the way yousee your current CPA and
honestly, the way you see taxesaltogether.
Most business owners who areoverpaying in taxes aren't doing
anything wrong.
If you're here listening to thispodcast, then that's probably
(01:06):
you, right?
Yes.
You're overpaying in taxes.
But no, you're not careless.
You're not BBB with money andyou're not the problem.
The real problem is that youdon't realize your CPA isn't
doing what you actually needthem to do as a business owner.
They are reactive instead ofproactive, and the best part is
(01:28):
they don't even realize iteither.
They don't realize the harmthey're doing to you or how much
they're costing you every singleyear that your business is
profitable.
They don't realize that offeringevery type of accounting support
is doing you more harm thangood.
They don't realize that byundercharging you, they can't
(01:48):
serve you well.
And once you clearly see all ofthis, you'll never look at your
CPA.
Tax season or your business thesame way again, think of this
example that someone shared withme in email.
They were talking aboutdepreciation, and after we
pointed out some inconsistenciesand some missed opportunities,
(02:13):
this person went back to her CPAand the CPA admitted to them
that they were doing what was.
Easiest for the CPA firm, notwhat was best for the client.
Oh my goodness.
Come on.
So I want to fully dive into theexpectations you should have for
(02:33):
a top-notch CPA.
And remember, as a profitablebusiness owner, you want one
who's actually a qualified taxstrategist.
But I do wanna put thisdisclaimer out first that.
Some CPAs, accountants, taxprofessionals, whatever they
call themselves, suck.
I could tell you even morehorror stories that I've heard,
(02:54):
right?
Problems I've fixed for clientswhen they come to us.
I mean, come on.
Like doing what's easiest foryou and not what's best for the
client.
I file that under.
A, a professional who justsucks.
Okay?
So this episode, though, is moreabout the CPAs who are nice.
They do accurately prepare yourreturn.
They generally respond to youremails or calls or messages.
(03:18):
They file your return on time.
Okay?
They're, they're decent comparedto the horror stories you've
heard from others, right?
You feel like you're doingpretty okay, so this episode
isn't about the professionalswho ignore your emails, your
requests for informations orupdates, they.
don't prepare returns with wrongnumbers.
(03:39):
They ghost you right before adeadline.
speak to you in a condescendingand rude way.
If that's the type of experienceyou currently have, you
definitely need to find someonenew like now.
but by the end of this episode,you're gonna know if you have a
reactive CPA or not.
Um, you're gonna know if they'refocused on compliance only,
(03:59):
which is really just.
Checking boxes, filing forms,and reporting what already
happened in the previous yearbecause if they are, then that's
why you feel shocked by your taxbill every April.
That's why you feel like you'renot getting on top of taxes as a
business owner.
You're gonna know if they'reover committed and underserving
(04:21):
you.
You're gonna realize thatsometimes you get what you pay
for and that the investment istotally worth it in the long
run.
To work with someone who's maybea little bit higher cost, but
actually does what they saythey're going to do and actually
has the capacity for you.
So let's dig in to exactly whatthis looks like.
All the details you need to knowso you can ditch the CPA.
(04:42):
Who is the number one reasoncausing you to overpay in taxes?
I wanna start off with givingyou an example of what this
looks like in real life.
A business owner, she came to uslast year.
After her CPA had filed herreturn on paper, everything
looked quote unquote fine.
The return was filed on time,looked like the forms were
(05:03):
filled out correctly, and theIRS didn't send her any notices
in the mail.
Wasn't knocking on her door,right?
No, no jail worries here.
By all accounts, her CPA hadquote unquote done their job,
but here's what happened next.
She opened the PDF of the returnand she saw a five figure tax
bill.
She wasn't expecting, no one hadprepared her for it.
(05:26):
No one had run projections forher during the year.
No one had suggested that shemake quarterly tax payments.
Suggest she change her entitystructure.
That would be an example of likeelecting to file as an escort,
no retirement contributions,paying her kids through the
business.
Her CPA simply took her numbersand put them on the piece of
(05:48):
paper and.
When she found us, when shefound my Instagram account, that
was originally how she connectedwith us.
She told me, I thought this wasjust how taxes worked.
I thought surprise bills werenormal.
Feeling overwhelmed by taxes asa business owner was just part
of it.
And here's the thing, she's notalone.
I cannot tell you how many womencome to us, especially sending
(06:13):
me a DM on Instagram saying theexact same thing.
And they didn't realize.
They didn't know that it'sbecause their CPA is reactive
and proactive, and theycertainly don't know there's a
different way to go about it andhandle their taxes.
So when we stepped in to helpthis now client, we started with
the basics.
Quarterly planning.
(06:34):
We started running her real timenumbers throughout the year so
that she wouldn't be blindsidedagain.
Then we actually dug into taxstrategy.
We reviewed her entitystructure.
We asked her more questions.
We learned where her businesswas going in the next couple of
years.
(06:54):
We learned what her family goalswere.
And we were able to come up witha plan and make changes that
started saving her thousands ofdollars.
So she didn't even have to waitfor next tax season to roll
around to start paying less.
Because not only did she knowwhat her tax bill was gonna be
(07:14):
months in advance, but sheactually didn't even need to pay
as much in quarterly estimatesbecause we were reducing her
overall payments.
And her relief was immediate.
Immediate.
She told our team that for thefirst time, she felt like she
actually understood what washappening.
(07:36):
She wasn't just waiting for badnews in April.
She told her she finally feltlike she was in control, mostly
because she had support behindher.
And that is the biggestdifference between working with
a team who's reactive and a teamwho's proactive.
And again, it's, that's why it'sthe number one reason so many of
(07:56):
you are overpaying in taxesbecause you don't realize that
your CPA is re reactive insteadof proactive.
And you don't know how to fixit.
And you don't know where tostart because you don't know
what you don't know.
And you didn't realize thatthere was another option out
there, but now you do.
And look, I know you feel likeyou've been burned.
(08:17):
You have paid a CPA to adviseyou, but maybe you've only paid
a CPA to prepare no matter what.
You trusted that they were goingto guide you, that they were
gonna answer your questions,that they were gonna offer
strategies when they saw thatyou needed them.
And so when you open up thatreturn and you see this huge
(08:40):
balance due, it feels likebetrayal.
And so here are two things thatI want you to know that I wanna
make really, really clear.
Number one.
Your CPA was doing exactly whatyou paid them to do, which is
file your taxes.
Their role as it's traditionallydefined as we are essentially
taught in school, if they wentto school for this, which
(09:00):
hopefully they did, iscompliance.
They take your numbers, they putthem on the right firm forms,
and they send them to the IRS.
So in a sense, they did theirjob, they checked the box, but
to me and to the TCPA firm,compliance is like the bare
minimum, right?
Because compliance is good forthe IRS, it's not good for you.
And compliance alone certainlywon't save you money.
(09:21):
The second thing I need you toknow is that even if you asked
your CPA about tax strategy, andyou're like, they never answered
my questions.
They never got back to me, theynever offered this to me.
It's because they're not in aposition to give it to you.
They're not in a position toadvise you on tech strategy.
Because that's not their focusand that's not their expertise,
their business model.
(09:42):
the typical, CPA accounting firmmodel is built on volume file as
many tax returns as possible, asquickly as possible.
Answer questions only whenasked.
It's reactive work.
They're not sitting down midyearto look at your numbers.
They're not even really payingattention when they're filing
your tax return foropportunities.
Even though we have beenplanning with our clients all
(10:03):
year long, we are still reallylooking at.
The numbers and what's going onon the tax return.
And I cannot tell you how manytimes we've gotten to, have
everything for a tax return inour software and we're like,
something's not right.
This number should not be thishigh.
Like we're using our brains,we're actually digesting.
(10:24):
We're not just hamsters on awheel, typing in information and
relying on whatever the softwarespits out.
We're humans actually.
Really looking at everything onthere.
Okay?
And so that's why your CPA isnot proactively suggesting
entity changes or retirementcontributions or how to pay your
kids.
They're not thinking about yourlong-term wealth.
that's not what they're paidfor.
(10:44):
That's not what they're expertsin.
I'll say it again.
You're probably gonna get tiredof hearing me say it in this
episode, but this is the numberone reason you're overpaying.
And again, I remind you it's notbecause you failed.
It's not because you're bad withmoney.
There's nothing for you to beembarrassed about.
But it's because you've beenrelying on a reactive model that
wasn't designed to help you keepmoney, and it's gonna be hard to
(11:05):
achieve this if you don't have atrue CPA partner who actually
cares about you, your business,your success, and, really
developing a customized strategythat meets you where you're at.
And there are a lot ofmisconceptions out there when it
comes to tax advice, so Itotally get how it can be so
confusing because no one hasever proactively brought ideas
(11:26):
to you, shown up to a meetingwith, Hey, here's, here's what
we're gonna do, here's what Iwanna bring to your attention.
No one's taken the time toexplain things to you in an easy
to understand way so that youcan have a conversation back and
forth and feel confident in whatyou're telling your tax
strategist.
No one simply just checked inwith you throughout the year
(11:47):
when they haven't heard from youin a while.
You've probably tried out a fewdifferent CPAs and they were all
the same, so you're sitting herethinking to yourself, this is
it.
This is what it is.
You've talked to your fellowfemale entrepreneurs and it
seems like this type of servicethat support is normal.
And it does seem normal becausethis is, this is the norm out
there and it's so sad when Ihear somebody tell me, oh my
(12:09):
gosh, I'm so glad I found youand I have.
Dozens, tens of other women whoare like, Nope, I don't have a
good one to suggest, likesomeone is in the Facebook
group, in the school community,in the mastermind asking who has
a good CPA and tax strategistreferral?
And everyone's like, not me.
Not me.
Let me know.
If you find someone like, what?
(12:31):
Okay, but I'm here to tell youit can be different.
It can be better, and you areworthy of this.
So we are about to dive in here.
I wanna give you, let me counthow many I have.
I wanna give you eight things.
specific things to look for interms of tax support and what to
consider when you're thinkingabout if the CPA you're
(12:51):
currently working with isproviding you with the type of
service.
That you deserve.
Okay?
Because again, you don't knowwhat you don't know.
So I'm gonna tell you, intoday's episode, what you need
to know so that you can figureit out for yourself.
So number one is, are they a onestop shop?
There are so many accountingfirms out there that do
(13:12):
everything, the bookkeeping, thepayroll, the CFO, the taxes, the
tax strategy, but they don'treally do any of those things
particularly well.
Or if they are a big enough firmto have specific departments who
are experts in each of thoseareas, you're gonna get lost in
the shuffle and you're not gonnahave a personal relationship.
And so I'm not a fan of eitherof these things.
that's why, I admit openly thatI outsource my bookkeeping.
(13:35):
and we have, 13 bookkeepingfirms as tax strategy clients.
Like that is how much I believein this accounting stuff.
the separation of theseaccounting, services.
All right, so number two,credentials and qualifications.
So I'm gonna try not to, I havea whole episode about this and
out, I'm coming out with anotherone.
But look, listen to me here.
The person who owns the firm.
(13:56):
Should have credentials,qualifications, licensure, a
board of someone that theyanswer to, and the people under
them should also have some sortof degree qualification
credential.
CPA, which is a certified publicaccountant, EA enrolled agent.
They should not have an artdegree and be doing your tax
(14:16):
strategy.
'cause let me tell you, they'renot.
I'm a certified tax coach, forexample.
In addition to being a CPA, youcannot get the licensure of a
certified tax coach if you arenot either a CPA or an ea.
Qualifications and credentialsmatter in this industry and this
line of work.
Number three is experience.
Okay?
Experience matters in this lineof work.
(14:39):
We specialize in tax strategy.
For service providers, so we'renot for you.
If you are looking forbookkeeping, we're also not for
you.
If you are looking for taxstrategy and you're a
restaurant, and I'm not afraidto tell a prospective client no
and help them find the rightfit.
Okay?
Number four is the investmenttax planning, proactive
strategy, and good educatedfinancial advice that is
(15:02):
accurate.
And customized to you is onearea where you really feel like
you get what you pay for.
And it's not something that youshould cheap out on.
I'm not saying you need the mostexpensive person out there, but
going with the cheapest will notget you ahead in the long run.
Okay.
I've seen this and fix this timeand time again.
Just last week I was talking tosomeone in the dms about this
(15:22):
and she's like, oh, I'm gettingwhat I pay for, right?
Like when I heard, when she waslike, I don't think they're
doing what they're supposed tobe doing, and I asked her how
much she was paying for all ofthat, and I was like, well,
that's your problem right there.
One, they figured out that theycan't be profitable.
At that price point and offeringeverything that they are to you.
Which is funny because theycalled themselves CFOs, right?
And they just can't do it.
(15:43):
Okay?
So realize that you haveunrealistic expectations as, as
a business owner, if you areexpecting tax strategy when
you've only engaged and paid thetax professional for preparation
services.
Investment matters.
Number five is the relationship.
so once you've made sure thatthey're qualified and educated
at their role, you really needto see if they're a good fit for
(16:06):
you and your business.
How do they view therelationship you're going to
have together?
Do you like their personality?
Have they made good business andpersonal choices?
Like, are they offering servicesfor$600 a month?
That should be$2,000 a month, Iknow it seems weird to think
about this partnership as arelationship, but it really,
really is because it's importantthat you feel completely
comfortable being open andhonest with this person because
(16:29):
money and tax conversations,they can be hard.
They can be vulnerable, and youwanna make sure that your CPA,
your tax strategist is creatinga safe, supportive space for you
to share even the most difficultthings and that you can really
rely on the advice that they'regiving you.
Number six is communication.
You want and you need ongoingcommunication and support.
(16:51):
Your CPA should respond clearlyand quickly.
You should be able to get intouch with them to ask questions
within a reasonable timeframe,and I don't think that they
should nickel and dime you eachtime they have a question.
So what's what's reasonable?
We have a 72 hour response time,like that's our policy.
And the only reason we talkabout this is because I realized
(17:11):
so many.
Clients were waiting threeweeks.
Three months to get a response.
And that's just not acceptable.
And look, I'm here to tell youthat sometimes our response is,
Hey, we've received yourquestion and this isn't urgent,
and the deadline is five daysaway.
we're gonna have to get back toyou, but we've got your
question.
(17:32):
We've acknowledged you, andwe'll get to it, we promise.
And so I also want you to thinkabout here, and this is kind of
gonna lead into our next one,is, are they checking in with
you ever or is it always on you?
You need touch points throughoutthe year if they only.
Schedule a call or answer anemail.
When you reach out to them,you're probably missing
(17:54):
opportunities.
before I jump into number seven,which is proactive, which is why
I said this kind of leads intoour next one, I also want you to
just reflect on, do they explainthings to you in a clear way, in
a way that you can understand,or do you feel more confused
after you talk to them?
Do you feel like they'respeaking down to you?
Right.
You should always feel superclear on what they're doing for
(18:16):
your business, why they'rerecommending something for your
business, something that you'reagreeing to and why.
Don't be fearful to askquestions.
Number seven is proactive.
You want to make sure you'retaking advantage of all the
write offs that you can, but youdon't necessarily know what to
be looking for.
So you want a professional whonot only understands advanced
tax strategies well, but alsotakes the time to ask you the
(18:39):
right questions so that they cantake a holistic approach to your
overall business.
You want someone who's organizedand going to hold you
accountable because when youwork with someone who is
proactive and not overextendedwith too many clients.
You are going to gain clarityand confidence in your tax
strategy and truly be able tostart building the wealth
because they've got you, theyknow you.
(18:59):
And the last one, number eight,is do your due diligence.
A qualified professional, sosomeone who knows what they're
doing, someone who has a growthmindset, someone who's
proactively reaching out to youshould absolutely be saving you
more money than what you'repaying them.
Even if it's not alwaysquantifiable in tax savings, I
kind of think it should be, butsometimes it's not Their
(19:22):
knowledge, their proactiveplanning, their business advice,
the stress that they take off ofyour plate, right?
That is the person who's apartner in catapulting your
business to success.
So I think that you shouldalways interview more than one
candidate so you can see howthey're similar, how they're
different, how they answerthings, what's their approach,
and make sure that you arechoosing the one who is the best
(19:46):
fit for you.
So as we kind of round out thisepisode,'cause I don't want it
to go super long.
I've shared with you someconsiderations, and so it's time
for you to determine if you'reactually getting the support
that you deserve and that you'reworthy of in your business,
especially as your businesscontinues to grow and become
more profitable.
So first and foremost, yourcurrent CPA should be offering
(20:07):
you a personalized tax strategybased on nuances to your unique
situation, your business, yourfamily, your income levels.
There should be opencommunication, quick response
times, and a collaborativeapproach, as well as education
and creative ideas being broughtto you throughout the year.
And most importantly, it shouldbe viewed as a relationship by
(20:31):
both of you because that's whatmakes your life easier.
And they can hold youaccountable and ensure that
things don't slip through thecracks.
Because I know that while mylife and my team's life and our
firm's life, we revolveeverything around tax deadlines.
You don't.
You have your own deadlines.
You have your own goals in yourbusiness that you're focused on,
(20:53):
and you shouldn't be focused onthe taxes.
So the question is, how do youfix it?
if you're like, this is me, butwhat do I do next?
I think that step one is torecognize and acknowledge where
you're at right now.
Just be aware of it.
Say it out loud in the mirror toyourself.
you don't have to say it toanybody else, But say, I'm
definitely not getting what Ineed in my business.
(21:15):
So step two is to honestly.
Evaluate your current CPA.
Are you just getting compliancefrom them?
Are they capable of providingtax strategy for you?
Do you have a relationship withthem?
Because if not, it might be timeto start looking elsewhere.
And I don't want you to thinkthat that's scary.
I don't want you to think thatthat's more than you can handle.
It's not just bite-sized pieces.
(21:36):
And then step three is stopbelieving that strategy is a
luxury.
It's not just for biggerbusinesses.
It's not just when your CPAdecides to tell you something
about it.
It is for you right now.
If you are running a profitablebusiness, there are smaller
strategies if you're under 50 or60,000 in net income, and there
(22:00):
are more strategies, the moreprofitable you become and the
earlier you implement it, themore you save in the long run.
And that means you get to keepmore money in your pocket.
So, as I sort of close out theepisode today, I want to really
make sure that you know that thenumber one reason you're
(22:22):
overpaying in taxes isn'tbecause you failed, or you're
not good enough, or you're notcapable of this.
It's simply because you don'trealize that your CPA is
reactive instead of proactive.
And until now you didn't knowhow to fix it.
But now you do.
And so the moment that you stepinto proactive tax strategy,
everything else starts fallinginto place.
(22:44):
And so if you've been listeningtoday, and realizing that you've
been relying on a reactive CPA,someone who files your taxes but
never actually helps you fix theproblem of high taxes, then this
is your moment to change that.
I want you to send me a DM onInstagram at Kimberly Terrace
cpa and tell me the one thing,just one thing that you realized
(23:07):
from the eight action steps thatI sort of gave you the eight
things that I want you toreflect on, right?
And tell me.
I realized that I'm getting thisand that's what's holding me
back and that's why I amoverpaying and let's have a
conversation about it.
Honestly casually, but let'sfind you some help, okay?
Especially because it's stillSeptember.
(23:27):
We've still got some time, andnow is the time for you to take
action and move forward and nolonger have we still have time
so that you don't have asurprise, bill, next April, I'm
cheering you on.
I can't wait to see you nextweek on the Keep More Money
podcast and I hope you have agreat week ahead.
Bye.
Welcome to Keep More Money, thepodcast for profitable women
(00:03):
business owners who are tired ofoverpaying in taxes and tired of
chasing down their CPA,deferring to someone else for
every financial decision andgetting hit with surprise tax
bills every April.
If you've ever felt like you'llnever truly get on top of your
business finances, this show isfor you.
I'm Kimberly Tara, CPA certifiedText Coach.
Multi-business owner and mom offour littles with over a decade
(00:25):
of experience and more than 15million saved for my clients.
My mission is to educate andempower women just like you to
keep more of their money, reducefinancial stress, and create
lasting wealth.
Taxes suck, but they don't haveto hold you back.
I'll show you how to make taxstrategy simple, fun and easy to
understand.
You've worked hard for yoursuccess and now it's time to
keep more of it.
(00:45):
Let's dive in.
Welcome back to the Keep MoreMoney podcast.
I'm so glad you're here with metoday because this conversation
is going to change the way yousee your current CPA and
honestly, the way you see taxesaltogether.
Most business owners who areoverpaying in taxes aren't doing
anything wrong.
If you're here listening to thispodcast, then that's probably
(01:06):
you, right?
Yes.
You're overpaying in taxes.
But no, you're not careless.
You're not BBB with money andyou're not the problem.
The real problem is that youdon't realize your CPA isn't
doing what you actually needthem to do as a business owner.
They are reactive instead ofproactive, and the best part is
(01:28):
they don't even realize iteither.
They don't realize the harmthey're doing to you or how much
they're costing you every singleyear that your business is
profitable.
They don't realize that offeringevery type of accounting support
is doing you more harm thangood.
They don't realize that byundercharging you, they can't
(01:48):
serve you well.
And once you clearly see all ofthis, you'll never look at your
CPA.
Tax season or your business thesame way again, think of this
example that someone shared withme in email.
They were talking aboutdepreciation, and after we
pointed out some inconsistenciesand some missed opportunities,
(02:13):
this person went back to her CPAand the CPA admitted to them
that they were doing what was.
Easiest for the CPA firm, notwhat was best for the client.
Oh my goodness.
Come on.
So I want to fully dive into theexpectations you should have for
(02:33):
a top-notch CPA.
And remember, as a profitablebusiness owner, you want one
who's actually a qualified taxstrategist.
But I do wanna put thisdisclaimer out first that.
Some CPAs, accountants, taxprofessionals, whatever they
call themselves, suck.
I could tell you even morehorror stories that I've heard,
(02:54):
right?
Problems I've fixed for clientswhen they come to us.
I mean, come on.
Like doing what's easiest foryou and not what's best for the
client.
I file that under.
A, a professional who justsucks.
Okay?
So this episode, though, is moreabout the CPAs who are nice.
They do accurately prepare yourreturn.
They generally respond to youremails or calls or messages.
(03:18):
They file your return on time.
Okay?
They're, they're decent comparedto the horror stories you've
heard from others, right?
You feel like you're doingpretty okay, so this episode
isn't about the professionalswho ignore your emails, your
requests for informations orupdates, they.
don't prepare returns with wrongnumbers.
(03:39):
They ghost you right before adeadline.
speak to you in a condescendingand rude way.
If that's the type of experienceyou currently have, you
definitely need to find someonenew like now.
but by the end of this episode,you're gonna know if you have a
reactive CPA or not.
Um, you're gonna know if they'refocused on compliance only,
(03:59):
which is really just.
Checking boxes, filing forms,and reporting what already
happened in the previous yearbecause if they are, then that's
why you feel shocked by your taxbill every April.
That's why you feel like you'renot getting on top of taxes as a
business owner.
You're gonna know if they'reover committed and underserving
(04:21):
you.
You're gonna realize thatsometimes you get what you pay
for and that the investment istotally worth it in the long
run.
To work with someone who's maybea little bit higher cost, but
actually does what they saythey're going to do and actually
has the capacity for you.
So let's dig in to exactly whatthis looks like.
All the details you need to knowso you can ditch the CPA.
(04:42):
Who is the number one reasoncausing you to overpay in taxes?
I wanna start off with givingyou an example of what this
looks like in real life.
A business owner, she came to uslast year.
After her CPA had filed herreturn on paper, everything
looked quote unquote fine.
The return was filed on time,looked like the forms were
(05:03):
filled out correctly, and theIRS didn't send her any notices
in the mail.
Wasn't knocking on her door,right?
No, no jail worries here.
By all accounts, her CPA hadquote unquote done their job,
but here's what happened next.
She opened the PDF of the returnand she saw a five figure tax
bill.
She wasn't expecting, no one hadprepared her for it.
(05:26):
No one had run projections forher during the year.
No one had suggested that shemake quarterly tax payments.
Suggest she change her entitystructure.
That would be an example of likeelecting to file as an escort,
no retirement contributions,paying her kids through the
business.
Her CPA simply took her numbersand put them on the piece of
(05:48):
paper and.
When she found us, when shefound my Instagram account, that
was originally how she connectedwith us.
She told me, I thought this wasjust how taxes worked.
I thought surprise bills werenormal.
Feeling overwhelmed by taxes asa business owner was just part
of it.
And here's the thing, she's notalone.
I cannot tell you how many womencome to us, especially sending
(06:13):
me a DM on Instagram saying theexact same thing.
And they didn't realize.
They didn't know that it'sbecause their CPA is reactive
and proactive, and theycertainly don't know there's a
different way to go about it andhandle their taxes.
So when we stepped in to helpthis now client, we started with
the basics.
Quarterly planning.
(06:34):
We started running her real timenumbers throughout the year so
that she wouldn't be blindsidedagain.
Then we actually dug into taxstrategy.
We reviewed her entitystructure.
We asked her more questions.
We learned where her businesswas going in the next couple of
years.
(06:54):
We learned what her family goalswere.
And we were able to come up witha plan and make changes that
started saving her thousands ofdollars.
So she didn't even have to waitfor next tax season to roll
around to start paying less.
Because not only did she knowwhat her tax bill was gonna be
(07:14):
months in advance, but sheactually didn't even need to pay
as much in quarterly estimatesbecause we were reducing her
overall payments.
And her relief was immediate.
Immediate.
She told our team that for thefirst time, she felt like she
actually understood what washappening.
(07:36):
She wasn't just waiting for badnews in April.
She told her she finally feltlike she was in control, mostly
because she had support behindher.
And that is the biggestdifference between working with
a team who's reactive and a teamwho's proactive.
And again, it's, that's why it'sthe number one reason so many of
(07:56):
you are overpaying in taxesbecause you don't realize that
your CPA is re reactive insteadof proactive.
And you don't know how to fixit.
And you don't know where tostart because you don't know
what you don't know.
And you didn't realize thatthere was another option out
there, but now you do.
And look, I know you feel likeyou've been burned.
(08:17):
You have paid a CPA to adviseyou, but maybe you've only paid
a CPA to prepare no matter what.
You trusted that they were goingto guide you, that they were
gonna answer your questions,that they were gonna offer
strategies when they saw thatyou needed them.
And so when you open up thatreturn and you see this huge
(08:40):
balance due, it feels likebetrayal.
And so here are two things thatI want you to know that I wanna
make really, really clear.
Number one.
Your CPA was doing exactly whatyou paid them to do, which is
file your taxes.
Their role as it's traditionallydefined as we are essentially
taught in school, if they wentto school for this, which
(09:00):
hopefully they did, iscompliance.
They take your numbers, they putthem on the right firm forms,
and they send them to the IRS.
So in a sense, they did theirjob, they checked the box, but
to me and to the TCPA firm,compliance is like the bare
minimum, right?
Because compliance is good forthe IRS, it's not good for you.
And compliance alone certainlywon't save you money.
(09:21):
The second thing I need you toknow is that even if you asked
your CPA about tax strategy, andyou're like, they never answered
my questions.
They never got back to me, theynever offered this to me.
It's because they're not in aposition to give it to you.
They're not in a position toadvise you on tech strategy.
Because that's not their focusand that's not their expertise,
their business model.
(09:42):
the typical, CPA accounting firmmodel is built on volume file as
many tax returns as possible, asquickly as possible.
Answer questions only whenasked.
It's reactive work.
They're not sitting down midyearto look at your numbers.
They're not even really payingattention when they're filing
your tax return foropportunities.
Even though we have beenplanning with our clients all
(10:03):
year long, we are still reallylooking at.
The numbers and what's going onon the tax return.
And I cannot tell you how manytimes we've gotten to, have
everything for a tax return inour software and we're like,
something's not right.
This number should not be thishigh.
Like we're using our brains,we're actually digesting.
(10:24):
We're not just hamsters on awheel, typing in information and
relying on whatever the softwarespits out.
We're humans actually.
Really looking at everything onthere.
Okay?
And so that's why your CPA isnot proactively suggesting
entity changes or retirementcontributions or how to pay your
kids.
They're not thinking about yourlong-term wealth.
that's not what they're paidfor.
(10:44):
That's not what they're expertsin.
I'll say it again.
You're probably gonna get tiredof hearing me say it in this
episode, but this is the numberone reason you're overpaying.
And again, I remind you it's notbecause you failed.
It's not because you're bad withmoney.
There's nothing for you to beembarrassed about.
But it's because you've beenrelying on a reactive model that
wasn't designed to help you keepmoney, and it's gonna be hard to
(11:05):
achieve this if you don't have atrue CPA partner who actually
cares about you, your business,your success, and, really
developing a customized strategythat meets you where you're at.
And there are a lot ofmisconceptions out there when it
comes to tax advice, so Itotally get how it can be so
confusing because no one hasever proactively brought ideas
(11:26):
to you, shown up to a meetingwith, Hey, here's, here's what
we're gonna do, here's what Iwanna bring to your attention.
No one's taken the time toexplain things to you in an easy
to understand way so that youcan have a conversation back and
forth and feel confident in whatyou're telling your tax
strategist.
No one simply just checked inwith you throughout the year
(11:47):
when they haven't heard from youin a while.
You've probably tried out a fewdifferent CPAs and they were all
the same, so you're sitting herethinking to yourself, this is
it.
This is what it is.
You've talked to your fellowfemale entrepreneurs and it
seems like this type of servicethat support is normal.
And it does seem normal becausethis is, this is the norm out
there and it's so sad when Ihear somebody tell me, oh my
(12:09):
gosh, I'm so glad I found youand I have.
Dozens, tens of other women whoare like, Nope, I don't have a
good one to suggest, likesomeone is in the Facebook
group, in the school community,in the mastermind asking who has
a good CPA and tax strategistreferral?
And everyone's like, not me.
Not me.
Let me know.
If you find someone like, what?
(12:31):
Okay, but I'm here to tell youit can be different.
It can be better, and you areworthy of this.
So we are about to dive in here.
I wanna give you, let me counthow many I have.
I wanna give you eight things.
specific things to look for interms of tax support and what to
consider when you're thinkingabout if the CPA you're
(12:51):
currently working with isproviding you with the type of
service.
That you deserve.
Okay?
Because again, you don't knowwhat you don't know.
So I'm gonna tell you, intoday's episode, what you need
to know so that you can figureit out for yourself.
So number one is, are they a onestop shop?
There are so many accountingfirms out there that do
(13:12):
everything, the bookkeeping, thepayroll, the CFO, the taxes, the
tax strategy, but they don'treally do any of those things
particularly well.
Or if they are a big enough firmto have specific departments who
are experts in each of thoseareas, you're gonna get lost in
the shuffle and you're not gonnahave a personal relationship.
And so I'm not a fan of eitherof these things.
that's why, I admit openly thatI outsource my bookkeeping.
(13:35):
and we have, 13 bookkeepingfirms as tax strategy clients.
Like that is how much I believein this accounting stuff.
the separation of theseaccounting, services.
All right, so number two,credentials and qualifications.
So I'm gonna try not to, I havea whole episode about this and
out, I'm coming out with anotherone.
But look, listen to me here.
The person who owns the firm.
(13:56):
Should have credentials,qualifications, licensure, a
board of someone that theyanswer to, and the people under
them should also have some sortof degree qualification
credential.
CPA, which is a certified publicaccountant, EA enrolled agent.
They should not have an artdegree and be doing your tax
(14:16):
strategy.
'cause let me tell you, they'renot.
I'm a certified tax coach, forexample.
In addition to being a CPA, youcannot get the licensure of a
certified tax coach if you arenot either a CPA or an ea.
Qualifications and credentialsmatter in this industry and this
line of work.
Number three is experience.
Okay?
Experience matters in this lineof work.
(14:39):
We specialize in tax strategy.
For service providers, so we'renot for you.
If you are looking forbookkeeping, we're also not for
you.
If you are looking for taxstrategy and you're a
restaurant, and I'm not afraidto tell a prospective client no
and help them find the rightfit.
Okay?
Number four is the investmenttax planning, proactive
strategy, and good educatedfinancial advice that is
(15:02):
accurate.
And customized to you is onearea where you really feel like
you get what you pay for.
And it's not something that youshould cheap out on.
I'm not saying you need the mostexpensive person out there, but
going with the cheapest will notget you ahead in the long run.
Okay.
I've seen this and fix this timeand time again.
Just last week I was talking tosomeone in the dms about this
(15:22):
and she's like, oh, I'm gettingwhat I pay for, right?
Like when I heard, when she waslike, I don't think they're
doing what they're supposed tobe doing, and I asked her how
much she was paying for all ofthat, and I was like, well,
that's your problem right there.
One, they figured out that theycan't be profitable.
At that price point and offeringeverything that they are to you.
Which is funny because theycalled themselves CFOs, right?
And they just can't do it.
(15:43):
Okay?
So realize that you haveunrealistic expectations as, as
a business owner, if you areexpecting tax strategy when
you've only engaged and paid thetax professional for preparation
services.
Investment matters.
Number five is the relationship.
so once you've made sure thatthey're qualified and educated
at their role, you really needto see if they're a good fit for
(16:06):
you and your business.
How do they view therelationship you're going to
have together?
Do you like their personality?
Have they made good business andpersonal choices?
Like, are they offering servicesfor$600 a month?
That should be$2,000 a month, Iknow it seems weird to think
about this partnership as arelationship, but it really,
really is because it's importantthat you feel completely
comfortable being open andhonest with this person because
(16:29):
money and tax conversations,they can be hard.
They can be vulnerable, and youwanna make sure that your CPA,
your tax strategist is creatinga safe, supportive space for you
to share even the most difficultthings and that you can really
rely on the advice that they'regiving you.
Number six is communication.
You want and you need ongoingcommunication and support.
(16:51):
Your CPA should respond clearlyand quickly.
You should be able to get intouch with them to ask questions
within a reasonable timeframe,and I don't think that they
should nickel and dime you eachtime they have a question.
So what's what's reasonable?
We have a 72 hour response time,like that's our policy.
And the only reason we talkabout this is because I realized
(17:11):
so many.
Clients were waiting threeweeks.
Three months to get a response.
And that's just not acceptable.
And look, I'm here to tell youthat sometimes our response is,
Hey, we've received yourquestion and this isn't urgent,
and the deadline is five daysaway.
we're gonna have to get back toyou, but we've got your
question.
(17:32):
We've acknowledged you, andwe'll get to it, we promise.
And so I also want you to thinkabout here, and this is kind of
gonna lead into our next one,is, are they checking in with
you ever or is it always on you?
You need touch points throughoutthe year if they only.
Schedule a call or answer anemail.
When you reach out to them,you're probably missing
(17:54):
opportunities.
before I jump into number seven,which is proactive, which is why
I said this kind of leads intoour next one, I also want you to
just reflect on, do they explainthings to you in a clear way, in
a way that you can understand,or do you feel more confused
after you talk to them?
Do you feel like they'respeaking down to you?
Right.
You should always feel superclear on what they're doing for
(18:16):
your business, why they'rerecommending something for your
business, something that you'reagreeing to and why.
Don't be fearful to askquestions.
Number seven is proactive.
You want to make sure you'retaking advantage of all the
write offs that you can, but youdon't necessarily know what to
be looking for.
So you want a professional whonot only understands advanced
tax strategies well, but alsotakes the time to ask you the
(18:39):
right questions so that they cantake a holistic approach to your
overall business.
You want someone who's organizedand going to hold you
accountable because when youwork with someone who is
proactive and not overextendedwith too many clients.
You are going to gain clarityand confidence in your tax
strategy and truly be able tostart building the wealth
because they've got you, theyknow you.
(18:59):
And the last one, number eight,is do your due diligence.
A qualified professional, sosomeone who knows what they're
doing, someone who has a growthmindset, someone who's
proactively reaching out to youshould absolutely be saving you
more money than what you'repaying them.
Even if it's not alwaysquantifiable in tax savings, I
kind of think it should be, butsometimes it's not Their
(19:22):
knowledge, their proactiveplanning, their business advice,
the stress that they take off ofyour plate, right?
That is the person who's apartner in catapulting your
business to success.
So I think that you shouldalways interview more than one
candidate so you can see howthey're similar, how they're
different, how they answerthings, what's their approach,
and make sure that you arechoosing the one who is the best
(19:46):
fit for you.
So as we kind of round out thisepisode,'cause I don't want it
to go super long.
I've shared with you someconsiderations, and so it's time
for you to determine if you'reactually getting the support
that you deserve and that you'reworthy of in your business,
especially as your businesscontinues to grow and become
more profitable.
So first and foremost, yourcurrent CPA should be offering
(20:07):
you a personalized tax strategybased on nuances to your unique
situation, your business, yourfamily, your income levels.
There should be opencommunication, quick response
times, and a collaborativeapproach, as well as education
and creative ideas being broughtto you throughout the year.
And most importantly, it shouldbe viewed as a relationship by
(20:31):
both of you because that's whatmakes your life easier.
And they can hold youaccountable and ensure that
things don't slip through thecracks.
Because I know that while mylife and my team's life and our
firm's life, we revolveeverything around tax deadlines.
You don't.
You have your own deadlines.
You have your own goals in yourbusiness that you're focused on,
(20:53):
and you shouldn't be focused onthe taxes.
So the question is, how do youfix it?
if you're like, this is me, butwhat do I do next?
I think that step one is torecognize and acknowledge where
you're at right now.
Just be aware of it.
Say it out loud in the mirror toyourself.
you don't have to say it toanybody else, But say, I'm
definitely not getting what Ineed in my business.
(21:15):
So step two is to honestly.
Evaluate your current CPA.
Are you just getting compliancefrom them?
Are they capable of providingtax strategy for you?
Do you have a relationship withthem?
Because if not, it might be timeto start looking elsewhere.
And I don't want you to thinkthat that's scary.
I don't want you to think thatthat's more than you can handle.
It's not just bite-sized pieces.
(21:36):
And then step three is stopbelieving that strategy is a
luxury.
It's not just for biggerbusinesses.
It's not just when your CPAdecides to tell you something
about it.
It is for you right now.
If you are running a profitablebusiness, there are smaller
strategies if you're under 50 or60,000 in net income, and there
(22:00):
are more strategies, the moreprofitable you become and the
earlier you implement it, themore you save in the long run.
And that means you get to keepmore money in your pocket.
So, as I sort of close out theepisode today, I want to really
make sure that you know that thenumber one reason you're
(22:22):
overpaying in taxes isn'tbecause you failed, or you're
not good enough, or you're notcapable of this.
It's simply because you don'trealize that your CPA is
reactive instead of proactive.
And until now you didn't knowhow to fix it.
But now you do.
And so the moment that you stepinto proactive tax strategy,
everything else starts fallinginto place.
(22:44):
And so if you've been listeningtoday, and realizing that you've
been relying on a reactive CPA,someone who files your taxes but
never actually helps you fix theproblem of high taxes, then this
is your moment to change that.
I want you to send me a DM onInstagram at Kimberly Terrace
cpa and tell me the one thing,just one thing that you realized
(23:07):
from the eight action steps thatI sort of gave you the eight
things that I want you toreflect on, right?
And tell me.
I realized that I'm getting thisand that's what's holding me
back and that's why I amoverpaying and let's have a
conversation about it.
Honestly casually, but let'sfind you some help, okay?
Especially because it's stillSeptember.
(23:27):
We've still got some time, andnow is the time for you to take
action and move forward and nolonger have we still have time
so that you don't have asurprise, bill, next April, I'm
cheering you on.
I can't wait to see you nextweek on the Keep More Money
podcast and I hope you have agreat week ahead.
Bye.
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