Wealth Management: Helping Clients Help Themselves

Source: Journal of Accountancy

Authors Lewis Altfest and Walter Primoff suggest a new way for CPAs to expand their practices: Help clients put together and monitor wealth management teams. Many CPAs are getting involved in wealth management by obtaining a personal financial planning (PFP) certification. But the role the authors describe allows CPAs to provide a valuable service without the need for specialization or additional licensing.

The idea is that the CPAs act as independent advisers on a fee-for-service basis, helping clients choose, vet, and keep tabs on a team of attorneys, investment advisers, insurance experts, actuaries, and others. With their financial and analytical skills, and trusted adviser status, CPAs are well-positioned to objectively evaluate financial solutions and products recommended by the wealth management team and to ask the right questions on clients' behalf.

The article discusses the skills CPAs need in order to serve in this capacity, how to minimize liability through well-designed engagement letters and other measures, and how to charge clients for these services.

For the complete article, read “A wealth of opportunity.”

From Journal of Accountancy, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, April 2012, http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2012/Apr.