Why accountants should be at the centre of the estate planning process
As an accountant, you help your clients to set up companies, trusts and self-managed super funds....
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Delivery,
Tax Planning
There is a good chance that your busy clients that are always focusing on family and running their small businesses will never quite be thinking about tax the way you will be. Even so, most accountants have their own enormous workloads to manage and navigate amongst tight deadlines. That is why ChangeGPS have created a comprehensive end of year strategy to help your clients take advantage of robust tax planning that will also help your firm maximise its profits.
Below is our practical guide to help your firm prepare everything it needs for a successful year-end.
Tax planning involves two key undertakings:
And that is why it is critically important to ensure your firm has a robust tax planning system in place that documents end-to-end, everything required to deliver the best outcomes for your clients, your team, and your business, in a timely manner.
The ChangeGPS Tax Planning System outlines everything accountants need to consider to help clients legally reduce and plan for when their tax payments are due, including:
No doubt many firms are trying to finalise 2021 tasks. Yet with a hard deadline on tax planning, between now and 30 June, there are many things your clients will need assistance with, that need to occur in a specific order.
Beyond tax planning, there are trust distribution resolutions that need to be signed, tax flow plans that need to be prepared, and in addition, FBT returns to be lodged.
Small business clients will be starting to focus on forecasts and budgets for the year, so if your firm also needs to balance 2021 catch up work with tax planning, it will be critical to know what strategies your firm will use to help clients and what the plan is for the end of year actions. Furthermore, while ChangeGPS has over 60 different tax strategies, all of which are written in plain English, nothing in those strategies replaces your firm’s own tax advice. If your firm would not use a strategy, do not use it in your scenarios. Ultimately, it is your firm’s recommendation on any strategy, so a clear understanding is essential.
ChangeGPS systemises all the calculations, strategies, reports, and communications that accounting firms need to provide clients with clear and robust plans for managing their taxes.
Using TaxPlan Pro, firms can compare unlimited scenarios versus a base case to work out how much you will save for your client when utilising particular strategies.
Scenario comparison reports can easily demonstrate the benefits of varied super contributions or trust distributions, the use of “Bucket Companies”, or dozens of other tax planning strategies. Yet, it is crucial to consider what is most important to your client and not assume that the minimal tax payable is the best outcome for the client. Understanding a client’s personal family affairs or business requirements in any given period will always be more important than simply finding the lowest amount of tax that can be legally paid.
Use the ChangeGPS TaxFlow report to automatically calculate your client’s next 18 months of tax payments, which includes the current year tax payable or refundable, PAYG tax instalments and ATO repayment plans.
ChangeGPS tax planning scenarios and forecasts work for all different types of clients and can be customised with your firm’s branding, fonts, language, and most importantly knowledge, to create a client experience beyond an advanced automation tool.
Give your clients every opportunity to see just how much value you can provide.
The ChangeGPS 2022 Year-End Game Plan VPP email shows your clients the key issues that will affect their tax payable in 2022, including the federal budget, election, and newly released draft tax rulings from the ATO that restrict how profits can be distributed from a family trust to members.
It will clearly state all the key actions that your firm will recommend along with the necessary timing and cost for them to benefit from your valuable advice.
By setting out a plan and providing a clear price, clients will have all the information they need to be assured about how you can help them and how they will be better off.
Tax planning meetings are an incredible way to introduce your clients to new services such as TaxFlow projections, asset protection and estate planning strategies, business structure adjustments, and business profit improvement and valuations.
Do not assume your clients do not want to pay for tax planning advice.
If you are providing value, they should have no problem supporting you.
Also, send tax planning to all your business clients. Tax planning is not just for the sophisticated clients used to paying high fees.
At ChangeGPS, we believe all the mums and dads of Australia should be able to get high-quality advice for a fair price. And a fair price does not mean cheap. It means that it creates value for your clients and captures value for your firm.
Below is our practical guide to help your firm prepare everything it needs for a successful year-end.
1. Have a great system
Tax planning involves two key undertakings:
- What strategies are necessary to reduce your client’s tax;
- and Informing your clients of when their tax is payable in the next 18 months.
And that is why it is critically important to ensure your firm has a robust tax planning system in place that documents end-to-end, everything required to deliver the best outcomes for your clients, your team, and your business, in a timely manner.
The ChangeGPS Tax Planning System outlines everything accountants need to consider to help clients legally reduce and plan for when their tax payments are due, including:
- What documentation is needed to engage with clients and how best to deliver that information to them
- How to de-risk your firm by having robust records of those clients that decline services
- Knowing what you can and cannot advise on - for example, illustrating the tax effects of superannuation contributions versus advising on whether it is the correct thing to do
- How to appropriately provide income and profit estimates for planning advice so that you can have meaningful conversations with your clients - and not necessarily be 100% correct.
- Know how much extra revenue your firm can generate across key advice areas
- Have an outline of your action plan which covers all timing considerations and assigns all the key responsibilities across your firm
- Adopting new processes can always be a challenge for your team, so ensure they have all the tools and resources they need to navigate these changes. At ChangeGPS we even have training sessions to assist, which can be scheduled through your Success Manager.
2. Know your game plan
No doubt many firms are trying to finalise 2021 tasks. Yet with a hard deadline on tax planning, between now and 30 June, there are many things your clients will need assistance with, that need to occur in a specific order.
Beyond tax planning, there are trust distribution resolutions that need to be signed, tax flow plans that need to be prepared, and in addition, FBT returns to be lodged.
Small business clients will be starting to focus on forecasts and budgets for the year, so if your firm also needs to balance 2021 catch up work with tax planning, it will be critical to know what strategies your firm will use to help clients and what the plan is for the end of year actions. Furthermore, while ChangeGPS has over 60 different tax strategies, all of which are written in plain English, nothing in those strategies replaces your firm’s own tax advice. If your firm would not use a strategy, do not use it in your scenarios. Ultimately, it is your firm’s recommendation on any strategy, so a clear understanding is essential.
3. Prepare with ChangeGPS tools
ChangeGPS systemises all the calculations, strategies, reports, and communications that accounting firms need to provide clients with clear and robust plans for managing their taxes.
Using TaxPlan Pro, firms can compare unlimited scenarios versus a base case to work out how much you will save for your client when utilising particular strategies.
Scenario comparison reports can easily demonstrate the benefits of varied super contributions or trust distributions, the use of “Bucket Companies”, or dozens of other tax planning strategies. Yet, it is crucial to consider what is most important to your client and not assume that the minimal tax payable is the best outcome for the client. Understanding a client’s personal family affairs or business requirements in any given period will always be more important than simply finding the lowest amount of tax that can be legally paid.
Use the ChangeGPS TaxFlow report to automatically calculate your client’s next 18 months of tax payments, which includes the current year tax payable or refundable, PAYG tax instalments and ATO repayment plans.
ChangeGPS tax planning scenarios and forecasts work for all different types of clients and can be customised with your firm’s branding, fonts, language, and most importantly knowledge, to create a client experience beyond an advanced automation tool.
4. Engage your clients
Give your clients every opportunity to see just how much value you can provide.
The ChangeGPS 2022 Year-End Game Plan VPP email shows your clients the key issues that will affect their tax payable in 2022, including the federal budget, election, and newly released draft tax rulings from the ATO that restrict how profits can be distributed from a family trust to members.
It will clearly state all the key actions that your firm will recommend along with the necessary timing and cost for them to benefit from your valuable advice.
By setting out a plan and providing a clear price, clients will have all the information they need to be assured about how you can help them and how they will be better off.
5. Grow your business
Tax planning meetings are an incredible way to introduce your clients to new services such as TaxFlow projections, asset protection and estate planning strategies, business structure adjustments, and business profit improvement and valuations.
Do not assume your clients do not want to pay for tax planning advice.
If you are providing value, they should have no problem supporting you.
Also, send tax planning to all your business clients. Tax planning is not just for the sophisticated clients used to paying high fees.
At ChangeGPS, we believe all the mums and dads of Australia should be able to get high-quality advice for a fair price. And a fair price does not mean cheap. It means that it creates value for your clients and captures value for your firm.
Make Tax Planning Client-friendly.
Book in a consultation to learn how you can streamline your End of Year process and increase revenue with ChangeGPS TaxPlan.Information that matters, just like that.
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