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Creating a Scalable, Profitable Financial Planning Practice

posted 07-21-2022
As an advisor, you may employ a variety of models in different capacities for receipt of compensation from clients. Knowing these formats may help you make your best decision as you build your own advising practice. It is important to remember that planning can be as quick or extensive as it fits your clients' needs, your business goals, and your lifestyle. You may choose to offer one-time planning events, sketching out the bones of an end goal and the steps along the way that will bring your clients to that destination. If there is interest in revisiting that plan over time, you will likely engage in an ongoing relationship of planning throughout the years. Remember, there is room for both of these as you strive to meet your client’s evolving needs. Different Financial Models, ...
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Adding Taxes to Your Service Model - And Loving It!

posted 04-20-2022
Many financial planners start their practice with anything but tax preparation and planning in mind. They may have had a negative experience with tax prep in the past, or maybe taxes just don’t interest them as much as holistic financial planning strategy does. However, many ACP members have leaned toward incorporating tax services as part of their comprehensive model in recent years – and our team is expecting this trend to continue.  Let’s dig into the “why” behind leveraging tax services in your fee-only financial planning practice, and how it can help you to uplevel your planning model.  Is Tax Preparation an ACP Requirement? First and foremost, we want to be clear: tax preparation isn’t a requirement of ACP membership. Still, we do see ACP members tend to gravitate toward ...
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How To Jump-Start Your Financial Planning Business in 2022: Top Tips From Ten Fiduciary Fee-Only Planners

posted 01-12-2022
Recorded on location at ACP's Annual Conference held October 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia, the latest episode of the ACP podcast series is a collage of ideas from a sampling of ACP financial planners.  Advisors were asked to discuss a couple of things: A top challenge they faced and how they successfully resolved the issue; The most important lesson they’ve learned from running a successful advisory practice during the pandemic.  Ten members were featured, offering thoughts on virtual client communications, working remotely, volatile markets, mindfulness, self-care, industry organizations, helpful software, recruiting solutions, and more. Let’s dive in! 1. Live Your Best Life Frankie Corrado, Managing Director and Principal at Robertson Stephens, ...
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ACP Secrets: Unique Advice and Insights from ACP Members

posted 11-08-2021
In many ways, ACP member-owned financial planning firms operate very differently than traditional financial planners.  As such, members often have unique tips and insights to share based on experience with ACP’s fee-only holistic planning model.  In a recent webcast, we covered some ACP secrets, tips, and tricks that non-members might not know about, along with some of the unique benefits that come with ACP membership. Our panel of members shared insights and advice based on their experience as ACP members and owners of their own practices. 1. Tax Focus Adds Value for Clients One of the most significant differences between ACP members and other financial advisors is a tax focus and an emphasis on tax planning and preparation. Most ACP members offer robust tax planning ...
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Putting Your Own Stamp on an Existing Practice: A Conversation with Irfan Bhabhrawala

posted 10-05-2021
ACP Insights is a webinar series that features ACP member advisors. The series provides a platform for members to share their ACP experiences with prospective members and other interested parties. We hope that hearing from our members will help you decide if the ACP methodology of fee-only comprehensive planning is right for you. In a recent episode, we spoke with Irfan Bhabhrawala, CFP®, Owner of Arbor Financial in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He described his experience taking over an existing ACP-affiliated firm. He discovered Arbor Financial when seeking a firm to advise his parents, and in time, he joined that same firm as an employee and then bought it from his family's advisor. Taking Over an Established Practice ACP planners have taken many different paths to their financial ...
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What "Tax-Focused" Means To A Financial Advisor

posted 08-31-2021
ACP Insights is a webinar series that features ACP member advisors. The series provides a platform for members to share their ACP experiences with prospective members and other interested parties. We hope that hearing from our members will help you decide if the ACP methodology of fee-only comprehensive planning is right for you. In a recent episode, we spoke with Zach Teutsch, owner of Values Added Financial. Zach is coming up on the two-year anniversary of his business. He has taken some time to reflect on his journey becoming an ACP-certified member, along with how he’s successfully incorporated ACP’s tax focus in his practice. For ACP-certified financial advisors, tax planning is an integral part of our financial planning process. ACP and Values Added Financial Zach launched Values ...
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How Comprehensive Planning Makes You Indispensable

posted 07-29-2021
ACP Insights is a webinar series that features ACP member advisors. The series provides a platform for members to share their ACP experiences with prospective members and other interested parties. We hope that hearing from our members will help you decide if the ACP methodology of fee-only comprehensive planning is right for you. In a recent episode , we spoke with ACP-certified advisor Kenneth Robinson, the president of Practical Financial Planning, who has been an ACP member for over 20 years.  We discussed how consumers often find it frustrating to coordinate the various aspects of their finances and how financial planners can stand shoulder to shoulder with clients at the center of their financial lives and deliver top-quality advice.  Read on for more advice about ...
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Life, Love, and Happiness: How This Advisor Emphasizes Personal Fulfilment in Financial Planning

posted 07-13-2021
ACP is a community of tax-focused financial advisors operating under a unique retainer-based fiduciary business model.  In our ACP Insights series, we discuss the process of creating and operating a successful financial planning practice with ACP members. We hope that hearing from our members will help you decide that the ACP methodology and fee-only comprehensive financial planning are right for you. On a recent episode of our podcast , we spoke with Laura Rotter, CFA, MBA, CFP®, a financial life planner and founder of True Abundance Advisors.  After 30 years of successfully managing money for some of the country’s biggest institutions, Laura changed lanes to personal planning. In her practice, she guides her clients to align their finances with what matters most in ...
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Transitioning to Tax Focused Practice Webinar with Ross Schmidt

posted 06-01-2021
Our ACP Insights series highlights ACP member advisors and provides a platform for our members to share their ACP experience with prospective members. We hope that hearing from our members will help you decide that the ACP methodology and fee-only comprehensive financial planning is right for you. In a recent episode, we spoke with Ross Schmidt, a financial planner with over twenty years of experience. While based in Colorado, Ross has clients from all over the country, from Maryland to Hawaii and everywhere in between. Ross has been an ACP member for over two decades and shared with us some of the benefits of ACP membership that have helped make his practice so successful. Finding ACP Before embarking on a career as a financial planner, Ross was a sales manager for a computer ...
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ACP Insights: Zero to Hero with Steve Cruice

posted 05-12-2021
Our ACP Insights series highlights ACP member advisors and provides a platform for our members to share their ACP experience with prospective members. We hope that hearing from our members will help you decide that the ACP methodology and fee-only comprehensive financial planning approach is right for you. I n  a recent episode , we spoke with Steve Cruice who founded Simply Steward in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. He transitioned from a career as a CPA at a large organization to start his own business as a fee-only fiduciary advisor and chose ACP to help him accomplish this goal. Steve needed help getting started with a financial planning business and was drawn to ACP because of the focus on comprehensive fee-only planning and tax-focused planning . Here are just ...
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Holistic Financial Planning: From Vision to Reality

posted 04-01-2021
In our recent podcast , we spoke with guest Kristen Moosmiller, EA, CFP®, founder and managing partner of NorthAvenue Financial Advocates. She described the journey that's led her and her business partner to the kind of financial planning practice many professionals wish they had. At NorthAvenue Financial Advocates, Kristen and her colleagues offer holistic financial planning services . Rather than focusing solely on investments, holistic financial planning takes a broader perspective and includes elements of financial planning such as tax planning and preparation, retirement planning, insurance needs, estate planning, and budgeting and saving. What is holistic financial planning? Holistic financial planning is a big-picture approach that takes into consideration all ...
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How and Why to Add Measurable Value with Tax-Focused Financial Planning

posted 03-10-2021
At the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners, we’re of the firm belief that tax-focused financial planning is an essential part of financial planning services. ACP operates under a fee-only retainer-based model that helps advisors deliver the best customer experience possible.  In this presentation on tax-focused financial planning , we discuss the basics of tax-focused planning, along with strategies financial planners can use to create clear value and help their customers. Why offer tax planning services Offering tax planning services works to set you apart from the competition, deliver value to your clients, and help you adhere to the fiduciary standard. Differentiation While we consider tax planning to be an important part of the financial planning process, ...
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Skills Not Taught In School: A Guide For New Advisors

posted 11-30-2020
“Practice is the hardest part of learning, and training is the essence of transformation.” Ann Voskamp Have you ever heard the saying “practice makes perfect”? In our industry, it’s more like practice makes progress. Our ACP advisors work every day to enhance their clients’ lives and breathe new life into financial planning. New advisors and career changers alike may be overwhelmed by the breadth of scholarship and practice it takes to find your space in the industry; our ACP community is here to help make that transition a little easier.  Joining a professional organization is critical to building your expertise, confidence, and niche within financial planning. Today, we are going to talk about a few elements that will help new advisors on their planning journey.  ...
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A Journey From Medicine to Financial Planning: How To Build A Career You Love

posted 11-30-2020
A picture looks different depending on your vantage. Imagine being in an airplane, thousands of miles above the ground. Immense lakes look like quaint ponds, clouds become wispy cotton candy, and houses appear to be speckled dots like freckles on a nose. As financial advisors, we see our client’s financial plan as if from an airplane. We recognize how each piece works together and can map out a productive journey to help clients get where they want to go. At least that’s how ACP advisor Cordi Powell, CFP®, EA, and owner of Favored Financial, sees it.  She says that serving clients in their financial lives is a lot like getting them to visualize the picture on the outside of a puzzle when they’re only looking at the individual pieces. Cordi’s path to financial planning and ACP is ...
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What Are the Three R's of the Retainer Model?

posted 11-04-2020
If you’ve been following our blog, you know the central role the retainer model plays in our community philosophy. ACP member Chip Simon referred to the retainer model as the “heart and soul” of his practice and detailed how ACP shaped it immeasurably.  We are fortunate to have built a system that fosters excellence, trust, care, and community in the financial space, and the retainer model is a significant part of that practice.  Today, we are going to dive into the retainer model, extracting three central tenets it provides our advisors and the clients they serve. Information for our blog today came from an ACP member feature podcast on The American Institute of CPAs, Personal Financial Planning Division. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the full episode here ...
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What Is a Niche? (And How ACP Can Help You Find One)

posted 11-04-2020
What’s your niche? You’ve probably heard this question at conference tables, Zoom meetings, coaching sessions, and more. Developing a niche can help you hone in on your ideal audience and build a strategy that best serves them. The further you can refine your niche, the better you know your audience, and the more tailored and custom your services can be.  Think about it like this. If you were shopping for luxury home decor, you’re likely not going to Target to find it. Target captures a different niche than Crate and Barel or Restoration Hardware. Each of these companies isn’t trying to serve everyone; they create specific products, experience, marketing efforts, etc. to reach their target buyer.  The same is true for your financial planning practice. Our blog today was inspired ...
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How Can ACP Benefit Your Succession Plan?

posted 09-23-2020
Succession planning is a meaningful step for any business owner. For advisors, the ability to find, hire, train, and inspire someone to take over your practice can seem like a daunting task. We are delighted to bring you a post that delves into the success a couple of our members found when building a succession plan and also seeing it through. Using the ACP System as a foundation for training and building a practice, they found that the community, resources, and education with ACP paved the way for the smooth transition as well as company growth.  The insights in our blog post today come from our webinar series and features ACP member Jacob Kuebler, owner and senior financial advisor at Bluestem Financial. The path to Bluestem Financial Jacob wasn’t always the ...
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Tax Pros, How to Launch the Planning Arm of Your Business

posted 09-23-2020
At the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners, tax is our middle name. We are a group of comprehensive, fee-only advisors who are committed to working in a client’s best interest. Many of our members apply a tax perspective to their planning, adding increased value to clients’ financial landscapes. This tax focus has led many CPAs and tax professionals to our doors. Running a successful CPA practice is no small feat, and adding a financial planning component can be difficult. But with the right resources, tools, and support in your corner, you could find that holistic planning enriches and enlivens your practice as well as the client experience. Today, we are going to show you how the resources and community at ACP can help you successfully launch the financial planning arm of your ...
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Will Your Firm Really Benefit from the Retainer Model?

posted 08-21-2020
Change is hard. It can be uncomfortable to shift the way you do things or how you approach a situation. Even a small change like taking a new route to work can seem frustrating. Diverting from the norm might not always be easy, but it can bring about some of the most important and valuable experiences of your life.  Here at ACP, our advisors come from all aspects of the financial industry. Some started careers in sales, investments, and insurance, but, inspired by the drive to provide more value for their clients, they went in search of something more. That leads them to us. One type of transition we see advisors make a lot is moving from an assets under management (AUM) financial model to our retainer-based model. This is a significant shift, one that requires advisors to adopt a new ...
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The Five Do's for a Successful Virtual Practice

posted 08-21-2020
Virtual work has become a mainstay in our society. Advisors have long been leaning into virtual work as a way to enhance their own lifestyles. With more and more people conducting business online, it provides a new avenue for advisors to work with clients remotely. Working remotely carries an important weight, especially now in the time of COVID-19. The virus forced nearly all businesses that could move to a virtual setting to do so overnight. This means that many people are navigating this space for the first time.  Given the importance of this topic, we wanted to bring you an article today that delves into the top things you need to do to build a virtual practice that both you and your clients will love. Information for our blog today was gathered from our webinar featuring ...
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Three Simple Ways to Demonstrate Your Value to Clients

posted 07-22-2020
Financial planning is a growing industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for financial services will grow by 7% through 2028, which is faster than average. With so many financial planners in the world, how can you stand out from the crowd? The best way to attract, retain, and develop strong client relationships comes down to one simple idea: value.  The value you provide clients is an integral component of a successful financial planning practice. But how can you clearly demonstrate that value to clients? That is what our team is here to help you learn today.  At ACP we know that delivering optimum value plays an important role in every aspect of your business. From client relationships to fee structures and marketing collateral, identifying and ...
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How to Make Financial Planning Your Next Career

posted 07-22-2020
Financial planning is a diverse field populated with professionals from all walks of life, educational backgrounds, and professional experiences. Each person’s journey to financial planning looks different, which enhances the services and experiences they bring to the field and future clients.  Here at ACP, we know that the path of a financial professional can be winding, but that’s what makes our field so unique. We are all on a path to grow and provide exceptional service and value to our clients; that growth can take us places we never thought possible.  Many of our members began their careers in some facet of the financial space, whether it be insurance, investments, or other sales/commission roles. But there are a number of other professionals whose careers didn’t begin in finance ...
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Why The ACP Model Is So Secure (Even Now)

posted 06-26-2020
We are living in extraordinary circumstances. The coronavirus pandemic has altered the way we conduct business, interact with colleagues, friends, and loved ones, and has altered human behavior on a global scale.  It is more than a financial downturn, it is a global health crisis that has impacted health, safety, and, of course, finances across the globe. Advisors and their clients have had some concerns over business and financial recovery, which is exactly what we want to talk about today. We are here to show you that our ACP system provides added security for advisors and their clients during these unprecedented times. How does it work? That is what you will find out. The information for this blog post was curated from our ACP Insights Webinar hosted by two of our members, ...
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How To Expand Your Tax Practice To Include Planning

posted 06-26-2020
Transition is always difficult in business. Whether you are adapting your business model, service offerings, or changing lanes altogether, the transition can bring about some hard yet necessary and ultimately rewarding developments.  Here at ACP, we see this often especially with people who began as a tax-only practice and want to expand their service offerings to include financial planning. With the high volume of traffic and workload of tax responsibilities, many CPAs are wary of adding financial planning into their already busy practices. But as many have found, financial planning not only enhances the quality and service provided to clients but also the tax work itself. Can a tax practitioner transition into a full-service financial planner and how can they do it successfully?  ...
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How (And Why) To Leave The World Of Commissions Behind

posted 05-21-2020
For decades, commissioned advisors have known that the fee-based financial planning model has gained popularity among clients and advisors alike. But the daunting task of making the switch has left many uncertain about leaving their commission lifestyles behind.  Here at ACP, our goal is to empower, teach, and guide advisors in our fee-only, fiduciary model, which not only better serves clients but also provides advisors with a business plan that works. Leaving the world of commissions isn’t easy, but we are here to help you make the transition. You need passion, hard work, diligence, and a strong sense of community, all of which ACP has in spades.  We are so excited to bring you a blog post that dives into the way we support advisors on their unique journeys into the fee-based ...
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How to Make the Transition from Sales to Holistic Planning

posted 05-21-2020
When people hear the phrase “financial planning” a few things probably come into mind: managing assets, investments, portfolios, etc. So much public perception of our industry, and sometimes the reality, is that financial planners and investment managers are one in the same.  We at ACP know a different story.  Our organization was built to show a new way to approach financial planning, an approach to embolden advisors and bolster clients, with the purpose of putting the interest of the client first.  This story vastly differs from media depictions of Wall Street hotshots and investment managers. We seek to cultivate a community of advisors whose goal is to improve the lives of their clients by taking a holistic, comprehensive approach to financial planning .  We know that ...
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Why Join ACP? The Top Tips from our Advisors

posted 04-30-2020
ACP has built its organization around dynamic, like-minded advisors who have a drive to deliver optimum value to the clients they serve. Our commitment to our fee-only fiduciary standard is what has held us and our advisors together for over 25 years. This has been our founding principle and it has allowed us to grow a wonderful community.  Our members are passionate, highly trained, motivated professionals who come from all walks of life and all types of financial planning backgrounds, bringing diversity in knowledge, education, and work experience.  Being a member of the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners provides access to a wealth of tools, resources, education, and support. But why take our word for it? Let’s turn it over to our members who have provided testimonials on how their ...
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How to Find a Community as a New Business Owner

posted 04-30-2020
You’ve taken the plunge to go into business for yourself. Congratulations! This will be an incredible adventure—one filled with ups, downs, and everything in between.  While there are so many amazing aspects to owning your own business, there are also some important changes to be aware of. In your old office, you probably had an array of coworkers and peers to help form a community. When you are in business for yourself, that community seems to evaporate overnight.  A strong sense of community is an essential component for a successful business owner. But how can you find community when you go into business for yourself? What tools and resources can help you build lasting relationships that will, in turn, make both you and your business prosper? We will explore all of this and more ...
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How To Increase Your Value Proposition With Tax Planning

posted 04-07-2020
When most people think of taxes, they think of the frantic rush to file returns by the tax filing deadline. They think of confusing tax law, rushed explanations from tax preparers, and the fear over the status of their return. Will they owe or will they get a refund; this seems to be the top concern on the minds of clients walking through your doors.  But what if you as an advisor can help change that narrative? What if you were able to transform taxes from a once-per-year filing chore into something different, something planned and understood? What if you could help your clients understand how the financial decisions they make throughout the year inform the taxes they pay? What if you could have the chance to save your clients far more money than ever before? Our advisors at ACP ...
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How To Make A Profitable Lifestyle-Focused Practice

posted 04-07-2020
For many business owners, striking the balance between a profitable business and a healthy lifestyle seems like an insurmountable feat. Most narratives about lifestyle-focused practices become synonymous with lackluster business success.  But does an emphasis on lifestyle have to be exchanged for a notable reduction in revenue? Is there an alternative to choosing between business and personal success? How can you structure a well-balanced life and a practice that provides a solid living? Here at ACP, we believe that building a profitable practice and living a life you love can and should be one and the same. But that doesn’t mean it comes without hard work, discipline, and tenacity to help get you there.  Our blog post today is based on our podcast episode, The Profitable Lifestyle ...
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The Seven Core Concepts You Need To Build A Holistic Financial Plan

posted 03-16-2020
Here at ACP, our community of advisors has a particular way of looking at household financial planning. Even though we all serve many different clients with varying demographics, household incomes, financial profiles, and goals, we come together on a core set of beliefs that fuel our practices.  Today, we want to illustrate ACP’s seven core concepts for approaching financial planning with clients. These concepts were developed by Bert Whitehead who in 1995 presented them to a group of four other professionals with the intent to change the way we approach financial planning: from institutions to people.  Bert knew that as it currently stood, the financial planning industry didn’t cater to the needs of the real people who walked into his office each day. He, like others, noticed that ...
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What Is Holistic Financial Planning? (And Why It Matters)

posted 03-16-2020
Financial planning reaches far beyond investments. It’s more than paperwork and numbers on a balance sheet; it’s about understanding and optimizing the full scope of a client’s financial horizon. We at ACP know financial planning to be a rich field with great depth and reach, but that isn’t the case for every client who walks through your doors. Sometimes the financial world can seem segmented to them, with a professional dedicated to just one area of their plan: insurance, investment, estate planning, taxes, etc.  While each area is important individually, how they inform, complement, and function together is the best way to get a comprehensive look at a financial picture. Financial planning means something different to every advisor, and for our community of advisors it ...
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