{"id":13673,"date":"2018-09-25T08:00:19","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T13:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/?p=13673"},"modified":"2023-08-22T11:09:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T16:09:19","slug":"leading-with-tax-planning-employer-benefit-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accountants.intuit.com\/taxprocenter\/practice-management\/leading-with-tax-planning-employer-benefit-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading with tax planning: The employer benefit review"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Consumer optimism is high, partly due to the recent tax cuts for businesses and individuals as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act<\/a>. Rarely have clients been so interested in our expertise about how tax reform will impact them and what actions should they take today to minimize taxes.<\/p>\n

While leading firms are embracing the gift of tax reform to ramp up their tax planning and advisory services, most firms are waiting to learn more and continuing with the status quo. By waiting, firms risk missing an opportunity to increase the value they deliver to clients and to update their service offering to sustain long-term growth.<\/p>\n

Here is an engagement framework to increase your value to your clients by leading with tax planning, as well as to increase your individual tax return fees by 25 to 100 percent. It begins with refreshing your services for annual clients.<\/p>\n

Start by sending a letter to clients, building on the general message that tax reform is the most significant tax change in the past 30 years. As a result, the firm is updating the services it delivers to focus on minimizing taxes through proactive planning, rather than simply preparing tax returns after the fact. Then invite individual clients to make tax planning appointments, including reviewing clients\u2019 employer benefits. As we mentioned in a previous article, standardize your tax planning engagements<\/a> to improve your execution. Let\u2019s call this engagement the Employer Benefit Review.<\/p>\n

In your letter, define your process for efficiency. Use a linked calendar application so clients can self-schedule appointments. Lean into phone and video meetings to save clients and staff time, while increasing frequency of conversations. Provide a list of reference documents like employer benefits available and recent pay stubs. Some of the best tax planning defers or avoids income from taxation, while still providing benefits for the client, and that usually begins with the employer.<\/p>\n

Whether your clients are self-employed, government employees, or employees in corporate America, the Employer Benefit Review engagement can generally be broken down into the following categories:<\/p>\n