Add wealth, investment, legal, and retirement planning to your pitch deck.
Clients expect services and solutions beyond what CPA firms can reasonably deliver, and we specialize in partnerships that turn skittish clients into loyal clients.
Client Retention & Growth
When high-value clients call, you have the answers, the solution, and a strategy.
We’re talking about partnership, but we want your clients to see the retirement, investment, and legal solutions for tax reduction that we offer as a service and solution delivered from your firm to your clients.
“I founded and structured Baker Wealth Strategies because I saw a business opportunity: offering CPAs a partnership model instead of a referral model and backing that up with results. It’s simple. Provide value that CPAs can see with a solution to take care of clients in a comprehensive manner.”
– Jennifer Baker, CPA, CFP®, RICP
Founder, Baker Wealth Strategies
Cash Balance Pension Plans (CBPP)
Let’s start by securing retirement income for your clients.
High-value clients expect more services from CPAs today than ever before. Baker Wealth Strategies creates cash balance plans that give your clients a tax-efficient and flexible plan for retirement income.
Clients can convert tax liability into tax-deferred retirement income.
When clients face large tax bills, a defined benefit plan gives them the ability to invest the money they’d otherwise send the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) toward retirement income. There’s no set contribution amount, so it works for business owners who have good years and bad years.
We work with actuaries to design the specifics of each CBPP on a client-by-client basis. If you work with growth-stage business owners, this is your answer when you get the call: “Why is my tax bill so high?”
Flexibility is a fit for business owners.
When we say that business owners value flexibility, we imagine that you agree. Wealthy clients and their businesses are not immune to business cycles, market downturns, and the economy’s overall effects.
With CBPPs, we start with defined outcomes and come up with the right contribution amount to achieve those outcomes. Instead of saying, “Let’s put $20,000 away and see what you get in thirty years,” we have an end result in mind before we recommend contributions. It’s a smarter and safer way to plan.
Let us talk to tough clients.
We can lead the conversation or let you lead the conversation, and that’s a decision we can make client by client. There’s information we need from your client, of course, but we’re not going to be reading a teleprompter.
We’re partners, which means we can intervene, speak to clients in plain English, and close the deal. All you have to do is say “Go.”
Our Approach
Successful partnerships are built on shared values, common goals, and a similar client base.
Who’s your ideal client, and where do you see your firm headed in the next ten years? We deliver the most value for CPAs who work with high-income business owners who are actively growing their businesses, as well as older entrepreneurs in need of succession and estate planning.
Tell us about your goals and clients, and we’ll discuss the clients we work with. If there’s alignment, there’s a great chance of a partnership.
On-Demand Solutions
What keeps you awake at night?
Our cash balance plans are highly valuable and a great place to start in a partnership, but our partnership is about flexibility and value, not selling you products and asking for referrals.
So, what’s the issue that keeps you up at night? We have a core team of experts ready to get on a call and start putting together a solution.
Client Communications
High-value clients hear good news from you.
The spotlight is always on our partners, so even as we stay in close communication before, during, and after tax season and are on-call to walk clients through processes and solutions, we conduct ourselves as if we’re part of your internal team.
Our goal is to make you irreplaceable.
Our Team
Expertise across financial, legal, estate, and portfolio management.
Our partnership gives your clients immediate access to the following:
- A strategic financial roadmap and retirement plan from a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP®)
- Entity structure and governance, asset protection strategies, estate tax planning, and comprehensive estate planning from an experienced attorney
- Investment strategies, portfolio management, and risk mitigation from our in-house Chartered Investment Counselor (CIC)
- Plans for education and college funding, as well as consultation and advice on securing scholarships to our nation’s finest universities
“Business owners want a one-stop shop, and they also don’t know what they don’t know. We are here to provide guidance based on experience and help your firm fill in the gaps for your complicated clients.
High-net-worth clients do not want to be bounced around between advisors. They want a team that will make sure nothing is missed and communicates behind the scenes.”
– Jennifer Baker, CPA, CFP®, RICP
Founder, Baker Wealth Strategies
FAQS
Here are the most common questions we get.
Do you work with CPAs nationwide, and do you have any service limitations?
Yes, we can work with CPAs anywhere in the nation because we’ve built a culture that recognizes the value of regular and open communication and has the technological skills to conduct business seamlessly, regardless of location.
We do not have any financial services limitations. We’re a full-service firm capable of handling everything from portfolio optimization to legal consultation on entity structure and succession planning.
Because we specialize in high-level planning, clients should have at least $250K in assets. While it’s critical that clients have the necessary assets for investment, there is room for flexibility depending on the circumstances.
What type of clients are your services designed for?
Our team is purpose-built for high-net-worth business owners and individuals. If that’s a good description of your ideal client, our partnership is going to bring you more.
Younger business owners who have entered the growth stage more quickly than expected are flush with cash and do not know how to put their money to work.
On the other hand, we work well with older entrepreneurs and business owners looking for tax-efficient retirement, succession, and estate planning.
What’s the revenue potential in a typical partnership?
Revenue increases when you retain high-value clients and exceed their expectations. So, it starts with client retention and growing your accounts.
The second stage is word-of-mouth referral. When we work together and deliver results for wealthy business owners, they will refer other wealthy business owners to your firm.
This is also a partnership that requires your expertise in niche-specific tax strategies and tax planning, and we will pay tax planning fees for that service.
How do you handle client communication?
We maintain an open line of communication with you and your clients, including regular meetings, to ensure we are working in alignment with your tax strategies and meeting your clients’ goals.
After each client meeting, we follow up with a detailed summary and recap of the items discussed and agreed upon, and we copy you on all communications, regardless of whether you attended the meeting.
Who is an ideal client for a CBPP?
Ideal clients are typically high-income business owners seeking substantial tax deductions and able to contribute $100K or more annually toward their retirement, as well as some funds to employees.
Plans are most efficient for single business owners or business owners with a low employer-to-employee ratio—around 1:15. These clients typically possess sufficient cash flow to provide ten years of contributions and are often older entrepreneurs nearing retirement.
Fortunately, clients do not have to meet every piece of criteria to benefit. Flexibility is a key feature of CBPPs and can be built into plans to maintain stability and deliver results.
Where can I learn more about CBPPs?
Watch Baker Wealth Strategies’ founder, Jennifer Baker, discuss CBPPs in detail with Dave Lukas, CEO of TaxPlanIQ and host of the Power Hour webinar series.
Let’s get to work.
We help CPAs gain and retain affluent clients and high-income business owners, so let’s get on a call and talk about starting a partnership.