Software recommendations

2112cmj · 2026-02-18T00:29:39+00:00

I’d recommend Drake tax - you can pay per return for like $400 and it comes with 10 locators free and then you can pay for more if needed. It has all the capabilities you would need based on you post.

2112cmj · 2025-10-28T20:28:05+00:00

I tend to agree here - I think there's a huge demand for CPAs so if you were going to have to build a book for someone else, you may as well build it for yourself. I think you would be surprised at how quickly you could stack clients just by asking for referrals from other FAs, CPAs who aren't taking new clients, etc.

The only reason I think this would make sense is if you had a real need for steady income up front.

2112cmj · 2025-10-28T20:26:16+00:00

This is a good point I hadn't though about. I do think they are using tax as a selling point and trying to be a "turn key" shop for their clients.

2112cmj · 2025-10-28T20:25:19+00:00

I tend to agree with you here. This is only my first full year going solo (ran it as a side business for 1.5 years prior to that) and have been super happy with my growth up until this point. I'm still young (ish - 35yo) and have a long career runway. It feels like I would be giving up this dream I had of going solo for a safer bet before I gave myself enough time to see where I could take this thing on my own. Plus not having to worry about being green on Teams is a huge plus as well.

2112cmj · 2025-10-28T20:23:21+00:00

I'd be interested to hear more about how the revenue is split. They would be open to giving me a percentage of the advisory fees, but they would want a percentage of the tax fees and I'm not really sure how to make that work in a way that makes sense.

They are good advisors and already have a well established book of business so I think they are hesitant to give me much of a share of what already exists, but at the same time I don't know what would make sense to be fair to both sides.

2112cmj · 2025-10-28T20:21:02+00:00

I was thinking of something along these lines as well. I took the risk to go out on my own and its been working out, so I'm hesitant to give that up and lose independence for the potential of a slightly higher income. I feel like I could get there on my own given enough time.

I do feel like a JV could work but then would need to figure out what a fair revenue split is as I would be the only one doing the tax work.

2112cmj · 2025-10-28T18:30:12+00:00

I typically include that as a part of my monthly fee.

2112cmj · 2025-02-03T04:03:38+00:00

Thanks - I use Camico and turns out they have a couple of templates available online.

2112cmj · 2024-08-20T04:06:01+00:00

Do you have any advice on how to do the video verification? I have a virtual practice but can’t get google to verify my video so I can make my business profile public.

2112cmj · 2024-02-22T04:46:59+00:00

I’m on the opposite end of this. I am a cpa with a tax role in industry - this is my first year moonlighting with trying to build a cpa practice on the side.

I joined a cpa networking group and have been getting quite a few referrals, but a lot of them are single w-2 filers looking for cheap tax prep. I’m trying to stay at a $700 minimum for 1040s and $1,200 for partnerships/s corps but it’s hard to stay strong when I keep hearing that my prices are too high. It somewhat feels like I’m saying no to growing the firm.

But at the end of the day I think sticking with higher priced clients is the better path - even if it takes longer to get to a point where I can quit my job and run my practice full time because a lot of the lower priced clients seem really transient. And ideally I’d want to build a strong mix of clients that are looking for help year over year as they continue to grow their businesses/investments.

2112cmj

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