Book guides CPAs on adoption of wealth biz into their practices

A financial planner working at the intersection of wealth management and tax wrote and compiled a guide on how accountants can leap into the related but often separate field.

"Holistic Guide to Wealth Management" by Rory Henry, a director of Marina Del Rey, California-based Arrowroot Family Office, and nearly three dozen other contributors offers a blueprint into how certified public accountants should understand comprehensive planning and begin integrating it into their practices. The book is available for pre-order through the publishing arm of tax and finance news outlet CPA Trendlines.

"Historically, the professions worked in silos, and I don't think the technology was there just yet. But, as we're seeing the advancements in technology, I think we're seeing a greater integration of the professions," Henry, who's also a podcast host and a contributing writer to Financial Planning and FP sister publication Accounting Today, said in an interview. "[Clients] absolutely love it. Historically, the professions stayed in their lanes."

READ MORE: Taxes + wealth: 2 connected but still (for now) distinct fields are merging

He cited examples of how that's beginning to change, such as the rollout this year of a new certification in tax planning from The American College of Financial Services. Other developments in that regard include the addition of planning topics to the CPA exam and technology that adapts artificial intelligence into advisors' procedures or finds tax savings opportunities through, for example, ongoing loss-harvesting identification throughout the year rather than with a cumbersome manual process in the fourth quarter.

Rory Henry

"For CPAs, offering holistic wealth management services can be a game changer for your practice," Kelly Waltrich, co-founder of financial services and technology marketing consultancy Intention.ly, writes in a section of the book devoted to the communications aspect of branching into wealth management. "These services are a clear opportunity to provide top-notch guidance to clients while fueling additional revenue streams. But let's be real — simply hanging out a 'wealth management' shingle won't cut it in an industry in which competition is abundant, and differentiation is key. Making your clients and prospects aware of your expanded offerings and growing your business as a result of those offerings requires a much more targeted approach."

Other sections consist of those outlining the services in a full wealth management menu, the practice management lessons for CPAs trying to figure out what their advisory practices will need to make the transition, an appendix that delves into mental and physical health and business transformation and an opening group of essays introducing Henry's approach. 

Henry drew collaborators among some other names familiar to many financial advisors and tax professionals like planning entrepreneur, writer and podcaster Michael Kitces, Nitrogen (formerly Riskalyze) founder Aaron Klein and commission-free annuities firm CEO David Lau of DPL Financial Partners. 

In his introductory essay, Henry shares the common refrains that CPAs often say when asked why they don't provide wealth management — which are similar to those of advisors who may hesitate to discuss topics related to taxes. 

• "I don't have the time to get the appropriate licenses and certifications."
• "I don't know how to service the clients."
• "I'm afraid that a bad investment outcome during a bear market could cost me a lifetime tax client."
• "I don't understand the investment and wealth protection side well enough."
• "I don't want to sell my clients investment products."
• "I don't know how to price the services when it's not a deliverable like a tax return."
• "I'm not able to set up and manage the back end sufficiently."
• "It's not a right fit for our firm."

"As a CPA, you are the trusted guide in your client's financial life," Henry writes. "I've always believed in putting the spotlight on other people, i.e., your clients, rather than yourself. You should take pride in helping them become successful. It goes back to my notion of ROR ('return on relationship'). By guiding your client through the unpredictable and often difficult business and financial terrain of modern life, you're making your client the hero, rather than yourself."

READ MORE: Financial planner's new book ties family meetings to long-term wealth

As an illustration of how opening the new line of business may require a different way of thinking about money and careers, Henry's introduction discusses how being in an improv class has been integral to his professional development and what he gleaned from talented siblings as a middle child with a father in the banking business and a mother who was a school principal.

Rory Henry

"Mom was always reading books when I grew up, and she encouraged my siblings and I to do the same," Henry writes. "She once appeared on the TV game show, 'The $25,000 Pyramid,' and walked away with $25,000 in prize money after sailing through the rounds without missing a question. In fact, she only got one question wrong on her SATs. I also have no doubt that my mom is the source of my creative thinking and my thirst for lifelong learning. That curiosity, combined with being a voracious reader, allowed me to obtain both the CFP (certified financial planner) and BFA (behavioral financial advisor) accreditation in less than six months."

The personal side of money and finance leads directly to adapting holistic planning into previously tax or investment-management dominant businesses, Henry said.

"The glue that puts everything together is really the human-first approach, so I wanted people to learn more about Rory the human," he said. "I believe so much in relationships because I believe that's going to carry us on into the future."