Why Your Financial Advisor and CPA Must Work Together — and Why They’re Not the Same
Why Your Financial Advisor and CPA Must Work Together — and Why They’re Not the Same
It is one of the most common assumptions I hear from successful business owners: “My CPA handles all of it.”
But here’s the catch. Your CPA and your financial advisor serve very different purposes. Both are essential, but they are not interchangeable.
The CPA’s World: Looking Back
Your CPA focuses on compliance. They file tax returns, maintain records, and help navigate audits. Their work ensures what already happened is properly documented and reported to the IRS.
That role is crucial. Without it, penalties and unnecessary costs pile up quickly. But it is largely backward-looking. It tells you what happened last year.
The Advisor’s World: Looking Forward
A financial advisor, by contrast, is focused on the future. The work is about aligning capital with your life and legacy goals.
That might include:
- Stress testing retirement scenarios
- Modeling the tax impact of a business sale
- Planning charitable giving strategies
- Projecting estate tax exposure
Where a CPA closes the books, an advisor builds the map for where you are going.
Why Collaboration Matters
The real power comes when both roles are in sync. A strategy is only as strong as its execution, and that requires both foresight and compliance.
- The advisor may suggest a Roth conversion. The CPA ensures it is executed properly within the tax code.
- The advisor might model the impact of a future business exit. The CPA makes sure it is structured for maximum efficiency.
- Without both, you risk missed deductions, inefficient distributions, or even higher taxes than necessary.
Wealth grows best when strategy and compliance move together, not in silos.
Pulling It Together
High net worth families need more than a tax return each April. They need a strategy for what comes next, and a team that works together to make it real.
That is the approach I take at Pinnacle Wealth Advisory. I work alongside CPAs and estate attorneys to make sure my clients’ strategies are not only well designed but also tax efficient and legally sound.
The bottom line is simple. Your financial future deserves a team — not just a filer.
If you want to see how coordination between your advisor and CPA could save time, reduce costs, and add clarity, I would be glad to have that conversation.