Many folks, when starting to evaluate the American Institute of Certified Tax Planner’s program, ask us about our list of tactics, as if the tax planner with the biggest list wins.
But let’s assume I gave you a list: 500 tax saving tactics. Every election, every credit, every deduction, every court case, every planning opportunity that the tax code allows.
Now what? Which one do you use?
Imagine a football coach with a list of plays, but not the wisdom to know when to choose which play, or the strategy to know in what order!
We can’t use every tactic with everybody. We know we’re not supposed to simply sell cookie-cutter tax plans. Tax advice needs to be based on the client’s facts and circumstances, and professionals have an obligation to exercise appropriate judgment, competence, and due diligence.
Which one creates the greatest benefit?
Which one creates unintended consequences?
Which one should come first?
Which one should wait?
Which ones work best together?
The list didn’t solve the problem. It merely gives you options.
So here’s the question: If all we’re selling is a list of tactics, why would anyone hire us? And why would they pay us more in the process of hiring us?
AI can generate a list.
Google can generate a list.
There are books with hundreds of strategies.
So, if tax planning is nothing more than collecting ideas, we’ve already been replaced!
But that’s not what we do.
We don’t sell tactics. We sell judgment.
We help clients understand which ideas apply, which don’t, which ideas conflict, which ideas should wait, which ideas are worth acting on today, and which people should not use any ideas at all. (Because we all know those people too. They have no business doing any idea at all.)
Notice we didn’t say knowing which tactic to use. We said making decisions, because strategy is a decision-making process.
Which is why we come back to one simple idea: It’s only good if it serves the strategy.
The tactic isn’t the value. It’s the judgment behind the tactic.
The value is making decisions. The value is in implementing the plan. The value is in the service and the relationship that generates the savings.
At AICTP, we don’t just teach our members more tactics. We teach them how to think like tax planners: how to evaluate a client’s unique situation, identify the right opportunities, weigh the consequences, and build strategies that work together to achieve the client’s goals, while maintaining the human connection and building a trusted professional relationship.
Because the value of tax planning isn’t in how many strategies you know.
It’s being trusted to know which ones to use, when to use them, and why.
Our members love finding the right solutions for their clients. Join AICTP’s community of elite tax planners and start being the hero for your clients!
