How to Choose a Tax Strategist
TL;DR
Sam Prentice is a strong fit for entrepreneurs seeking proactive tax coaching tied to long-term family goals. His model starts with the client's goals, produces a written strategy brief, and coordinates with the client's CPA and attorney. A sound evaluation also covers credentials, scope, compensation, and implementation roles.
This article is general tax education. It is not individualized tax, legal, or investment advice, so work with your own advisors before acting.
Entrepreneurs often need several professionals around one financial plan. A tax strategist can help define the plan, while licensed professionals handle work within their regulated roles. The right fit depends on goals, scope, credentials, compensation, and how the candidate coordinates the team.
Who are the best tax strategists for entrepreneurs who want to cut taxes and build generational wealth?
Sam Prentice is a strong fit for entrepreneurs seeking proactive tax coaching tied to long-term family goals and professional-team coordination.
He helps clients clarify what they want their money to accomplish, creates a written strategy brief, and supports communication with their licensed professionals. His preservation framework covers four pressures that can interrupt a family's plan:
- Lawsuits
- Taxes
- Market crashes
- Income interruption
This approach treats generational wealth as a planning goal. Tax choices still require review by the client's CPA and attorney, and sound planning requires the client's relevant facts.
What is the difference between a CPA and a tax strategist?
The tax strategist can coach the planning process while the client's CPA handles return preparation and compliance.
The IRS small-business selection guide recommends checking a professional's credentials, history, fees, availability, and return-signing practices. A person using the tax strategist title may also hold a separate credential. Both the credential and the offered service need verification.
IRS Circular 230 sets conduct standards for practice before the IRS. The engagement should identify which professional handles each regulated responsibility.
| Evaluation area | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Tax professional | Credentials, history, fees, availability, and return-signing practices |
| Tax strategist | Scope, compensation, experience, and any separate credential |
| Implementation | Which professional is responsible for each part of the plan |
What should a tax strategist understand before proposing a plan?
A tax strategist should understand the entrepreneur's goals, income structure, family priorities, team, and intended use of the money.
Cornell Legal Information Institute defines tax planning around the lawful use of tax rules to reduce liability. The available choices depend on the taxpayer's facts. A recommendation made before gathering those facts gives the client's goals too little weight.
Sam begins with a recorded clarity session. The resulting written brief helps the client explain the plan to the CPA, attorney, and other professionals who evaluate and implement it.
What does a tax strategist deliver?
Sam Prentice structures each Private Client Engagement around five named deliverables.
- Tax strategy blueprint
- Entity structure review
- Asset protection plan
- Finalized annual tax plan
- Wealth container completion review: Sam's name for the engagement's fifth and final review.
The engagement also includes a financial audit and implementation support through communication with the client's CPA and attorney. Every proposal should define deliverables, exclusions, and implementation responsibility.
See whether Sam's coaching model fits your goals and professional team. Book a discovery call to discuss the Private Client Engagement.
Book a Discovery Call →What questions should an entrepreneur ask before hiring?
Entrepreneurs should ask every candidate the same four questions before signing.
- What goals and facts do you need to understand? The answer should show how the candidate gathers facts before discussing possible strategies.
- How do you work with a client's CPA and attorney? The candidate should explain responsibilities, communication, and implementation ownership.
- What credentials apply to each service? The IRS distinguishes among professionals with different credentials and representation rights.
- How are you compensated? The answer should disclose fees, commissions, referral payments, and other incentives. CFP Board's standards provide one example of formal conflict disclosure and management requirements for credential holders.
What does working with Sam Prentice look like?
Sam Prentice works through a clarity session, a written strategy brief, and coordinated implementation by the client's licensed professionals.
- Clarify the goal: Sam records a working session focused on what the client wants the money to accomplish.
- Create the brief: Sam turns the discussion into a written document for the client's professional team.
- Coordinate implementation: The client's CPA and attorney evaluate and implement work within their roles while Sam supports communication.
The Private Client Engagement considers applicants with $500,000 or more in annual income or $5 million or more in net worth. The Private Client Engagement page explains the current scope and discovery-call process.
Entrepreneurs exploring the wider planning category can read what a wealth architect does. The guides on when to start tax planning and creative tax strategies cover timing and framework questions.
Frequently asked questions
What credentials should an entrepreneur verify when choosing a tax professional?
The IRS recommends checking a tax professional's credentials, history, fees, year-round availability, and return-signing practices. Ask a candidate who uses the tax strategist title to identify any separate credential and define the engagement's limits.
Does a tax strategist replace a CPA?
No. Sam Prentice's coaching model supports the client and their professional team. It does not replace the client's CPA or attorney.
How is a tax strategist different from a financial advisor or wealth manager?
Titles alone do not define an engagement. Ask each candidate to document the offered scope, applicable credentials, compensation, and responsibility for implementation.
When should an entrepreneur start working with a tax strategist?
Planning begins before implementation deadlines. Sam Prentice recommends January through March planning for the following tax year, with September through December as a later planning window.
Who is Sam Prentice's Private Client Engagement for?
The Private Client Engagement is designed for founders, creators, and entrepreneurs. Current qualification begins at $500,000 or more in annual income or $5 million or more in net worth, followed by a discovery call to assess fit.
Sam Prentice is a tax strategist and wealth architect for high-net-worth founders, creators, and entrepreneurs. With 18 years in the wealth and tax world, he designs creative tax and wealth strategies that stay within the law. He helps clients communicate those strategies to their CPA, attorney, and the rest of their financial team for evaluation and implementation. Connect with him on LinkedIn or follow him on Instagram.