Taxes are pretty much black and white, right? That’s certainly the impression you’ll get from most tax accountants. And, if you’re looking for someone who will prepare returns and forecast quarterly estimates, that’s probably all you’ll get. But, if you’re looking for someone who can navigate the spectrum that is your unique financial situation, you’ll need a DZH Phillips CPA. We’ve pioneered an uncommon tax process called Tax Advantage that streamlines the filing and reporting of taxes and provides a springboard for long-term financial planning.

Tax Advantage

Taxes play a critical role in any effort to create and build wealth. As you strive to minimize taxes and secure wealth, you have one key partner: your tax accountant. Yet, the cost and quality of tax preparation services varies radically. Although the most common objective of tax planning and preparation is to reduce tax burden, DZH Phillips’ unique Tax Advantage process transforms the experience of filing and reporting taxes into a valuable tool for long-term financial planning.

Step 1 – Exploration

You will be matched with a DZH Phillips professional in a face-to-face meeting where we explore your financial strengths, analyze areas of vulnerability, and assess opportunities. Our staff is adept at seeing you, your family, and your business as an integrated whole. We take time to review any concerns you have and help you articulate your short- and long-term goals. During this exploration, we help you organize and critique important documents: items relating to health and medical matters, property and other assets, insurance, income and expenses. We take a fresh look at prior tax returns and, with the assistance of your attorneys, review legal documents such as trusts and wills. We attempt to discover overlap and areas of weakness or neglect as we highlight the overall strengths of your financial health.

Step 2 – Ideas

We take what we’ve discovered during exploration and match your situation with the best ideas to save tax and accomplish your financial goals: Maybe you are eligible to defer income to subsequent years, or are in a position to accelerate deductions during the current year; perhaps you qualify for deductions that a previous accountant has overlooked.

Step 3 –Projection

Here’s where the rubber meets the road: We take the ideas in Step 2 and project the actual dollar benefit to you. We then review our assumptions and recommendations with you and make any necessary revisions. Your frequent communication helps us fine-tune projections and adjust forecasts, and is the key to keeping your financial targets in sight.

Step 4 –Preparation

Tax compliance is another way of showing the results of good tax planning. Although tax filing is now a paperless process, good organization remains critical to ensure an accurate and timely filing. Simply stated, your overall goal is to save money by anticipating and avoiding any last minute crises, such as a missing document or form.

Step 5 – Observations

Much like a health check-up, our observations provide you with insightful and creative recommendations to enhance financial health. By the time you file your return, you and your DZH Phillips’ team will have confronted and resolved issues, added missing data, and conducted any additional research needed to minimize your overall tax burden and maximize future savings. This experience allows you to step back and look at the big picture: What are your life’s goals and how do taxes help or hinder you?

Step 6 – Planning

Planning is the key to achieving your financial goals. As you begin to plan next year’s strategy for minimizing tax payments and maximizing tax advantages, you’ll have ample opportunity to address any concerns and plan around critical problems, thereby contributing to a continuing assessment of your overall financial plan.

Step 7 – Client C.A.R.E.

DZH Phillips builds effective long-term relationships through our Client C.A.R.E. program. By matching you with a trusted advisor and supporting that relationship with the expertise and experience of our entire team, your goals inevitably become our goals. In our every interaction, we strive to be your trusted financial partner, and you can be sure that our full attention is devoted to how we can best achieve your specific financial goals.