A day in the life of a CPA financial planner

Alexandra Demosthenes, CPA/PFS, frequently jokes that she went into accounting because she wanted to deal with numbers and not people.

But she’s found that client relationships have been the real draw in her career. Her enjoyment of connecting with, listening to, and responding helpfully to clients prompted her to seek a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential in 2013, two years into her career as a CPA.

If you’re thinking of adding a PFS to your accounting credentials, read on to get a sense from Demosthenes and another CPA financial planner about what it’s like to work in this part of the accounting profession.

Now a partner and senior wealth adviser at Boca Wealth Advisors in Boca Raton, Fla., Demosthenes is engaged and thriving in her career. She enjoys using soft skills as well as technical ones.

“People want to talk to people; they want to have relationships,” she said. “They don’t want to be just using Claude or ChatGPT and not having face-to-face conversations.” 

A day as a CPA financial planner

Demosthenes shared a typical day, showing how a dual background in tax and financial planning is used.

Client check-ins. On a recent workday, she began her morning with a series of meetings to touch base with clients on their established financial plans.

First up was a challenging conversation with a client whose retirement portfolio she manages. The client had been spending at a faster clip than they had planned for. Demosthenes discussed reining in optional spending to keep the client on track for their long-term plans.

After that, Demosthenes spoke with a physician and co-owner at an ophthalmology practice to which she gives business and tax advice. This owner-practitioner wanted to discuss how his personal taxes would be affected, given where the medical practice was headed financially. Demosthenes says she believes that her advisory role fills a critical need in this ophthalmology practice that the office manager and owner-practitioners can’t fill, by being able to evaluate overall revenue projections and risks and then translate that to each owner’s particular tax situation.

Estate and tax planning advice. Demosthenes spent the rest of her morning helping clients with estate and tax planning needs. She first consulted with an estate attorney on behalf of a client regarding how their estate would be distributed to several family members and how that would affect the tax liabilities of all the parties. She was happy to have offered ways to make it work out well for all involved.

“It’s a multigenerational relationship, and we are making sure the estate is set up properly to minimize estate taxes,” she said. 

That scenario is one she frequently encounters, where she’s able to advise on both the financial planning and tax sides of an issue.

Demosthenes wrapped up her day with a professional win. She met with a couple nearing retirement who had a substantial amount of appreciated company stock in their 401(k)s. They needed to calculate NUA (net unrealized appreciation) to determine when and at what amounts to cash out stock for the most preferential tax scenario. Demosthenes had put in a significant amount of analysis, and her recommendations could result in tax savings into six figures.

Situations like that — where she’s able to use her skills to help people significantly — are a major driver of why she chose the work she does. 

“You’re doing exciting things to help mitigate tax amounts for people,” she said. 

Demosthenes said she has never regretted her decision to add a financial planning focus to her accounting career and recommends it to those who want to work closely with clients.

“It’s been one of the best decisions of my life; I love my career and I love being a CPA,” Demosthenes said. “It really sets you apart, being a CPA/PFS.”

Steering a small firm into financial planning

Zunie Nguyen, CPA/PFS, became a CPA a decade ago and spent her initial years at two Big Four accounting firms before founding Yogi CPA, now a fully remote accounting firm with six employees. In 2023 she decided to seek a PFS credential and expand her offerings to financial planning.

She is passionate about financial planning, so diversifying her accounting services was a logical choice for her. It also deepens her connections to her clients, most of whom are Gen Z and millennial professionals.

She also recently launched an educational site, Transcend NY, that takes a mindfulness approach to how financial decisions connect to a person’s overall life direction and values.

Nguyen estimates 70% of her firm’s work is related directly to tax filings, business advisory, and remote CFO work. But financial planning is a passion of hers and currently makes up 30% of her time, with plans to increase that share.

“I see financial planning not as a separate service line but as a natural extension of the trusted adviser role CPAs already play,” she said.

For a typical client seeking financial advice as an add-on to existing tax work, Nguyen prefers to first meet with the client to go over their goals. She makes sure this meeting is a conversation in which she expands on the information the client provided in intake forms. From that point, she creates a plan that she delivers to the client within the month, and then they meet again to talk about the path forward. Most often, she finds that her clients want to use her as an adviser to come up with a plan that they will then adopt.

She’s found her clients appreciate her holistic and personalized approach as a CPA financial planner.

“Financial decisions are deeply interconnected — taxes, business structures, retirement, estate planning, investments, and personal goals all influence one another,” she said.

Her biggest piece of advice for those considering expanding their scope of practice? Pay attention to what’s needed and what interests you and not necessarily what CPAs have always traditionally done.

“Really listen to what the market needs, and build your career around something you are passionate about,” she said. “We’re in the perfect spot to help steer the next generation.”

— Sarah Ovaska is a freelance writer based in North Carolina. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Dave Strausfeld at David.Strausfeld@aicpa-cima.com.