From Dominic Bonaccorsi, CPA, CRPC

I was on a short partnership track with my former CPA firm. I had been there for 5 years, and the boss treated me like a son. I assumed I was going to spend my career there. Then, I read the job description that was similar to the one enclosed. I was intrigued.

I went through the interview process, and Jim hired me. Though I came in right before the second mini tax season and did have to start by helping with 1040 preparation, my training started shortly thereafter.

Some of the trainings were courses that the team recommend that I take. More of it was direct in-house training. Steve Kohman, one of my trainers and a top technical Roth IRA expert, collaborated with me. Then, I also trained with Shirl Trefelner who is a “charitable remainder trusts as beneficiary of an IRA account” expert. In addition, I have worked with both Matt Schwartz, a smart estate attorney, as well as Jim Lange who combines “big picture” technical ability with top marketing and sales ability.

After I was hired, we hired another CPA, Jen Hall who is well along in her training after several months. It is a great collegial environment. We combine working in the office and working from home which is much more convenient than having to go into the office every day. On the other hand, there is definite value to going to the office too.

It is natural to be skeptical of some of the claims Jim makes in the job description. You might think that Jim coerced me into writing this and that is partly true. It is, however, accurate. I would not compromise my integrity. This is a fantastic opportunity for a CPA who doesn’t want to spend the rest of his/her career preparing tax return after tax return. Although tax return preparation will still be part of your responsibilities in this role, this would be a great opportunity for someone looking to expand their horizons into the fascinating world of tax and financial planning.

From Jen Hall, CPA, CFP, CRPC

Before I even met Jim, I knew of him because my husband worked with him. I also read a few of his books which were interesting and educational. I even passed Jim’s books on to other CPAs to read. My husband, Tom Hall, is an insurance broker and has been working closely with Jim for over 15 years. Jim and he consult on a lot of cases together. One of the things he always likes about Jim is that Jim is a true fiduciary—he never asks what the commission is on the life insurance products, and always puts the clients’ needs ahead of everything else.

What I love about this position is the interesting work I am doing daily and the quality of work we provide to our clients. Yes, I have had to do some income tax preparation, and if you are hired, so will you. But the direction that Jim’s firm is going in is increasing assets under management, from which the CPA in charge of the account shares in the fees, and in preparing Financial Masterplans. We don’t have the manpower to handle all the business Jim is bringing in for both assets under management and Financial Masterplans. This surprises me because we are charging and receiving between $10,000 and $15,000 per engagement. A lot of good quality work and expertise goes into these engagements, so the clients are receiving their money’s worth.

Jim’s marketing has gone national, and he is attracting top prospects from all over the country. They tend to be nice people and are very intelligent. They also typically have at least a million dollars in their IRA, and usually much more. We are saving the clients and their families a substantial amount of money through our advanced planning techniques.

The other thing I like about working here is that Jim’s strategies and the way he practices encourages people to give and leave money to the charities they support. Jim was one of the first authors to “run the numbers” on charitable remainder trusts as beneficiaries of a retirement plan. Jim’s article, Who Gets What, though seemingly simple, has saved a lot of clients many thousands of dollars.

I thoroughly enjoy working with Jim and his team. The thing I like best is the interesting retirement planning work we do for our clients and how much ‘peace of mind’ we provide to our clients. I was amazed at the amount of time and resources the firm invested in training me before I was able to meet with our clients. Lastly, I also enjoy the hours and our limited 60-day tax season too!