Interactive cloud-based platform offers simple way to bridge compliance and advisory
NEW YORK (Dec. 19, 2022) – To support the evolving role of tax practitioners as they continue to move beyond tax compliance to providing tax and financial planning advisory services, CPA.com announced today that it has formed a partner program with Asset-Map, a leading interactive, cloud-based platform that organizes an individual or family’s financial instruments into a clear, graphical layout. The interactive 'map’ can be used by tax advisors and personal financial planners to provide strategic insights into their clients’ holistic financial wellness.
As client expectations increase and more components of tax compliance become automated, the future role of the tax professional will center around packaging compliance with advisory to give clients a more comprehensive planning experience. Asset-Map supports the evolving role of tax practitioners by facilitating better human advice engagement between the advisor and the client. Advice engagement is a critical component of personalized financial planning, which includes delivering integrated guidance to clients in a structured way to help them make sound financial decisions.
“Asset-Map makes it easy for CPA tax advisors to quickly gather a holistic view of their clients’ financial life, including the gaps, opportunities and pitfalls with respect to current decisions,” said Adam Holt, CFP, CEO of Asset-Map. “This vantage enables CPAs to offer strategic insights and proactive financial advice that clients are expecting of them.”
Thousands of CPAs, tax advisors and financial planning professionals have leveraged Asset-Map solutions to help more than 1.25 million individuals and families understand their financial picture and plan for the future. Ross Riskin, CPA, PFS, Chief Learning Officer at Investments & Wealth Institute remarked, “As many tax professionals get wrapped up in the compliance side of the business and focus on accounting for events that have happened in the past – what better way to demonstrate to clients that we’re focused on helping them plan for their future as well as providing them with a visual map – an Asset-Map® Report – that helps them understand where they’ve been, where they are, and where they are going.”
Some of the key features of the Asset-Map platform include:
- Quick client data collection – Advisors can use Asset-Map’s brandable Discovery feature to invite clients to share their financial inventory in minutes.
- Visualization of household finances – The solution’s visualization tool enables advisors to see a comprehensive financial picture and advise clients on decisions that can be improved.
- Financial Fire Drill Alerts – Practitioners can instantly screen clients’ household financial well-being to determine their ability to fund disruptive life events.
- Connection to firm data sources - Asset-Map connects to numerous technology platforms, including customer relationship management (CRM), planning, portfolio management and file storage systems.
- Track progress to financial goals – The solution helps advisors and their clients identify funding gaps toward financial goals and then track their progress and required actions going forward.
“Most clients are looking to their tax advisors to provide a broader accounting of their overall financial standing but are hesitant to ask for it—and compliance work can be very transactional. When tax compliance is combined with insight and a more complete picture of overall financial health, it becomes an ongoing engagement and the value to the client rises significantly,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, the technology and business subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). “Asset Map gives CPA tax advisors a simple pathway for initiating a structured conversation with clients about tax and financial planning.”
As part of the CPA.com and Asset-Map program, AICPA members are eligible to receive an exclusive discount on the Asset-Map monthly subscription fee.
To learn about how tax advisors can expand their services around tax compliance to include strategic advisory, register to join CPA.com’s free CPE webinar, “Advice Engagement — The Next Step for Tax Practice Innovation” Jan. 11 at 3 p.m. ET.
To learn more about Asset-Map, visit cpa.com/assetmap.
About CPA.com
CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the U.S., with a growing global focus. CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA & CIMA), the most influential body of accounting and financial professionals worldwide.
About Asset-Map
Asset-Map is a Software-as-a-Process experience for financial professionals who provide in-person and remote advice. Typically included as part of the advice engagement process, Asset-Map centers around the digital visualization of household facts to build highly customized, design-thinking presentations in minutes that help advisors and their customers make better financial decisions. Asset-Map is used by thousands of professionals worldwide, having mapped over 1.25 million people and $1.5 trillion in financial instruments.
