Partners, Not Just Referrals: What Our Favorite Financial Advisors Do
We ❤️ a good financial advisor.
Claire WAS one. And when I was contemplating my next professional step five years ago, I asked my friend Claire (yes, same Claire) about her process of becoming a financial advisor because it interested me. We both appreciate the stability, value, and trust financial advisors provide, AND we’re secure enough to admit we find stuff like compound interest and building a budget cool and interesting.
Clearly, we chose another path and leaned into the tax-specific side of personal finance. And while we promise never to step on your toes, we hope it’s obvious that we built Vivify with a real passion for financial advice and the people who provide it. Claire’s experience gave us an insider’s view of what advisors look for when a client asks for a tax preparer recommendation, and we keep that in mind as we build our processes, communication, and tech stack.
(Enter the proverbial but.)
But it works best as a partnership. No matter how good our processes, communication, tech stack, or intentions, we can’t be perfect. That’s why our best advisor partners don’t just refer clients to us. They work with us. They see the need for quality tax preparers, and they want to help provide that to their clients.
We don’t want to be invited to every meeting, and we don’t want to be copied on every email (we don’t get paid enough for that!). But we do want to be thought of more than once a year, when you see your clients’ refund or tax payment hit their bank account.
10 Ways Financial Advisors Partner With Tax Preparers
Here are a few things our advisor partners are doing right now that we love, and that we hope inspire you:
Emailing us at hello@usevivify.com when a mutual client is missing from their Vivify portal account
Reminding clients that our spots fill up, so they should reach out soon if they want to work with us on their 2026 returns
Setting internal reminders to send us tax letters by February 1
Asking clients to bring a paystub to fall planning meetings to check withholding and make sure they’re maximizing tax-efficient benefits
Checking in on clients’ tax season plans and sending them to The Right Accountant, our accountant directory, as a starting point
Giving us a heads-up about current or prospective mutual clients with helpful context (e.g., this client is going through a divorce; this client is transferring accounts to us, so they’ll have double the investment accounts this year; this client will have a lot of IRA movement, and here’s what we’re doing so you have the answers ready at tax time)
Reminding clients who don’t itemize to track their cash donations, because a new deduction for non-itemizers starts in 2026
Bringing us in for planning work when the client is willing to pay our hourly fee, like a second set of eyes on 2026 projections or modeling a Roth conversion
Flagging large Q4 capital gains that might trigger an underpayment penalty
Watching for fit changes and letting us know if a mutual client might no longer qualify because of new rental property or an investment that issues a K-1
In the spirit of partnership, here’s an oldie but goodie about why we ask so many questions, and how it helps us honor the planning you’ve already done.
Have an idea for how we can work together better? Email us at hello@usevivify.com. We read every one.
