Keep the first engagement contained. You’re not promising to redesign every part of the client's financial life. Instead, you’re agreeing to review a defined set of information while identifying appropriate planning opportunities. You’ll be estimating the potential tax impact, recommending actions, and explaining what needs to happen next.
A simple first engagement might look like this:
|
Stage |
What happens |
|
Scope |
Define what you are reviewing, what planning services are included, and what is outside the engagement |
|
Intake |
Collect the most recent return plus current-year changes that may affect the plan |
|
Analysis |
Identify applicable strategies and estimate potential tax savings |
|
Review |
Validate assumptions, calculations, eligibility, timing, and implementation requirements |
|
Deliverable |
Present the recommended strategies, estimated savings, deadlines, and next steps |
|
Implementation |
Complete the agreed work or coordinate with the professionals responsible for implementation |
Put the scope in writing before you start. AICPA guidance describes an engagement letter as the contract establishing the services being provided and notes that it can define the scope, duration, and pricing of the relationship.
For your first few plans, don't promise an artificially fast turnaround. A reasonable internal workflow might move from signed engagement and document collection, to analysis and review, to a client presentation over several business days. The exact timing should depend on the complexity of the client and how fast you receive complete information from them.
The client should end up with something more useful than a spreadsheet full of calculations. They should understand what you found, what it could mean financially, such as their ROI, and what actions are required next.
Solo Accountants Benefit from Using Tax Planning Software Like TaxPlanIQ
If you’re a solo accountant, your list size might vary. Some have only a handful of clients as they genuinely are just getting started…maybe they even still have a job elsewhere and are just doing it on the side. Other solo accountants could be 20-year veterans who’ve consciously chosen never to add employees but have a large book of clients they serve.
The point is, however, that your first planning client is likely already in your tax prep list. A solo accountant doesn’t need to start with their most complicated client, or the one with the biggest tax bill. That client can eventually be served, of course. But sometimes it’s better to start with a more simple case as you try your first tax plan.
Ideally you start with a client that is someone who you understand their situation well and where there is enough opportunity to justify a separate planning engagement. Maybe they’ve been a long-time client.
Look for a client with big tax liability, of course, or maybe a profitable business or if they’ve got other planning variables. Perhaps they have a history of asking you how to reduce taxes. Most importantly is they have a good working relationship with you…so they trust you already.
If you have 200+ clients and don't know where to start, software can help narrow the list. TaxPlanIQ's current 1040 uploader can process up to 100 returns at once, surface strategy opportunities, and prioritize clients based on potential savings.
There isn't one correct fee for a first tax plan. But there is one mistake that is easy to make: charging very little because you're doing it for the first time.
Your client isn't buying your first attempt at a new service. And you shouldn’t reveal that to them; it would only cause them fear and doubt you. They're buying analysis, recommendations, and guidance, and they need confidence in you.
TaxPlanIQ's guidance uses pricing set before the engagement, based on multiple factors including something we call CURB, which is a whole other topic for a different article. Nonetheless, many TaxPlanIQ users are charging over $5,000 to $10,000 per tax plan, depending on the size and complexity of the engagement. Some can reach higher to $100,000. So use those numbers as a useful benchmark, not a rule for what every accountant must charge.
For engagement number one, TaxPlanIQ will suggest a price to take that load off of you.
Ask yourself: Can this software help me get from a client's existing tax information to a paid, client-ready plan?
For your first engagement, the minimum setup is fairly small. You need tax planning software that can help identify and evaluate strategies, and a professional client deliverable.
Once you are doing planning across a larger portion of your list, your needs change. Client prioritization becomes more important. So do projections, scenario modeling, and entity comparisons.
TaxPlanIQ has all of this and is specifically positioned for solo firm owners starting tax planning.
The sign-in screen with TaxPlanIQ Projections
Look at onboarding. A large strategy library isn't very useful if you don't know how to turn it into your first client engagement. Look for training that covers the software and the business process around it, including client selection, pricing, presentation, and implementation. TaxPlanIQ has The Advisor Accelerator Program with 1:1 live sessions with tax professionals, business coaches and software training specialists to help you sell your first plan within 45 days. Plus ongoing support and quarterly checkins with a Customer Success Manager.
Look at the strategy library. TaxPlanIQ currently includes more than 130 advanced planning strategies, along with its jAIne AI tax assistant and several weekly tax planning sessions to support solo accountants. The goal is specifically built around matching clients to strategies, quantifying savings, landing on a price and winning the business.
Look at the client-facing output. Finding a strategy isn't the same as selling and delivering a planning engagement. Your software should make the recommendation understandable to the average client, with clear ROI so they can see the value.
You don't need to build an entire tax advisory department before you sell your first tax plan. A solo accountant generally doesn’t need extra user seats, a complicated outbound marketing system, or a separate process for every possible type of client before getting started.
You also don't need to memorize 130 tax strategies. What you do need is software that can suggest opportunities, perform calculations, organize information, and produce deliverables. Your first goal is not scale but to create a profitable engagement that you could confidently repeat.
Your client does not need a tax lecture. Start with where they are now, what you found, and the potential financial effect. TaxPlanIQ has tax professionals available to help you 1:1 before you give your first presentation, to give you tips and a process to run through so you feel more comfortable.
In general, instead of spending time explaining every tax-code detail behind a strategy, explain why you are recommending it, the estimated savings, the risks or limitations, and what the next step is.
That's also why client-facing output matters so much when choosing tax planning software for the first time. TaxPlanIQ's current workflow produces a branded ROI Summary, presentation, and detailed plan rather than leaving the accountant to create those materials manually.