Turning Free Advice into a Premium Tax Planning Service

Courtney Holness, EA, MBA, CTRS, is the founder of Avant Tax Consulting and Accounting, a New Jersey–based firm that focuses on tax resolution, tax planning, tax preparation, and bookkeeping support services.

She runs a lean operation—“for the most part, I'm still a solopreneur”—with one bookkeeper supporting her. Like many small firm owners, she knew basic tax planning concepts but didn’t have a formal way to package, price, or deliver them.

Before TaxPlanIQ, her firm was built largely around bookkeeping and tax preparation. There were no dedicated tax planning engagements, no recurring tax planning revenue, and no consistent system for turning ideas into structured, high-value tax plans.

The Challenge: Scattered Suggestions, No Process, No Pricing

Courtney was already giving clients tax-saving ideas—she just wasn’t getting paid for them as a distinct service.

She might suggest an S election or a solo 401(k), but:

She wasn’t analyzing the client’s entire situation.
She didn’t have a clear, repeatable process to follow.
She didn’t know how to structure or price engagements.
She was “giving way too much away for free,” like many professionals she meets at conferences.

“I didn't have a process for it either… Having this process in place that I can follow, and then I can just rinse and repeat with each person… has been huge for me.”

“I'm pricing things better than I was before, or knowing at least how to price it, whereas before I was just giving way too much away for free.”

She also knew that bookkeeping and tax prep alone weren’t the long-term path she wanted:

Discovering TaxPlanIQ: “This Is It”

Courtney’s turning point came when she joined Dr. Jackie Meyer, CPA’s 10-day challenge, which introduced her both to Jackie's tax planning methodology and to TaxPlanIQ.
What stood out was how TaxPlanIQ made tax planning simple and accessible for a solo practitioner:

“It just made everything so easy… to put a plan together, and then all the tools and everything you needed were just so easily accessible. There are the resources in there that explain the different strategies, and it was just a one-stop shop for tax planning for me.”

The experience was more than just liking a new tool—it changed how she saw her business:

Building Repeatable, Comprehensive Tax Plans with TaxPlanIQ

Today, Courtney uses TaxPlanIQ as the backbone of her tax planning process—from analysis to proposal to client presentation.

A clear process for comprehensive planning

Instead of one-off ideas, she now builds full, stacked strategies for each client:

“One of the biggest changes is just gaining a better understanding of how to put together a full comprehensive plan, how to really maximize all of the strategies, you know, stack all the strategies together, maximize and optimize the savings, make a bigger impact for the client and for my business as well.”

TaxPlanIQ helps her:

Upload and analyze client 1040s.
Select and stack strategies that work together.
Quickly calculate and summarize projected tax savings.
Package the plan into a professional, client-ready format.

Tools and resources that support real work

Courtney repeatedly emphasized how much is built into the software:

Strategy explanations and research resources
Videos and linked documents
Detailed reports for clients
A client portal with questionnaires
Easy savings calculations

She’s also a fan of the built-in AI assistant:

“I like jAIne too. She's really helpful. I like to ask her questions. Let her pop in and assist me.”
And on top of the software itself, she values the ongoing support that comes with her Growth Plan subscription.

The Power of Coaching: Tax Lab and One-on-One Sessions

Courtney is on the TaxPlanIQ Growth Plan, which includes weekly Tax Lab sessions and one-on-one advisor calls. She sees both as crucial, especially as she refines her sales and delivery process.

“The tax lab is great, but the one-on-one sessions, I really like that I get that one-on-one personalized attention, and we can really talk through the plan in detail and thoroughly.”

Those sessions help her prepare plans she can confidently present:

“That's our time to kind of work through whatever tax plan that I have in front of me that I'm trying to finalize and get out the door so I can present to the next client and see if I can close another tax plan.”

She’s already worked with several advisors:

“They are very, very valuable… I've had Bobby, Veronica, and Samantha, and they were all awesome. Fantastic ladies to work with.”

She also appreciates that, beyond one-on-one help, there’s group support every week:

Results: More Revenue, Better Clients, and Confident Pricing

Since adding tax planning with TaxPlanIQ, Courtney has seen both qualitative and quantitative shifts in her firm.

+25%

Revenue growth driven by adding tax planning

$14K

Annual tax savings confidently proposed to clients

Value

Clear pricing power rooted in expertise and training

New revenue from tax planning

Tax planning was effectively a new service line for Avant Tax:

“The number of clients have increased on the tax planning side because I didn't have any tax planning clients at all before TaxPlanIQ. It was just mainly bookkeeping and tax preparation. So that's been great.”

That new line has contributed meaningful top-line growth:

“Revenue has increased… I would say, maybe 25%, something like that, I would say, if I had to guess. Just by adding the tax planning.”

She now regularly proposes plans with strong ROI. For example, on a recent call, she pitched a plan with about $14,000 per year in tax savings for an estimated $4,200 fee.

A new level of confidence in her value

TaxPlanIQ, combined with Dr. Meyer’s training, has given Courtney clarity about how to charge for what she knows:

“You don't have to give away all of your knowledge and expertise and advice for free. You deserve to be paid for the knowledge that you have. It took you many, many years to acquire the knowledge that we have to be able to provide this service and help people save taxes. Knowing how to structure these engagements and price them is priceless.”

She’s so convinced, she regularly advocates for this approach when she meets other practitioners:

How TaxPlanIQ Helps Advisors Build High-Value, Scalable Tax Plans

Courtney’s story is a clear example of what happens when a small firm owner stops giving away tax ideas for free and starts using a structured system to create and sell tax plans.

TaxPlanIQ is designed specifically for that shift. The software lets tax professionals upload a client’s 1040, see curated tax strategies, and quickly build a custom-branded tax plan that clearly showcases potential tax savings. For each strategy, TaxPlanIQ provides straightforward implementation steps, IRS court case references, pros and cons, and potential partners—so advisors can confidently execute, not just suggest.

That combination of technology and structure turns tax planning into a high-value, scalable service that can grow your firm’s revenue while helping clients keep more of their hard-earned money.

If you’re ready to move beyond ad-hoc advice and start presenting premium, ROI-driven tax plans like Courtney, sign up for a complimentary demo of TaxPlanIQ and see how this tax planner software can support your next stage of growth.