The Harvest Season Strategy: Why Tax Season is the Best Time to Sell Advisory

Transcript:

Canopy Host (00:05) Hello, welcome to the next episode of Canopy’s Practice Success podcast. I’m Canopy Host, your host. Today our guest is Mark Kohler — CPA, tax attorney, and one of the most recognized tax strategists in the country.

With tax season in full swing, most firms are buried in returns and reacting to deadlines. Mark’s here to challenge that model. We’re talking about how to turn tax season into a strategic advantage, how to introduce advisory without overwhelming your team, and how firm owners can build the systems required to scale without burning out every year. Mark, welcome.

Mark Kohler (00:41) Thanks for having me. Tax season — for anybody listening, we’re going to make this worth your time. Thanks for checking us out while you’re doing your workout or your laps this morning.

Canopy Host (00:53) So let’s start there. It’s tax season right now — we’re in the middle of it. Most firms are probably just heads down, dealing with deadlines and clients, not really thinking about the business. Why would you say that tax season is actually the time to start thinking about these things?

Mark Kohler (01:22) I would call it harvest season. If you think of a farming metaphor — we’re not building fences and planting. This is harvest time. And staying with that metaphor, it’s about separating the wheat from the tares. You’re trying to get the best fruit out and get rid of the weeds.

I grew up on a farm and recently moved from Idaho where we were on a potato farm. I love farming — after a hard day behind a computer screen, I want to go build something or grow something. But accountants miss the point here.

Tax season is the perfect opportunity to get rid of the clients you don’t want and move your best clients into advisory. I know some of you are thinking, “I’ll reach out this summer after tax season.” No, you won’t. I know what I’m talking about — I owned an accounting firm in the trenches for 15 years. I’ve passed out on a couch on April 15th. We had 40 employees, significant gross revenue, and I was a founding partner. I’ve been there.

Advisory is the holy grail. You all know it. And you may have partners around you who don’t get it yet. But if you’re committed to advisory during tax season — and this is the key point — tax season is exactly when you pitch the client who just handed off their paperwork. You don’t wait.

The client wants it to be over and wants off the call. You don’t let them leave until you’ve told them how you’re operating going forward — either they’re on the train or they’re off the train.

The clients who are a pain to work with? You tell them, “This is the last year we’re serving you. We’re moving to advisory — it’s going to cost significantly more, and we think you’d be better served elsewhere. Thank you very much.”

This is the time you do it. You put together budgets on how many advisory clients you want to close. By June 1st, you’re moving into Q3 and Q4 with monthly recurring revenue — and you’re selling those clients right now.

Canopy Host (04:29) So what are the specific signals in a return that tell you there’s a missed opportunity — something more? What should people be looking for?

Mark Kohler (04:42) Great question. I want to answer it in two parts: what’s on the return, and what the client’s overall profile looks like.

Let’s start with avatar. If you’re going into advisory, you have to decide what type of clients you want. Which ones do you enjoy? Is it manufacturing? Agriculture? Crypto? Real estate? A specific type of professional — optometrists, dentists, civil engineering firms? Your niche does not have to be local. The whole country is your backyard now.

I currently run a law firm with over 70 employees and 14 lawyers doing advisory consults every day. If you don’t know your avatar, you’ll be miserable and you won’t close as many sales.

When I started our accounting firm, I took any client with a pulse. Stupid. I did that for years. Now when I train accountants, the first question is: what’s your avatar? “I’m going to take realtors.” You know how to speak their language, you know how to help them, you know how to bill them. Some of you might hate that example — great, you choose your own. The point is to choose.

As for personality: clients who want a conversation, are willing to pay their bill, and aren’t difficult to work with. Those are your people.

For the return itself — the key indicators for me are: they have a business. At minimum, a Schedule E with two or three rentals, or a Schedule C where I can be transitioning them to an S-corp. I need business owners.

I have friends who are corporate executives with a big W-2 salary. I can’t move the needle for them. They’re not good advisory clients for me. But if I can look at a return and see opportunities — kids on payroll, a better S-corp payroll allocation, a solo 401k, real estate write-offs, bonus depreciation, short-term rentals, self-rental — that’s a client I can wow year after year.

That’s the key: not just impressing them once, but having a deep enough toolkit to deliver value continuously. You have to be able to find something on that return where you can genuinely help them — and keep helping them. That’s your advisory client.

Canopy Host (09:09) So with this shift in mindset — finding the right client, looking at the return differently — how do you actually find the time during tax season without slowing everything else down?

Mark Kohler (09:22) The answer is the exit interview. When you’re delivering a client’s return — on Zoom, in person, however you do it — that’s your moment.

But before we get there, go through your client list. Print it out on a Sunday afternoon. Whether you have 3,000 clients or 2,000 — categorize them. Who are your A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, and F’s? Find your top 100 clients who could be advisory candidates.

Here’s the math: the average advisory client brings in $20,000 a year. One hundred clients at $20,000 each is $2 million in gross revenue — from 100 clients. We have hundreds of accountants in our network doing exactly this.

So your goal is clear: 100 advisory clients billing an average of $20,000 a year. You cannot afford not to pursue this.

Now, back to the exit interview. Good clients are often extending anyway, so these conversations happen between March and September. You’re looking at maybe 10 to 20 exits a month — completely manageable.

Here’s how the call goes. The client gets on and says it’s great to finally talk. You walk them through what you did on the return — you pulled off something impressive. Then you say: “Tom, we know we can do even better for you going forward. We’re moving to advisory. I want to schedule a comprehensive tax consult — we’ll go deep and build a plan for the next three years. Quarterly meetings, bookkeeping, payroll, everything wrapped into one monthly fee. All your tax returns, phone calls with me — you’ll love it. One number, one fee, done.”

Tom says he’s always wanted more time with you. You say: “Great. I want to book it six weeks from now. I’m still in tax season but I want to lock this in now.”

Here’s where most accountants fail — they say goodbye and “see you next year.” Instead, you say: “Tom, this comprehensive consult is two hours. I charge $750 for it. But if I don’t show you new money with this plan, I’ll give you the $750 back — I’m that confident.”

He pays in advance. You don’t send an invoice after the fact — he pays right now. If he hesitates, you say: “I understand, but this is the direction my practice is going. I’m not sure we’ll be able to serve you next year the same way.” He’ll say yes.

Six weeks later, you show up prepared. You build what I call a trifecta — a structured plan. You show him how to put kids on payroll, write off travel, get into Roth and backdoor Roth IRAs. You save him $7,000 in the first 10 minutes. Then you say: “This is what advisory looks like. It’s $1,500 a month — everything covered, quarterly meetings, estate plan review, asset protection coordination. I’m your quarterback.”

And you don’t ask, “Would you like to do this?” You say: “I’ll get that ACH set up. What date works to get started?” You close it. That’s how you do it during tax season.

By August or September, you’ve already got 60 people in the pipeline paying you $1,500 a month. Going into the fall, you add another 50 at $2,000 a month — and you stop taking on the clients that weren’t the right fit to begin with. I’ve done it. I’ve seen it over and over with our network. You can do it.

Canopy Host (15:52) What are the entity structure mistakes you’re seeing repeatedly right now?

Mark Kohler (15:57) The biggest mistake is what we just talked about — not making the shift to advisory at all. We get scared. We get in a rut. We keep our heads down.

I’ve been there. Every October you say you’re going to make the change and you don’t. I think it comes down to imposter syndrome, not having a support community, not having a clear script or engagement letter template, and not knowing where to turn. That’s why we’ve been growing our tax pro network — a weekly training call, real accountability, real tools. The barrier is mostly just procrastination.

Canopy Host (16:27) So say the firm owner is on board. They’re sold. How do they get the rest of the team aligned — and make sure everyone is also recognizing the ideal client?

Mark Kohler (16:43) There are a few different situations here.

First: if you’re a solo practice owner with a couple of staff members, you’re in the easiest position. Nobody’s in your way. You just need to align with the right community, training, and support — and you’re off.

Second: if you’re in a small firm with a partner, that partner alignment comes first. I’ve had many conversations where a partner brings me in specifically to get everyone on the same page. I did a session with an accounting firm in Phoenix — seven associates, but I insisted the first meeting be partners only. Because if the partners aren’t unified, it won’t happen. Associates will find any excuse to maintain the status quo, and if leadership is divided, they’ll run right through the middle of it.

Once the partners are aligned, you bring in the associates. Whether you have two or ten of them, be honest: you’ll have some attrition. Some of your most experienced preparers are also the most set in their ways. Share the vision, explain the why, get them excited. But one out of four probably won’t come with you — and you have to be okay with that.

The key is having real consequences. This was actually a major reason I needed to part ways with some of my own partners — they weren’t committed to the new direction, and that meant the associates weren’t either. If your team knows you’re afraid to hold the line, you’ve lost control.

Once you establish the standard and enforce it — even when it’s uncomfortable — the rest of your team will fall in line. Do that, and you’ll build the firm you actually want.

Canopy Host (20:30) If you’ve got the right team in place, how do you train tax preparers to spot advisory opportunities? How do you build that instinct so it’s not just random guesses or constant escalations?

Mark Kohler (20:57) Here’s where I’d take a slightly different approach: the partners are the ones who should be identifying advisory candidates — not the preparers.

As a partner, you’re reviewing everything. You know the client base. You’re the one spotting the opportunity, pitching the client, running the comprehensive consult, and closing the advisory agreement. Your preparers and associates are there to implement — to carry out the strategy, stay in regular contact with clients, and deliver the ongoing value. They’re not making the high-level decisions about who to pursue or how to price.

In our Main Street Tax Pro certification, we actually run two separate tracks: a practice owner group and an enterprise group for associates. We train them very differently — because if you train your associates like business owners, some of them will start thinking like business owners and go start their own firms. You don’t want that. You want them focused on execution, not entrepreneurship.

Keep those roles distinct. The partners set the strategy. The associates deliver it. That separation is what makes the whole system work.

Canopy Host (22:54) All right, let’s do some rapid fire to close out. What’s the most overused tax strategy buzzword right now?

Mark Kohler (23:01) Tax loss harvesting. You see it in every Forbes article every tax season. It’s overused and it barely moves the needle. A real advisor? That’s number 22 in your arsenal at best.

Canopy Host (23:27) What’s one entity structure most accountants misunderstand?

Mark Kohler (23:32) The power of the S corporation. Accountants overthink reasonable compensation to the point they’re scared of their own shadow. In 25 years, I’ve never had a client audited for too low of reasonable comp. Get over it. You can be far more aggressive there — and the worst case scenario is your client pays a little more FICA. They’re willing to roll the dice. Trust me. Stop playing IRS police and learn how to use the S corp aggressively.

Canopy Host (23:54) What’s the biggest pricing mistake firms make when they start an advisory program?

Mark Kohler (24:04) Not going there at all — that’s the first mistake. But if they’re doing advisory, they’re not charging enough. They’re afraid of scaring off clients, and they underestimate how much value they can actually deliver because they don’t have enough strategies in their toolkit.

My goal is to give my advisors so many strategies that they run out of time on the client call — and the client is the one asking for more. When you’re at that level, $1,500 a month for a small business owner is the floor. If you’re saying your clients can’t afford that, you have the wrong avatar.

Canopy Host (24:50) Last one. A firm takes the leap into advisory and finds success. What does that advisory-led firm look like in three years? In five years?

Mark Kohler (25:03) They’re there. Their accountants are looking out the window smiling. They’re with their families more. They’re making more money. In almost every case I’ve seen, they’ve doubled their take-home income.

They’re leaving at five o’clock during tax season. Their 2,000-client roster is down to 200 or 300 — and they’re making more money with less staff. I know that sounds crazy, but I’ve watched it happen over and over.

It doesn’t happen overnight — it’s a transition. I have a whole framework for it: you move 10 clients to advisory this year, 20 next year, and by year four, the far majority of your book is advisory. You might still have a few traditional prep clients — your mom, a longtime client you love — but the core of your practice is advisory and you love every minute of it.

Dreamy, right? It absolutely is. And it’s real.

Canopy Host (26:16) Sounds wonderful. Mark, thank you so much — this has been incredibly informative. Hopefully we can get more firms on the advisory train.

Mark Kohler (26:29) For anyone who wants to learn more, head to mainstreetprofessionals.com. You can book a free discovery call and see what we’re about. We have a money-back window so you can test it out with no risk. I think you’d love it.

Chad, thanks so much for having me. Really excited to be here.

Canopy Host (26:55) Absolutely.