Why the best tax outcomes rarely come from tax season itself
Your accountant probably isn’t bad; they’re just not incentivized to be good. They make the same amount per tax filing if they save you money or don’t, so they probably won’t put in the extra effort. However, a CFP®’s priority is growing and protecting your net worth. They want you to pay less in taxes if avoidable, so you can invest and save for your short and long-term goals.
Every tax season seems to begin the same way. Your CPA emails you for documents. You search through portals and folders. You might feel like the choices you made months ago are now being reviewed by a system you can’t fully control. In the end, your return gets filed.
For many, that’s the end of the story. But if you work closely with both a CFP® and a CPA, tax season becomes a checkpoint in a longer, more thoughtful process.
The key difference isn’t who prepares your return. It’s about when the important decisions are made.
The Quiet Myth of “Doing Taxes”
Most people see taxes as a once-a-year task. In reality, taxes affect you all year. They are shaped by many choices, some small and some you may not even notice, that add up over time. Over the course of the year, InSight has been actively preparing for tax filing, but now it’s time to communicate that work to the CPA to make the most of it.
You don’t set your tax bill in April. It happens when you accept a bonus without adjusting your withholding or sell an investment without considering the tax impact. Tax season is just the time to reconcile a year’s worth of tax strategy already in motion. It’s also shaped by whether you convert to a Roth, contribute to retirement accounts, choose where to hold your assets, or decide how and when to give to charity. By the time your tax return is being prepared, most of those decisions are already baked in.
Why Tax Prep and Tax Planning Are Not the Same Thing
Tax preparation is important. It’s precise, follows the rules, and focuses on accuracy. A good CPA makes sure your return is correct, follows the law, and helps you avoid penalties or mistakes. This work is very valuable.
But tax preparation looks back. It records what has already happened.
Tax planning is different. It happens earlier, sometimes quietly, often in conversations that don’t even feel like “tax conversations” at the time. It involves projecting into the future, weighing trade-offs, and intentionally choosing between imperfect options. This is usually where your CFP® comes in. As the agent of planning, you invest years and even decades in preparing for yourself and your family.
