Questions partners ask

No. We partner with CPA and EA firms, attorneys, debt resolution companies, financial advisors, insurance professionals, bookkeepers, and payroll providers. See how it works for your kind of practice.

Usually our sales team, on your firm’s behalf. We can also train your own reps to sell, and train your front-line staff to spot a need and set up a 21 Century review without selling anything. See sales and training.

Practitioners authorized under Circular 230, named on the client’s Form 2848 power of attorney. When a service needs an attorney, such as drafting a trust, a licensed attorney does that work.

Your firm does. With Next Step services and full casework, the client engages your firm, and 21 Century Tax performs the work as your subcontractor. With a referral, the client engages us directly for the work you referred and stays your client for everything else. In every model, we never market to your clients outside the work you’ve approved.

Yes. The client is told in writing that 21 Century Tax performs the work, signs a section 7216 consent naming us before any tax information is shared, and sees our practitioners on any Form 2848.

A standard partner agreement isn’t. It’s a services contract between independent businesses, and neither business can sign or speak for the other beyond what it allows. For firms that want to build something together, we also form joint ventures under a separate written agreement, usually as a company owned by both firms, with ownership, revenue sharing, client representation, and liability set out in writing. Professional rules can limit who can take part, so each venture is set up with both firms’ counsel.

Through your firm’s existing payment system. Each payment is matched to its case, so remittances reconcile cleanly and you can see exactly what was sold and paid. Your firm’s coordination fee is set in the partner agreement and disclosed to the client in writing.

Only where the referring professional’s rules allow it, and always under a written agreement disclosed to the client. Some professionals can’t accept a referral fee, such as attorneys in many states or advisors whose firms restrict outside compensation. Referrals work the same way without one.

Yes, and in matters like a divorce it’s often the better path. Instead of referring the client, your firm retains us, so your firm is our client and we work under your direction on the tax side of the matter. When we’re helping you give legal advice, that arrangement may help keep our work within attorney-client privilege. Privilege depends on the facts and doesn’t cover return preparation or our own representation before the IRS, so we scope those separately. We run a conflict check first and never work for the other side of a matter.

Clients sign a section 7216 consent before any tax information is shared, files move only through encrypted transfer, and data is handled under a written information security plan. Read how we handle client data.

Yes. Offer all 94 services through us, or only the ones your team doesn’t already deliver. Services you handle in house stay with you.

Yes. Firms that focus on sales can hand us the full casework across the menu, including payment plans, offers to settle, hardship status, and collection defense. Your firm keeps the client relationship, and our professionals do the casework.

No. We don’t pitch services that duplicate what you sold, and we don’t comment on your case strategy to your client. Our job is to add what the client still needs.

Every rep learns each service from a written presentation guide before selling it, including the Circular 230 disclosure that goes with it. Training is refreshed as IRS procedures and tax law change, and it is a priority for both Matt and Scott. Read our sales standards.

Yes. Your reps learn the same services, presentation guides, and Circular 230 disclosures our team uses. Your front-line staff learn the signs that point to a next step and how to set up a review, with consent first and no selling. See sales and training.

No. We work from warm handoffs by firms that already have the client’s trust. That keeps our focus on doing the work well, and it means we never compete with our partners for clients.

Yes. We work in IRS Logics and can adapt to the system your firm uses, so your case file stays complete.

State sales and withholding tax problems and other high-variability cases are reviewed first and bid in writing, so neither your firm nor your client is surprised by the scope.

Partner pricing and terms are shared directly with firms after an introductory call. Request information and we’ll set one up.