What to Expect From American College’s New Tax Certification

The American College of Financial Services recently revealed plans for a certification program aimed at financial advisors who want to serve clients in a more tax-aware manner.

More than 2,000 advisors have signed up for the course waiting list, Jared Trexler, chief marketing and strategy officer at the American College, said in an interview with ThinkAdvisor.

Trexler was joined in the discussion by Jeff Levine, a CPA and planner, who is one of the certification’s chief architects. Levine said the response to the program’s pending launch “has been humbling and inspiring,” especially on LinkedIn and in private conversations with advisor firm leaders. The duo said they expect the program to be in high demand, especially as greater public debate about tax policy looms in the months ahead.

In the interview, Levine and Trexler said the American College was still finalizing some program details but was on track to launch in the fall.

Here are highlights from our conversation:

THINKADVISOR: Jeff, can you tell us about the early response to the new Tax Planning Certified Professional program? It seems like advisors on social media have really taken notice.

JEFF LEVINE: It’s been incredible, even beyond our expectations. The volume and the depth of the positivity has been humbling and inspiring. I’ve gotten some wonderful comments online and via phone calls and texts.

It shows me, as we suspected, that people in the industry have been waiting on something like this. It’s exactly what we need as an industry, in my opinion. We’ve heard from small firms and from leaders of large firms that are all looking at this.

After literally years of planning, it was really great to finally get the message out there via my LinkedIn announcement, especially because this is being launched by a partner like the American College. They’re the right partner for this. It’s not just some letters to put behind your name. It’s a meaningful designation with academic rigor behind it.

Jared, what would you add from the American College’s perspective?

JARED TREXLER: I would echo everything Jeff said, but I want to point something out as well.

Late last year, your publication sat down with American College CEO and President George Nichols to discuss how financial advisors are evolving and what that meant for us as an education and accreditation organization. One of his ideals was for the college to become a platform that connects our in-house faculty with experts from the industry, like Jeff.

This program is one culmination of that vision. We have our own staffers involved, like Michael Finke and Sophia Duffy, but we also have industry stars like Michael Kitces, Ed Slott and Alan Gassman.

I would also add that this program reflects our belief that the future of financial advice is for specialists. You know, the CFP and ChFC both provide a great foundation for planners, but lasting success is really going to come from advisors specializing in things like tax and estate.

But far and away the most gratifying thing is to see that we have already had more than 2,000 advisors sign up for our waiting list in under a week. That’s a pretty overwhelming response.

Jeff, were you surprised by how many people signed up for the waiting list this week?

LEVINE: Yes and no. Honestly, I was feeling pretty ambitious about getting folks involved in this. I really expected this to be very popular, and that’s what we’ve seen so far.

Why is that? It’s a few things. To start, advisors today who want to get better at tax aren’t really looking to the Certified Public Accountant designation as often as they once did. This is partly because so much oversight is needed in that effort, and you need to have a certain number of experience hours overseen by a CPA, plus certain education credits. That’s seen as unattainable for many busy advisors.

The IRS enrolled agent exam has been somewhat more popular, but that’s not truly tax planning designation. It’s a tax compliance program. Plus, it’s focused on individuals, yes, but also on businesses and also on representation in tax proceedings.

That’s not what our program is about. What the advisor wants is the knowledge and skills to help clients address their tax liability and manage it — not just recording what has happened in the past. That’s more than what CPAs and enrolled agents do. So, the TPCP really fills that gap.

Jared, can you share anything more about when the formal launch may happen? This year?

TREXLER: Yes, we expect enrollment to begin in early in the fourth quarter. We are still finalizing some details, but the program will have a three-course construction and it will be priced similarly to the Retirement Income Certified Professional program.

Jeff, can you tell us more about the structure of the lessons and the curriculum overall?

LEVINE: Certainly. When you think about how to target and define a curriculum, there’s a few ways to do it. What we’ve done here is striate this program into three main courses, the first about planning for those clients in accumulation, the second about planning for those who are close to and entering retirement, and then finally the third is about planning around legacy, estate and special end-of-life situations.

What’s neat is that, among the other ways students will learn, we’ll follow a number of example families as they navigate these three periods in life. So, it’s just like an advisor guiding a client through the whole tax planning lifecycle. Ultimately, our goal is that, no matter who an advisor chooses to serve as a client niche, we will equip them to do effective tax planning.

I also want to point out that both the college and I share the philosophy of lifelong learning and continuous improvement. We’re in uniform agreement that we expect this to be a dynamite curriculum on Day 1, but we will also continue to iterate, improve and learn from the feedback of students. This is especially important in the realm of taxes, where there is so much constant change and evolution.

We’re putting a pin on the map to say: Not only can advisors do tax planning, they should do tax planning. It’s unequivocal. It’s not an argument in the industry anymore. If you are using a cliché buzzword with your clients about being “holistic” but you’re not talking about taxes — that’s not holistic. Consumers want advice on tax planning, and not in general, but from their financial advisor.

Pictured: Jeff Levine