How a Business Advisory Firm 10Xed Revenue with Tax Planning Software

Tristen Eriksen, MBA, is founder of EthicsPro Accounting & Tax Planning, which helps businesses and individuals in the Salt Lake City area take advantage of tax strategies and create long-term wealth. A serial entrepreneur, Mr. Eriksen has founded 11 startups over the past 25 years. At the age of 48, he started his latest venture. Here is his story on how Corvee has helped this business grow 10X in annual revenue. 

Life Before Tax Planning Software

A former controller and CFO with decades of experience in the world of entrepreneurship, Mr. Eriksen launched a new business advisory firm in 2017. At the time, he didn’t have a specific menu of services with a clear scope; rather he’d do a variety of things — depending on the client — to help them improve their revenue, processes and product.  

Just before the pandemic began in 2020, he decided to invest in 7 Figure Firms, a growth and development coaching program built for accounting and tax firm owners. He quickly learned how to sell loan advisory packages to help clients navigate the PPP and EIDL. As a result, his firm generated half of the previous year’s revenue in the first two weeks of the pandemic. 
Consequently, he quickly went from a solopreneur to bringing on an admin and a couple of accountants to help with the day-to-day operations. By the fall of 2020, Corvee Tax Planning software was released and Mr. Eriksen pivoted the firm’s strategy to concentrate solely on tax planning as a service, with CFO services offered only in conjunction with a tax plan.

Life After Tax Planning Software

Mr. Eriksen was accustomed to making his own business decisions when it came to sales. After joining the 7 Figure Firms program, he learned that he needed to trust the process and do exactly what the coaches told him to. Now, he uses the sales slide deck and word tracks as suggested within the program to close more deals. 

As Mr. Eriksen began to use tax planning software, his revenue skyrocketed. With the firm now at 10 employees and sales at 10X what they were just a few short years ago, Mr. Eriksen has even had to put a temporary halt on new sales just to concentrate on the current book of business. 

When asked if he encountered any challenges with the software, Mr. Eriksen replied,

“The problem is I’m offering too much savings for clients. They can’t believe it.” When asked to elaborate, he added, “When I tell a client I can potentially save them $90K or more in taxes, they can’t believe it because the total savings is so high.  For this reason, I break the plan into phases where I implement different strategies in each phase until we reach the total savings amount.”

This helps make the tax plans believable to clients and helps them implement them in smaller chunks.

Mr. Eriksen is able to figure out how much he can save a client in taxes during a 20–40 minute sales call thanks to the automatic calculation capabilities within the software. If he’s able to find a large amount of savings, he downplays it to seem more believable to the client even though larger savings are possible. Then, he can surprise them later with larger savings. As he says, “Under promise and over deliver.”

Each client who signs up for a tax plan almost always chooses to have quarterlies. In this way, Mr. Eriksen has built up a booming tax planning business in less than a year. Each tax plan has a clear scope from the beginning. Plus, there is the potential to upsell CFO services to the right clients.

All in all, Corvee has helped Mr. Eriksen hone in on the right service (tax planning) that produces high-margins, consistent workloads and a clear roadmap to grow the firm.

“Corvee is the reason why I’ve been able to grow as quickly as I have, no doubt about it,” he concluded. 

If you’d like to see what Corvee can do for your firm, schedule a demo today.