CPA financial planner
Your taxes and your plan,
finally in one room.
For families who are tired of their accountant and their advisor never talking, we put tax expertise and financial planning on the same team, year-round.
A CPA financial planner combines tax expertise with financial planning, so decisions about withdrawals, giving, and selling are made with the tax return in view. Tilson’s advisory team includes CPAs and CFP® professionals who plan together, year-round, not just at filing time.
CPA vs financial advisor
CPA vs financial advisor: what’s the difference?
A CPA focuses on taxes: preparing returns, advising on tax rules and keeping you compliant. A financial advisor focuses on the plan: your goals, your investments and how the pieces fit. The two overlap more than most people expect, and they work best together.
What a CPA does
A certified public accountant is licensed in accounting and tax. Many families see their CPA once a year, looking backward at a return that is already done. That is valuable work. It is also the point where most tax decisions have already been made.
What a financial advisor does
A financial advisor builds and maintains your plan: retirement income, investments, insurance, estate coordination and the decisions that connect them. A fee-only fiduciary advisor is paid only by you and is required to act in your best interest.
Can a CPA be a financial advisor?
Yes. A CPA can also be a financial planner, and some hold the CFP® designation as well. What changes when one team holds both is timing. Tax questions get asked before the decision, not after it.
Not once a year at filing time. Year-round, inside the plan.
Tax planning
What does tax planning look like inside a financial plan?
Tax planning inside a plan means looking forward. Instead of reporting what happened, we look at what is coming and decide in advance how to handle it. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Withdrawal order and bracket management
In retirement, you often choose which accounts to draw from and when. That choice shapes your tax bracket this year and in the years ahead. We coordinate withdrawals across accounts so each year’s decision fits the longer plan.
Roth conversions
Converting part of a traditional IRA to a Roth can make sense in some years and not others. It is one of the things to know to ask about. We look at it with the full picture in view, including income, brackets and your heirs.
Charitable giving and timing
When and how you give can matter as much as how much. Giving appreciated investments, grouping gifts into certain years and using giving vehicles are all worth discussing with your advisor and CPA before year end.
Equity compensation and business income
Stock options, restricted stock and business income bring their own timing questions. We plan the sequence of exercises, sales and distributions with the tax return in view, alongside your attorney where needed.
Retirement
CPA retirement planning.
Retirement is where tax planning matters most. Paychecks stop, withdrawals begin and the choices about which dollars to spend first can shape your taxes for the rest of your life.
Retirement tax planning covers more than the return. It includes the order of withdrawals, the timing of Social Security, required minimum distributions, Roth conversion windows and how your estate will be taxed for the people you leave it to.
Tax planning for pre-retirees
The years just before retirement are often the most useful for tax planning. Income may still be high, but the decisions you make now set up the first decade of retirement. It is the right moment to map the plan with a CPA and a CFP® professional together.
When a CPA and a CFP® professional plan together
The CFP® professional builds and maintains the plan. The CPA looks at every decision inside it, from withdrawals and conversions to charitable gifts and a business sale, with the tax return in view. At Tilson both sit on the same advisory team.
How Tilson helps
Tax expertise and planning, on one team.
Tilson Financial Group is a family-led, independent, fee-only SEC Registered Investment Adviser, founded in 1991 in New Providence. Our advisory team includes CPAs, CFP® professionals and a CFA® charterholder who plan together.
That means your withdrawal plan, your giving and your investment decisions are made with the tax return in view, year-round. Learn how fee-only planning works, meet our CPAs and CFP® professionals, or see our approach to tax-efficient retirement planning.
When you call, a human answers.
Your advisory team knows your story.
Our back office knows your name.
Comprehensive financial planning
Retirement planning
Tax planning
Estate planning coordination
Investment management
Multigenerational planning
We work with families across New Jersey and across the country. When you call, a person who knows your name answers.
Who this is for.
You want your tax return and your financial plan to finally talk to each other. You are nearing retirement and want the withdrawal years mapped before they start. You have equity compensation, a business or charitable goals that make every year’s taxes a planning question. You would rather ask before you decide than explain it afterward.
If that sounds like you, we should talk.
“They have done a wonderful job assisting growing my funds, tax consulting, and trust management. They offer full service and are always focused on me, the customer.”
Peter F., Current Client
Clients were not compensated for testimonials.
Questions families ask us about CPAs and planning.
Can a CPA be a financial advisor?
Yes. A CPA can also work as a financial advisor, and some also hold the CFP® designation. At Tilson, CPAs and CFP® professionals sit on the same advisory team, so tax expertise and planning happen together rather than in separate offices.
Do I still need my own accountant?
Maybe, and that is fine. Many families keep the CPA who prepares their return. We coordinate with them, share the plan and make sure the decisions we make together show up correctly on the return. The goal is fewer surprises, not fewer relationships.
What firms specialize in retirement tax planning?
Look for three things: a fee-only fiduciary paid only by you, a team that includes CPAs as well as financial planners, and a process that plans taxes year-round rather than only at filing time. Ask how they coordinate with your own CPA and attorney.
Is a CPA financial planner a fiduciary?
Not automatically. The credential alone does not create a fiduciary duty. What matters is how the advisor is registered and paid. Tilson is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser and acts as a fiduciary for every client, on every recommendation.
This is general information, not personalized advice.
Ready to talk?
Your taxes and your plan start with a conversation.
No pitch. No pressure. Just a conversation about your plan, your taxes and whether we might be a good fit. If you want your CPA and your financial planner in the same room, let’s talk.
Or call (908) 561-6203
Tilson Financial Group brings clarity, confidence, and presence when it counts.
The Tilson Financial Group, Inc. is a Registered Investment Adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The material provided is for educational purposes.
© 2026 Tilson Financial Group. All rights reserved.