Not “Just” an Accountant 💲💰

Last month, Ben Affleck’s new popcorn thriller, The Accountant 2, hit theaters, nine years after the original delighted audiences. Early reviews were positive, and the Hollywood trade rags reported a $24.5 million opening weekend gross. Millions of Affleck’s fans flocked to their local multiplex to see their favorite number cruncher wrestle with spreadsheets, fight bogus deductions, and clean up the books with style and panache.

Boy, were they disappointed. In the first scene, Affleck wows the ladies at a speed-dating event with the news that they don’t have to amend their previous returns to take advantage of missed depreciation. (Spoiler alert: he trudges home from the event without finding true love.) Quickly, though, the movie ditches the accounting references and turns into the sort of overplotted shoot-em-up you’d find starring Liam Neeson or Jason Statham. It’s a satisfying ride, though, and a second sequel is already in the works.

Accounting is full of hidden beauty, subtle drama, and suspenseful cliffhangers. Will the debits match the credits? Will the balance sheets balance? But it’s not Affleck’s skill with numbers that makes him so compelling. He’s not just an accountant – and it’s the “not just” that makes him special. It’s also what makes him a lot like us. (Except for the gunplay.)

Right now, there are over 660,000 CPAs in America, along with 65,000 Enrolled Agents. If you assume their average height is five foot seven inches, and stretch them head to toe, they’d reach from Grand Central Station all the way to the outskirts of St. Louis. That’s a lot of competition! What’s a hard-charging tax pro supposed to do to stand out from all those rivals to attract clients?

In Ben Affleck’s case, his character Christian Wolff is an escaped convict and autistic savant who works mainly with gangsters, drug cartels, and money launderers. That’s a great target market for someone who’s willing to risk death if he misses an IRS deadline. It’s full of fascinating, colorful characters. It also presents fascinating, colorful tax challenges. For starters, code section 280E specifically denies any deduction “for amounts paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business if such trade or business (or the activities which comprise such trade or business) consists of trafficking in controlled substances (within the meaning of Schedule I or II of the Controlled Substances Act).”

But most of us aren’t interested in adding “cheating death” to the “Skills” section of our LinkedIn profiles. How do you attract clients if staying far away from professional hitmen is one of your personal goals? Well, that’s where planning comes in – specifically, tax planning to help clients pay less.

Most tax pros do a perfectly good job telling you how much you owe. They get the “right” numbers in the “right” boxes on the “right” forms, and file them by the “right” deadline. But then they call it a day. There’s little, if any, planning done to help you pay less. Maybe it’s because your circumstances don’t lend themselves to planning. Usually, though, it’s just because they’re too busy doing taxes to have time to plan them.

What’s the answer? You need more than just an accountant. You need the Christian Wolff of tax planning. You need someone who can proactively eyeball your returns with an eye for savings, and identify the concepts and strategies that can avoid taxes you don’t legally have to pay.

Plot twist: that’s where we come in. You know who to call!

Tax Snack: Cut the Tax

Depreciate…Depreciate…Depreciate

If you’re a real estate investor, entrepreneur, or own a capital-heavy business — review your depreciation strategy before year-end.

Bonus depreciation drops to 60% in 2025, down from 80% this year.

Missed a cost segregation study last year? You may not need to amend your return. Form 3115 can be used to catch up depreciation and score a potentially massive deduction without reopening prior filings.

Skip the reactive returns. Plan for tax impact before the bullets (or IRS letters) start flying.

Dollars & $ense

Think Alternatively

Explore alternative investments that break from the herd such as:

* Private credit funds

* Tax-advantaged oil & gas partnerships (yes, they’re making a comeback)

* Qualified Opportunity Zones for capital gains deferral and exclusion.

With interest rates still elevated and a soft landing looking more plausible, positioning into non-correlated assets could provide real alpha over the next 12–36 months.

Money isn’t just about growth, it’s about being strategic in where others aren’t looking.