How to Build a Million Dollar Tax Resolution Practice in 12 Months or Less, by Jassen Bowman. My rating: 5 of 5.
Maybe you are a CPA, an enrolled agent or a lawyer who has helped a client or two through an IRS collection notice. You found the work useful and steady, and you wondered whether it could be a real line of business. Most practitioners never find out, because nobody teaches the business side of representation. Bowman does.
What the book covers
Bowman built his own representation practice and now teaches other practitioners to do the same. This book is his blueprint for the business side. He sizes up the market for IRS collection and examination work, then spends most of the book on lead generation: direct mail, webinars, a weekly content rhythm, follow-up over many contacts, and lists of ideal prospects. He also covers staffing, client acquisition cost and fee collection.
It reads like a coach talking, blunt about what failed in the industry, such as boiler-room sales floors and firms that never automated anything.
What stayed with me
The market is underserved. Bowman points out that few CPAs and enrolled agents do representation work at all. “Your professional colleagues don’t know how to handle these cases.” That creates a natural referral path for the practitioners who do.
Marketing is the job. Bowman does not soften this. “Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more important to the growth of your tax firm than lead generation.” He wants you to plan real hours every day for it, and to build several sources of prospects so no single one can sink you.
Repetition closes. One contact rarely does it. He argues for a planned series of mailings and useful content over months, and for tracking each prospect so nobody falls through the cracks.
Systems over paper. His case against paper files and ad hoc processes is persuasive. Checklists, software and a clean hand-off between intake and case work are what let a small staff handle a large caseload.
Fee discipline protects everyone. Clients in collections are already behind with the IRS. His rules about getting paid up front and stopping work when a payment fails keep the practitioner from becoming one more creditor.
A few notes
Read the marketing chapters with your own rules beside you. Bowman encourages cold calling people with filed tax liens and building lists of wealthy families to target. A lawyer in Washington cannot make live, uninvited calls to strangers to solicit work, and mailed letters to lien filers have to follow the attorney advertising rules. Callers also face federal Do Not Call rules and Washington’s telephone solicitation law. Circular 230 has its own limits on solicitation by tax practitioners. I would not use those tactics.
His market numbers and fee figures are several years old, so check current IRS Data Book figures before relying on them. He also writes about firms that were sued over deceptive tax relief advertising. The lesson is to avoid promising results. No honest practitioner can promise an outcome.
Bowman sells courses and templates, and the book promotes them. Read his marketing claims as advocacy.
Who should read it
Enrolled agents, CPAs and lawyers who already handle some IRS collection work and want to understand the business of a representation practice. Firm owners will get the most from the chapters on systems, staffing and follow-up. If you are brand new to representation, pair this with a technical book on collection procedure, since this one is about running the business.
Quotes are short excerpts credited to the author. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The price you pay does not change. I read this book on my own, and no one asked me or paid me to review it. This review is general education, not legal or tax advice. Laws change, and the right answer depends on your facts. Legal services are offered only through Centerbridge Law Group, PLLC, 1610 Commercial Avenue, Suite 203, Anacortes, Washington 98221. See Disclosures.