How to Build Your Professional Network When CPAs and Estate Attorneys Are Hard to Find

What do you do when your clients need thoughtful tax or estate planning support, but every qualified professional you contact seems to be at capacity?

You don't have to settle for the first person who answers the phone. And you don't need to put the rest of the financial plan on hold while you search for the perfect partner.

Building a reliable professional network takes intention, especially when Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and estate planning attorneys are difficult to find. The goal isn't to collect names for a referral list. It's to create a dependable process for finding, evaluating, and collaborating with professionals who can effectively support your clients.

In this guide, I'll walk through a practical way to define what you need, broaden your search, test the working relationship, and decide whether outside collaboration or a closer service model makes sense for your practice.

A quick note: Tax, legal, and regulatory requirements vary by jurisdiction and can change. Work with qualified legal, tax, and compliance professionals before changing your service model, disclosures, agreements, or referral arrangements.

Why finding the right referral partners can feel harder

Capacity is a real part of the challenge. According to the 2025 AICPA Trends Report, the number of students earning bachelor's or master's degrees in accounting fell 6.6% during the 2023–2024 academic year. The report also points to encouraging growth in accounting enrollment, but it will take time for that growth to work its way through the talent pipeline.

Availability is only one part of the problem. A technically qualified professional may not have experience with your client niche, the capacity to collaborate, or a process that works well with yours. A CPA who focuses on tax preparation may not offer year-round projections. An attorney who drafts estate documents may not want to join planning meetings or coordinate beneficiary and account-titling follow-through.

Meanwhile, your clients' needs don't arrive one at a time. Tax decisions, equity compensation, retirement distributions, business planning, and estate documents often overlap. That makes the quality of the working relationship just as important as the name on the referral list.

Start by defining the support your clients need

Before searching for financial advisor referral partners, get specific about the gaps you're trying to fill. I recommend focusing on the next 12 months' expected client needs rather than building a broad wish list.

Tax support may include

• Tax return preparation
• Quarterly projections and estimated payment guidance
• Equity compensation planning
• Multi-state tax questions
• Entity selection and reasonable compensation analysis
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or state notice support
• Year-end coordination around charitable giving, Roth conversions, and realized gains or losses

Estate planning support may include

• Wills and revocable trusts
• Financial and health care powers of attorney
• Beneficiary and account-titling coordination
• Special needs planning
• Business succession planning
• Planning for blended families
• Trust funding and implementation follow-through

Then define what collaboration should look like. Do you need a professional who will attend joint meetings? Are written summaries important to your process? How quickly do time-sensitive questions need a response? What information will each person collect, document, and share?

A short partner profile can make those expectations clear. Include:

• The clients you serve and the planning needs you see most often
• The services you're looking for
• The expected number of introductions or shared clients
• How do you prefer to communicate and exchange information securely
• What a strong client experience looks like in your practice

This isn't a demand list. It's a fit-check that helps both sides decide whether a conversation is worth continuing.

Look beyond a basic online search

Google can give you names. Your professional community can give you context.

Start by asking clients and other advisors which professionals they've worked with and what made the relationship effective. A recommendation becomes more useful when you understand the experience behind it. Was the professional responsive? Did they explain decisions clearly? Did they follow through after documents were signed or the return was filed?

XYPN members can also use the member community to ask advisors serving similar clients about their experiences. Local estate planning councils, state CPA societies, regional bar associations, and niche professional groups may help you find people whose work overlaps with yours.

Professional directories can help you expand and verify your list:

• CPAverify uses official state regulatory data to help confirm CPA license information
• The IRS Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers lists preparers with recognized credentials or select qualifications
• The National Association of Enrolled Agents directory can help you find an Enrolled Agent (EA) by location or specialty
• The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel directory lists peer-elected trust and estate attorneys
• State bar directories can help confirm an attorney's license status and disciplinary history

Directories are a starting point, not a substitute for due diligence. Credentials can help you confirm training or standing, but they won't tell you whether someone's capacity, communication style, and process match your needs.

Vet for fit without turning it into an interview marathon

You can learn a lot from a short initial review and one focused conversation.

Start with the essentials

Look for:

• Credentials and active licensing that match the work
• Experience with your clients' common needs
• Clear services, fees, and scope boundaries
• Current capacity and realistic turnaround times
• Secure methods for exchanging client information
• A communication style that supports clear client decisions

Credentials should match the engagement. For tax work, that may include a CPA, an EA, or a CPA who holds the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential. For estate planning, relevant experience may be more useful than collecting initials. An American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) fellowship, Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in taxation, or state board certification may offer additional context, but none replaces a conversation about the work your clients need.

Ask questions that reveal how they work

Try questions such as:

• Which clients and engagements are the best fit for your practice?
• What work do you prefer not to take on?
• How do you approach planning outside tax season or after estate documents are signed?
• Who completes the work, and who communicates with the client?
• What turnaround time can we reasonably expect during busy periods?
• How do you define scope and price common engagements?
• How do you prefer to exchange information and track open questions?
• What tends to delay the work, and how can we prevent it?
• What would make the first few shared client experiences successful for you?

Listen for honest boundaries. A professional who can clearly explain what they do, what they don't do, and when they may need more time can be a stronger partner than someone who promises everything.

Test the relationship with a small pilot

You don't need to send every client to a new professional before you know how the relationship works. Start with a few appropriate cases, with the client's consent, and pay attention to the complete experience.

Before the first introduction, align on:

• Each professional's role and scope
• What the client should expect next
• How information will be shared securely
• Who owns each follow-up item
• How questions and changes will be documented
• When will the team reconnect

Avoid promising a certain number of referrals. Let fit, client choice, service quality, and capacity guide future introductions.

After the first few cases, ask what worked and what created friction. A short debrief can catch small process issues before they become recurring client frustrations

Build a collaboration process that can flex

Strong referral relationships are easier to maintain when the process doesn't depend on everyone remembering what happens next.

Your shared workflow might include:

• A secure process for exchanging documents and client authorization
• A planning calendar for time-sensitive tax and estate decisions
• Agreed response expectations for routine and urgent requests
• A clear owner for every follow-up item
• Written summaries of material recommendations and decisions
• Periodic check-ins to review capacity and improve the process

Keep the structure realistic. One partner may be comfortable attending an annual client meeting, while another may prefer advisor-to-advisor coordination. The goal is not to force every relationship into the same format. It's to remove ambiguity so the client doesn't have to manage the handoffs.

Be thoughtful about how you describe the relationship publicly. If compensation, testimonials, endorsements, or other referral arrangements are involved, bring compliance into the conversation before promoting the relationship. The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Marketing Rule guidance explains the conditions that may apply to testimonials and endorsements, including disclosure, oversight, and disqualification requirements.

When bringing support closer may make sense

Sometimes the external referral model works well. Sometimes recurring client needs make a contracted or internal capability worth exploring.

The question isn't, “Should every advisory practice offer tax or estate services?” It's, “Would a different structure improve the client experience without creating more risk or complexity than the practice can support?”

Options for tax services

• Continue with outside referrals: A good fit when client needs vary or trusted professionals have capacity
• Create a preferred network: A small group of tax professionals can provide more choice when one person is unavailable
• Use a contracted tax service: This can bring tax planning or preparation closer without immediately hiring an employee
• Hire a tax professional: This may fit when demand is consistent enough to support the role, and the practice is ready for the operational responsibility

Before changing the model, define the scope, pricing, engagement agreements, data security, supervision, and who is responsible for each part of the work. Review any required updates to Form ADV, client disclosures, insurance, and policies with compliance and legal counsel. Form ADV Part 2 requires plain-language disclosure of an adviser's business practices, fees, and material conflicts, so the right changes depend on the services and structure you adopt. (SEC Form ADV overview)

XYPN members who want tax planning or preparation support without building a complete internal tax function can also explore XY Tax Solutions.

Options for estate planning support

• Maintain an outside referral network: Offer clients more than one qualified option when possible
• Create a closer coordination process: Build repeatable handoffs for document review, beneficiary alignment, titling, and trust funding
• Explore a contracted attorney relationship: Structure the relationship with legal and compliance guidance so roles, client choice, fees, and professional responsibilities remain clear
• Hire a licensed attorney: Consider the state-specific practice-of-law, insurance, conflict, disclosure, supervision, and business-structure implications before moving forward

An advisor can help a client identify planning questions, organize information, and coordinate implementation. Drafting legal documents or providing legal advice is different, and the boundaries can vary by state. Keep final legal recommendations and documents with appropriately licensed counsel.

A practical 90-day plan

If your referral list needs attention, start small:

1. Review upcoming client needs and define the two or three biggest support gaps
2. Create a one-page partner profile
3. Ask clients, advisors, and professional communities for relevant introductions
4. Verify credentials and speak with three potential partners
5. Choose one or two appropriate client situations for a pilot
6. Agree on roles, communication, security, and follow-through before the introduction
7. Review the experience and adjust the process

You may find one long-term collaborator. You may build a small bench of professionals with different specialties. Or you may discover that a contracted or internal service deserves a closer look. Each can be a good outcome when it fits your clients and your practice.

Build the network your clients need

Finding strong CPAs and estate planning attorneys may take more work than it once did, but you can make the search more focused and the collaboration more reliable.

Start with the client needs you see most often. Define what good coordination looks like, use your community to broaden the search, and test the relationship before creating a repeatable workflow. You don't need a perfect referral network overnight. You need a thoughtful process to keep improving it.

XYPN gives independent, fee-only advisors a community where they can compare experiences, ask for introductions, and learn how other advisors approach the same operational questions.