US wealth management firm Beta Wealth Group has launched Beta Wealth Group Tax & Accounting, a CPA-led entity operating under common ownership, a move that matters broadly because it brings tax preparation, planning and accounting fully in-house rather than through referral, and matters specifically to accountancy professionals because it reflects a widening trend of wealth managers absorbing CPA capability directly instead of relying on external accounting firm partnerships.

Beta Wealth Group is a San Diego-founded, Park City-based independent wealth management firm established in 2009 by chief executive Jodi Vleck, providing retirement, holistic financial planning and portfolio construction services to individuals, family offices and institutions.

Beta Wealth Group Tax & Accounting is a newly formed CPA-led affiliate offering tax preparation and planning, fractional chief financial officer support, bookkeeping, financial statement preparation and attest engagements including compilations, reviews and audits.

Vleck said taxes "touch almost every major financial decision our clients make," from selling a business to retirement income and estate planning, and the firm wanted that expertise available throughout the year rather than only at filing season.

That logic sits within a broader shift already visible across the US wealth industry. Larger RIAs including Soltis, Hightower and Allworth Financial have each acquired CPA firms in the past two years to bring tax preparation in-house, moving beyond the referral networks that have linked wealth managers and accountants for decades.

Adoption remains uneven, however: roughly a fifth of RIAs currently offer tax preparation, and take-up skews heavily toward larger firms able to absorb the cost and complexity, leaving smaller wealth managers still reliant on external CPA partnerships.

The convergence runs in both directions. Just as wealth managers are acquiring CPA capability, accounting firms elsewhere are building wealth management arms of their own, meaning independent tax practices increasingly face competition, and acquisition interest, from wealth managers moving directly into their territory.

For the sector, Beta Wealth's move is a reminder that the boundary between wealth management and accountancy is narrowing from both sides, not just one.

Source: International Accounting Bulletin / Wealth Management / Ledger Lowdown