Frequently Asked Questions…
The family office services of Plumb Family Office Accounting were developed to help clients navigate through their complex financial life. By providing personal financial management with consolidated reports and timely bill pay, it gives a clear picture of our client’s wealth and the analysis needed to implement financial, estate and tax planning strategies.
Q: Is there a minimum net-worth to become a Plumb Family Office Accounting client?
Answer: No. We believe that comprehensive, timely and accurate information gives our clients true control of their wealth, regardless of net-worth. By getting into the habit of tracking income and expenses, it helps our clients in their wealth creation stage by following a financial plan to accumulate long-term savings and retirement goals.
A typical Plumb client has a net-worth ranging from $10 million to $150 million and sees the value in our service if they have a complex financial life, complete with multifaceted undertakings, such as alternative investments, corporate entities, private equity, international exposure, and collective properties.
Success Stories: Plumb Family Office Accounting Clients
Q: What is the difference between Plumb Family Office Accounting and a single-family office?
Answer: Plumb Family Office Accounting creates a virtual family office by providing family office services to include personal accounting, bookkeeping and reporting with controller-level insight on a part-time basis or as-needed.
Single-family offices are typically set-up with full-time accounting staff, including a CFO, staff accountants, CPA and a team of attorneys.
By having a virtual or remote family office with Plumb, clients receive the financial data and organizational structure they need without having to hire a full team of advisors on their payroll. Plumb Family Office Accounting works in conjunction with the trusted advisors of each client and provides financial data to the team to make better estate, tax and financial planning decisions.
Read: Top Ways that Plumb Family Office Accounting works with Trusted Advisors
Q: Does Plumb Family Office Accounting manage their client’s wealth or recommend financial strategies?
Answer: No. We do not advise or manage wealth, do taxes, or financial planning. We prepare comprehensive reports for clients and their advisors to see a holistic view of assets, including the performance of all investments, statement of cash flow, and net-worth statement.
View samples of personal financial reports created by Plumb
Q: What is the pricing structure of family office services by Plumb Family Office Accounting?
Answer: The price varies depending on the complexity of the family’s wealth and reporting needs. For most clients, we charge a fixed-fee engagement on transaction-based pricing. In order to come up with a pricing structure, we calculate how many bills to be paid, accounts reconciled and the frequency of their reporting needs (monthly, quarterly or annually).
Typically, our clients pay between $2,000 and $4,000 per month for family office services with the minimum engagement being $1,000 per month. Every client undergoes an annual fee review to see if there have been any changes in the scope of work throughout the year.
Family Bill Pay – Request a Quote
Download: New Client Questionnaire
Q: Do you provide any other family office services besides personal reporting, accounting and bill pay?
Answer: Since the majority of our clients lead busy lives, we’ve added outsourced concierge and personal assistant services. These are customizable based on the family’s need and can range from property management services to booking travel and restaurant reservations, household employee payroll and basic mail pick-up and distribution. Another example of outsourced concierge is relocation assistance, a project-based engagement in order to help manage and organize a personal move.
See list of outsourced personal assistant services
Q: Does a client need to be located in Southern California to work with Plumb?
Answer: No, all the financial reporting and bill pay engagements are handled electronically with cloud-based assistance. Plumb Family Office Accounting uses technology to facilitate bill pay and A/P work flow with a client login system to access reports and status updates.
We offer complete account protection and robust security measures to protect your information from unauthorized access. All confidential information is stored in a data center with multiple levels of security and can only be accessed by Plumb and you or your designated representative. All sensitive information is encrypted and uploaded to your private portal. Two-factor authentication to login to portal further safeguards your accounts and information
Plumb has staff located on both the west coast and east coast time zones to accommodate nationwide and international clients.
Q: Who is handling the relationship with Plumb Family Office Accounting clients?
Answer: Plumb takes a team approach for each engagement. Every client has a main point of contact, a Client Relationship Manager, who oversees a team of junior and senior staff accountants. The team approach is more cost-effective for the client, as each transaction is mapped in our task management software, and is broken down on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
There is a centralized client communication portal set up via email, so the team has access to client-specific information and requests. This ensures dependability and consistency if an accountant is out of the office, needs approval or controller-level insight.
Q: How can I be assured that my financial information is kept confidential and secure?
Answer: Plumb has been in business since 1996 and has a long history of continuity and confidentiality. We are fully bonded and all employees have to pass a background check before they are hired. With every engagement and task, it is handled with the utmost discretion and attention to detail.
We respect the privacy of our Plumb Family Office Accounting clients and take great measures to protect it. We ensure compliance with best practices and internal control procedures, different levels of approval and password protection. Our solid system of checks and balances gives our clients reassurance in the integrity and security of their private information and financial data.
Q: I have a special project that requires assistance on a one-time basis. Can Plumb Family Office Accounting help?
Answer: Yes, we can accommodate short-term engagements and project work. For example, Plumb Family Office Accounting works with divorce attorneys and their clients who are going through a divorce settlement and need help analyzing and tracking expenses to finalize child and alimony support.
Q: How is the family bill pay set-up?
Answer: We have created a 4-step bill pay process with segregation of duties and different levels of approval.
- Client Associate pays bills
- Vice President reviews and signs checks
- Client Associate reconciles bank account
- Client Relationship Manager reviews bank statements
The family bill pay process is first established with the creation of a financial calendar of due dates and vendor information sheet.
View: Family Bill Pay Services: Organize your Financial Life.
Success Stories – Family Bill Pay
How can you help with organizing for year-end and tax planning purposes?
Answer: We assist our clients to compile the annual tax organizer for their CPA. Creating this comprehensive, audit-proof package allows to maximize standard deductions, as well as, allows for the CPA to be more cost effective.
Additionally, we provide the CPA with quarterly reports to adjust estimated tax payments as needed to avoid annual penalties and interest charges with the IRS or Franchise Tax Board.
Learn More: Plumb Family Office Accounting Annual Tax Organizer
Are you ready to simplify your financial life and take true control of your wealth?
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