Family Office Services | FAQ | Plumb Family Office Accounting

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Family Office Services from Plumb Family Office Accounting

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.

Case Study: Divorce Client

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.

  1. Client Associate pays bills
  2. Vice President reviews and signs checks
  3. Client Associate reconciles bank account
  4. 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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Five Signs That You Need a Back-Office Family CFO

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What is a Back-Office Family CFO?

At Plumb Family CFO, our idea of a “Back-Office Family CFO” is a team of outsourced accountants who handle the financial reporting, bill pay, and cash flow management of a high-net-worth family, rather than having one single Family CFO who takes care of all the tasks associated with a complicated financial life.  A back-office Family CFO, using the Plumb Family CFO approach typically works off-site to handle the accounting and bill pay work remotely, yet still delivers accurate and timely financial information to the client.

Here is a list of five signs that you need a Back-Office Family CFO:

1. Missing due dates and incurring late payments.

You become overwhelmed with the amount of mail received on a daily basis and the pile of bills and due dates keep stacking up.  With so many properties, automobiles, credit card statements, household employees and recurring bills, they are hard to keep track of and get paid in a timely fashion.  Any incurred late payments can lead to damaging credit scores.

Plumb Family CFO offers comprehensive bill pay services for families and individuals.  We oversee your monthly expenses, initiate payments, reconcile your accounts and track your credit card statements.  That way, you never miss a bill and have your credit cards monitored at the same time.  We also provide weekly or monthly cash flow reports, so you know exactly how much cash is coming in and how much cash is being paid out.

Want to learn more about the family bill pay service offered by Plumb?  Click here for a list of frequently asked questions.  Ready for a quote? Answer these questions and we can prepare a proposal based on the amount of accounts to track and bills to pay.  Request a Quote

2. Trouble with keeping track of multiple entities, investments, rental properties and trusts.

You may be the head of the household, but it feels like you a running a multimillion dollar company.  With great wealth comes great responsibility.  Your family’s financial life is complex with multi-faceted undertakings, such as corporate entities, private equity, international exposure, homes and rental properties, and alternative investments. This is a sign that you need help with your personal accounting needs.

Plumb Family CFO delivers financial peace of mind by helping affluent families organize, coordinate and navigate through their financial affairs.  Working in partnership with the family’s team of trusted advisors, we provide the highest quality data and financial reporting to establish a complete view of your assets and financial holdings.

See examples of personal financial reports & analysis that we provide:

  • Statement of Cash Flow
  • Net Worth Statement
  • Family Monthly Budget
  • Vacation/Second Home Expenses
  • Bill Pay Reports

3. You do not have a clear picture of your wealth.

With so many investment accounts, credit card statements and bank accounts, it’s hard to see a clear view of overall wealth.  At Plumb Family CFO, we work with your personal financial team to gather all the information tied to your family’s assets and turn it into a one-page summary of net-worth.  The financial reports we provide are detailed, holistic, and customized to your preference. In order to make better decisions about your wealth, it is important to have up-to-date financial data.

Read: Retain your Family Wealth by Organizing your Financial Life

4. Financial paperwork is not organized for tax season.

Tax deadline is looming and your CPA is working frantically to gather all your necessary paperwork to calculate the right deductions and track all your income and expenses.  It’s costing your family more time and money working with your CPA, because you do not have your financial house in order.

Plumb Family CFO works with their high-net-worth clients to provide an Annual Tax Organizer which is an audit-proof package that allows for maximized standard deductions.  Additionally, we provide your CPA with quarterly reports to adjust estimated tax payments as needed to avoid annual penalties and interest charges from the IRS or Franchise Tax Board.

Learn More: Plumb Family CFO Annual Tax Organizer

5. Too much time is spent handling household finances and not enjoying your wealth.

A good amount of your free time is spent handling household finances and it has become too complex to track properly.  Your family has acquired a team of trusted advisors to help you handle the maze of legal issues, tax planning, and investments, yet you don’t have a consolidated view of your overall wealth.

Why not outsource your personal accounting and family bill pay needs to a trusted and reliable firm with over 20 years of experience working with affluent families and corporations?

See how these families benefited from engaging with Plumb, back-office Family CFO:

Back-Office Family CFO Services by Plumb

If any of these items on the list applies to you and your family, Plumb Family CFO can help.  We are not a wealth management firm and do not recommend investment strategies. We are not a CPA firm and do not file tax returns.  Simply put, we are a back-office Family CFO with a team of personal accountants that have experience working with high-net-worth and their specific needs.  Plumb Family CFO works in partnership with your financial team to provide the highest quality data to help them make better decisions about your wealth and financial planning.

Want to learn more?  Here is a list of the top frequently asked questions about the clients and services offered by Plumb Family CFO.  

Accounting Services Include:

  • Family bill pay – including mail management & vendor management
  • Producing monthly financial statements
  • Cash flow reporting
  • Personal financial reporting & analysis
  • Bank and credit card reconciliation
  • Investment account reconciliation
  • Budgeting services and reporting
  • Household employee payroll services
  • Foundation and trust accounting
  • Annual tax organizer for the CPA

Are you ready to take control of your financial life and start enjoying your wealth? Schedule a consultation with Plumb Family CFO today:

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