Chris Wilcox, CPA, focuses on tax and estate planning for families and closely held businesses. He’s a partner at Eide Bailly, a Top 25 CPA firm (INSIDE Public Accounting) with more than forty offices across the country.

A longtime Forum attendee based in Las Vegas, Chris sat down to talk about what drew him to the Forum, how he applies what he learns, and how Chuck and Michael have helped him so much that he considers them friends.

You’ve attended Tax Forum programs since the 1990s. What first drew you to the courses?
I’ve been a practicing CPA since 1984. In the 1990s, my clients were mostly larger mid-market family-owned or closely held businesses that were either S corps or partnerships, and I just needed to get better in that area of tax. Tax Forum seemed like a good place to start, and it proved to be exactly what I was looking for.

You’ve attended around two dozen times throughout the past thirty years. What keeps you coming back?
The format Chuck and Michael use is very useful. It’s a very effective, hands-on approach. It’s not just saying, “Here is the law”–they actually walk you through the applications of the law. They teach you how to implement it. They go through transactions.
Their approach to presenting it is very creative. They are exceptionally bright problem-solvers who think things through really well. I get ideas from the Forum that I can take and expand upon to fit my client’s situation. And the program is different enough year to year that you can keep coming back and keep learning new things.

How have you used what you learned at Tax Forum to help your clients?
While I’ve applied a lot of what I’ve learned from the Forum over the years, one specific simple instance I remember is sitting in the Tax Forum in the early ‘90s and finally understanding the issue of having passive income in an S corporation that used to be a C corporation. I remember thinking, “I need to watch out for this.” And because I learned that I was able to identify this situation with my clients and distribute out earnings and profits to eliminate the problem. That saved my clients a lot of headaches.

Have Chuck and Michael helped you personally?
I’ve called up Chuck and Michael before and gotten their help with some complex structures and estate plan issues. They are always happy to personally walk me through them. It’s come to the point where I would call Chuck and Michael my friends (along with hundreds of other Forum attendees).

What would you say to young accountants who are thinking of attending Tax Forum programming?
I highly recommend attending the Tax Forums to younger accountants, so that they can expand their skillset and give their clients the best experience possible. But first, I want them to go into the shallow end to see if they can swim or not.
I tell my people, start with the Fundamentals of Flow-Through program. You’re going to be exhausted and blown away by how much information you’re given; the first time, only about ten percent will make sense. Then go again next year, and fifty percent will make sense. Then, once you know you can swim, go to the Tax Planning Forum. If you pay attention and follow the examples in the programs, you’ll have the tools you need to be able to recognize and handle those more unique and not so unique situations within your own client base.