Thriving Practice with Tracy Cherpeski
Aug 12, 2026 · 48 min · 16 segments
Here's a question most practice owners don't ask their accountant: Do I actually owe this much? In this episode, Tracy Cherpeski talks with Rachel Michaelov, an Enrolled Agent and tax strategist who…
Rachel MichaelovGuest
Tracy CherpeskiHost
So you, you touched on it, and you definitely said it in your intake, that there's a difference between, like, a CPA or a dental CPA or medical CPA, someone who specializes in a particular industry, and a tax strategist.
When I think of CPAs, uh, and I think tax strategy's a little bit new in my vernacular.
Looking at historical data to kind of complete whatever you need to do, and a strategist of whatever kind looking forward to what's-
So when a doctor goes to them, you know, at the end of the year, November, December, or even January, right, and they say, "Hey, I need to get my taxes done.
There's one strategy that you could do to go back and it's very advanced, but there's almost nothing that you could do.
When you come to me in January and February for the prior year, you can't go back and hire your kids.
There's, there's very, there's, like, almost nothing that you could do to reduce your liability because you can't go back and make that transaction in the bank account.
In order for you to hire your kids, you need to send out a paycheck to your kids, and there's, you need to register with the Department of Labor, and you can't go backdate it in, in that 2025 when you're in 2026.
That's why when you hire a tax accountant, they're like, "Oh, let me help you with your books.
So you, you touched on it, and you definitely said it in your intake, that there's a difference between, like, a CPA or a dental CPA or medical CPA, someone who specializes in a particular industry, and a tax strategist.
When I think of CPAs, uh, and I think tax strategy's a little bit new in my vernacular.
Looking at historical data to kind of complete whatever you need to do, and a strategist of whatever kind looking forward to what's-
So when a doctor goes to them, you know, at the end of the year, November, December, or even January, right, and they say, "Hey, I need to get my taxes done.
There's one strategy that you could do to go back and it's very advanced, but there's almost nothing that you could do.
When you come to me in January and February for the prior year, you can't go back and hire your kids.
There's, there's very, there's, like, almost nothing that you could do to reduce your liability because you can't go back and make that transaction in the bank account.
In order for you to hire your kids, you need to send out a paycheck to your kids, and there's, you need to register with the Department of Labor, and you can't go backdate it in, in that 2025 when you're in 2026.
That's why when you hire a tax accountant, they're like, "Oh, let me help you with your books.
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