John Evanich is a very busy man. When he's not immersed as the CEO of four companies under an umbrella organization called The Professional Tax Group, he's working as a part-time tax advisor for Connecticut CPA firms through one of his companies, Part-Time Tax Partner.

As he walks out the door of an office he shares with his office manager and wife, Barbara, you can almost hear the echo of a mantra that follows him everywhere: "Remember -- We don't want your clients! We want to be your Part-Time Tax Partner!"

Returning to Competencies
One key aspect of the CPA Vision Project is the ability for the CPA profession to rely on competencies, or a blend of knowledge and skills that enable the profession to stand apart from its competitors. In this context, John is using his 25 years of experience as a tax advisor--not to gain his own client base--but in serving as a tax practitioner to CPA firms and law practices who are too small to adequately address the ins and outs of today's tax environment.

"CPAs have the ability to analyze a problem and find alternative solutions or approaches to solve that problem," he says. "With so many CPAs diversifying themselves in consulting and other arrangements, there definitely is a need to outsource certain functions like tax, for firms who don't have the staff to address some of the more complicated issues."

John focuses on CPA firms who have a tendency to have more sophisticated, full-blown tax problems on an ongoing basis. The average client (again, a CPA firm, not the CPA firm's client) is a local firm with two to four partners and usually 10 to 12 professionals, no tax department and many people in the office who do routine day-to-day tax work.

"I was gradually convinced over the last 8 to 10 years that there was more and more of a need for this kind of practice in light of specialization, spin-off of small firms and firms that need more tax expertise," says John.

Another factor that motivated him to make a change involved a service through the Connecticut Society of CPAs called CHAT, or "Consulting, Helping and Assisting in Technical Matters," a consultation service in which state society members can call one another for technical assistance. "The average member got about six calls a year; I was getting 10 calls a week."

In June of 1997, John left his well-paying, tenured position as tax partner for a West Hartford firm and ventured out on his own. At the age of 44, he knew the transition was going to be tough, but was confident that his "part-time" concept would take hold based on his knowledge of the market in that there were only one to two businesses that do pieces of what he does.

Today, after almost a year in business, he works with 50 firms on a regular basis, and writes an open-ended engagement letter allowing for the last-minute "IRS" crisis call, traditional tax work or perhaps a lengthier stint. John bills by the hour, and his rates range from $150 to $220 depending on the scope of the work.

"The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 didn't hurt either," he says. "But you can't measure success based on revenues alone. I'm more interested in a satisfied CPA firm who will call me back to do additional work. This is a brand new concept and an educational process. Our marketing is designed to educate CPAs who may have a need, while reassuring them that I'm not going to take away their clients."

High-Tech is High-Touch
The three other companies associated with The Professional Tax Group also keep John on his toes. Professional Tax Consultants offers the same services as Part-Time Tax Partner, but directs its efforts to closely held businesses that have a CPA, or assists businesses in selecting a firm. John speaks regularly for state society sponsored courses from popular vendors like AICPA, PDI and PPC, develops his own seminars through Professional Tax Training Concepts, and will write and produce firm newsletters through Professional Tax Publications.

Combining technology with consulting are the two, key integral parts that make the difference, says John. When he works with a firm, he packs a laptop, portable printer, a 13 CD-ROM tax library and a phone line for connecting to the Internet. This portable office enables him to address any problem encountered while at a firm.

"I can be at an office for an hour, solve the problem right there, review a return, write the memo, print it out, give them a final product and leave," he says. "They're not paying for my time commuting back to my office or a lag in receiving the information. This just would not have been possible two to three years ago."

With a continuous success rate, 70 percent of referrals come from networking, and 30 percent from seminars and advertising, John is firmly entrenched in all areas of The Professional Tax Group, and has his sights set on adding additional staff in 1998 if engagements continue to grow.

CPAs who wish to contact John may e-mail him at proftaxgrp@aol.com.