Roz Marketing - July/August 2022

Amit Chandel, CPA Founder’s Member Spotlight

Listening to Amit Chandel, owner of Focus CPA Group in Brea, California, talk about why he enjoys tax resolution, you might begin to wonder if you are speaking with a tax attorney, a family counselor, a librarian, or even a doctor. He’ll quickly let you know that he is, indeed, a CPA but one who wears many hats. “Being a CPA was a necessity for me to get into this market, but my role is being an advocate for my clients,” Amit says. “I like the legal aspect of it rather than being a number cruncher. If I was not a CPA, I would have been an attorney.” Amit started doing tax resolution at the same time Michael “Roz” Rozbruch did back in the ‘90s but has only been doing IRS representation full time for the last four years. Amit faced two major obstacles when it came to focusing on tax resolution, one internal and one external. “It was the fear factor of getting it going, plus I had a partner who was not keen on resolution,” Amit explains. And like so many other practitioners in this industry, marketing was his biggest fear as he wondered, “How do I do it? What do I do? How do I bring clients in?” When Amit became a Roz Strategies member, he experienced his own resolution — the resolution of his fears. “Roz with his program has made it so easy!” Amit exclaims. “Roz has taken the fear factor out. I know what to do now. I follow what he says, and clients come in; I’m seeing it. Why re-create the wheel?” Using a variety of marketing strategies, Amit has found success using Facebook Ads, Google Ads, mailers, and lien lists. And after a recent consultation with Roz, he has begun sending out referral letters to other CPAs, enrolled agents, and bookkeepers. This has led to cases where

Amit can stand out as an expert among his CPA colleagues, taking on cases they don’t want to handle. Wearing his favorite“hat”as an advocate for his clients, Amit recently settled two very large income tax cases, one where the client owed over $3 million, and reducing both cases to zero owed. And in another case, he helped out a couple that had gone through two different CPAs while trying to resolve an IRS audit. They were so stressed that they were unable to communicate with each other. Amit put on his “counselor” hat and suggested they go on vacation to settle their nerves first, then he could resolve their case. Amit says, “I always tell people everybody should do the first year of law school and also take a psychology class.”

In 1990, he sat for the CPA exam and, in 1993, opened his own practice, the one with a partner who wasn’t interested in tax resolution. When that partnership dissolved, Amit started over with a new focus. “We have a niche practice. My focus is on resolution and tax planning,”Amit says. “I do not take clients off the street to do a tax return. I do not believe in having 3,000 clients like most professionals in my field do. I work with a smaller number so I can cater to my clients.” When he’s not working with clients, Amit enjoys relaxing with a good book or a movie. He also likes to travel. But for better or worse, he truly enjoys what he does for a living, leading to his third “hat” as librarian. Amit likes to read a lot about taxes and case law. He likes to help other CPAs and says, “I post a lot on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. I’ve created a Dropbox with my own library. Why not disseminate it to my colleagues and friends and use it for people?” As for that fourth “hat”? “The bottom line is to help people mitigate taxes through planning and resolving their problems when they’re in trouble with the IRS,” Amit says. “I tell them, ‘I’m your financial doctor, and you need to let me treat you.’”

Being a CPA was a necessity for me to get into this market, but my role is being an advocate for my clients.

As a matter of fact, Amit completed not just one, but two years of law school. “With two years of law school, I can think on my toes,”he says. “It takes the fear factor out of dealing with the IRS.” Before his two years of law school, Amit completed his bachelor’s degree in India. He immigrated to the United States in 1979 and joined the corporate world, rising to the rank of controller of an aerospace company.

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