Key Discovery Call Questions for International Tax Clients
For CPA firms specializing in international tax, a successful client engagement starts long before the first invoice. It begins with a thorough discovery call. Unlike standard tax work, international tax involves complex regulations across multiple jurisdictions, unique client structures, and significant compliance risks.
Getting pricing right in this niche is impossible without deeply understanding the client’s specific situation. This article outlines essential international tax discovery call questions you need to ask to accurately scope engagements, identify value, mitigate risk, and price profitably in 2025 and beyond. We’ll cover key areas to probe and how the information gathered informs your pricing strategy.
Why Discovery Calls Are Critical in International Tax
International tax is inherently complex. Clients often don’t fully understand the implications of their cross-border activities. A superficial conversation won’t uncover the nuances required for accurate service delivery and, crucially, accurate pricing.
A robust discovery process helps you:
- Identify True Complexity: Uncover hidden structures, historical issues, or specific transaction types that dramatically impact scope and effort.
- Assess Risk: Understand compliance history, potential exposure, and the urgency required.
- Gauge Client Sophistication: Tailor your communication and service approach.
- Understand Client Goals & Pain Points: Frame your services not just as compliance, but as solutions to their specific problems (e.g., mitigating double taxation, facilitating expansion, ensuring peace of mind).
- Justify Value-Based Pricing: Gather the qualitative data needed to move beyond hourly rates and price based on the significant value you provide in navigating complex international regulations.
Without these insights, you risk underpricing complex work, overpromising on timelines, or taking on clients that aren’t a good fit.
Structuring Your International Tax Discovery Call
A productive call requires structure, but remain flexible to follow important threads the client raises. Aim to guide the conversation while allowing the client to share openly.
Consider these phases:
- Introduction & Agenda (5 mins): Briefly introduce yourself/firm, state the call’s purpose (understanding their needs to see if there’s a mutual fit and how you might help), and outline the topics you’d like to cover. Manage expectations – this call is for understanding, not necessarily providing definitive advice on the spot.
- Client/Entity Background (10-15 mins): Start broad, gathering foundational information.
- Deep Dive - Specific International Activities (20-30 mins): This is where you ask the core international tax discovery call questions related to their cross-border setup.
- Goals, Challenges & Expectations (10 mins): Understand their motivations, pain points, and what success looks like.
- Next Steps & Closing (5 mins): Briefly summarize your understanding, outline your process for assessing their needs and potentially preparing a proposal, and set a clear timeline for follow-up. Address any immediate questions they have about your process or fees (though detailed pricing discussions often follow this initial call).
Throughout the call, actively listen, take detailed notes, and ask clarifying questions. Encourage them to provide context and examples.
Essential International Tax Discovery Call Questions
Here are key question categories and specific examples to incorporate into your discovery calls. Tailor these based on whether the client is an individual, a business owner, or a larger corporation.
Background & Entity Structure
- Can you describe your background and your primary goals for seeking international tax assistance?
- What is the legal structure of your business (e.g., LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, Partnership, Foreign Entity)?
- When was the entity formed and in which jurisdiction(s)?
- What is the ownership structure? Are there U.S. owners of foreign entities, or foreign owners of U.S. entities?
- Can you provide a brief overview of the business’s operations?
International Activities & Jurisdictions
- In which foreign countries do you currently operate, have investments, or have significant presence?
- What specific activities occur in each foreign jurisdiction (e.g., sales, manufacturing, service delivery, holding assets, employees)?
- Do you have foreign subsidiaries, branches, joint ventures, or passive investments?
- Have there been any significant international transactions in the past (e.g., acquisitions, dispositions, restructurings)?
- Are there any foreign individuals involved in the U.S. operations, or U.S. individuals involved in foreign operations?
- Do you hold any foreign financial accounts or assets?
Compliance History & Status
- Who handled your international tax matters previously? (If applicable)
- What international tax forms have been filed in the past (e.g., Form 5471, 5472, 8865, 8858, 8938, FBAR)?
- Are you aware of any compliance issues or missed filings from prior years?
- Have you ever been audited by the IRS or a foreign tax authority regarding international matters?
- What is your current tax year-end?
- Do you have copies of prior year international tax filings and related workpapers available?
Future Plans & Strategic Goals
- Are you planning any new international expansion, investments, or transactions in the near future?
- Are you considering changes to your entity structure or ownership?
- What are your long-term goals for your international operations or investments?
- Are there specific international tax issues you are trying to solve or optimize?
Specific Pain Points & Expectations
- What are the biggest challenges or frustrations you face with international tax compliance or planning?
- What level of involvement do you expect from your tax advisor?
- What are your expectations regarding communication frequency and reporting?
- Do you have any hard deadlines or urgent matters we need to address?
Budget & Pricing Expectations
- Have you budgeted for these services? (This can be a delicate question, ask it towards the end).
- How have you been billed for international tax services in the past? (e.g., hourly, fixed fee).
- What is your understanding of the potential costs involved in international tax services of this nature? (Allows them to volunteer information).
Asking these international tax discovery call questions provides the depth needed to accurately scope the work and determine a price that reflects the complexity and value delivered.
Using Discovery Information for Pricing
The information gathered during the discovery call is the foundation for your pricing strategy. For international tax, this often means moving beyond a simple hourly rate, which can penalize efficiency and fail to capture the value of your specialized expertise and risk mitigation.
Analyze the information to assess:
- Complexity: The number of jurisdictions, entity types, transaction volumes, historical issues, and required forms all add complexity and workload.
- Risk: High-risk situations (e.g., prior non-compliance, aggressive structures) require more scrutiny and expertise.
- Value to Client: How significant is the potential tax savings, risk reduction, or facilitation of their business goals? Price based on the value you create.
- Timeline Urgency: Rush projects often command a premium.
- Client Sophistication: Less sophisticated clients may require more hand-holding and education.
Based on this assessment, you can determine the appropriate pricing model (value-based fixed fee, tiered packaging, or potentially hourly for highly uncertain scopes) and calculate a price that is fair to both you and the client. For example, a client with complex CFC structures and prior non-compliance requiring filings under an IRS amnesty program might be priced significantly higher than a simple foreign grantor trust filing, even if the time spent on the latter was similar. The value and risk are vastly different.
Presenting Your International Tax Service Options
Once you’ve completed your internal assessment based on the discovery call, you need to present your proposed services and pricing clearly. This is where many firms struggle, often resorting to static PDF proposals or email quotes that can be confusing, especially for complex international tax packages.
Consider packaging your services based on common client needs or complexity levels uncovered during discovery. For instance:
- Tier 1: Baseline Compliance (e.g., simple foreign corporation or trust filings)
- Tier 2: Enhanced Compliance & Basic Planning (e.g., CFC/GILTI analysis, FBAR/FATCA reporting)
- Tier 3: Complex Structures & Strategic Planning (e.g., Subpart F, PFIC, international restructuring, complex treaty analysis)
- Add-ons: Specific services like voluntary disclosure assistance, expatriation planning, or foreign transaction consulting.
Presenting these tiered options and potential add-ons clearly can significantly improve the client experience and potentially increase engagement value. Tools exist to help with this.
For comprehensive proposal generation including e-signatures and contracts, you might look at tools like PandaDoc (https://www.pandadoc.com) or Proposify (https://www.proposify.com).
However, if your primary goal is to modernize how clients interact with and select your specific pricing options – allowing them to see prices update as they choose add-ons or tiers – PricingLink (https://pricinglink.com) offers a dedicated, affordable solution. It’s laser-focused on creating interactive pricing experiences via shareable links, capturing client selections and lead information seamlessly. It’s not an all-in-one, but excels specifically at presenting configurable service pricing.
Conclusion
Mastering the international tax discovery call questions is paramount for CPA firms operating in this complex niche. It’s the critical first step in accurately scoping work, identifying the true value you can provide, mitigating risk, and ultimately setting profitable fees.
Key takeaways for your practice:
- Prioritize deep discovery to uncover hidden complexities and risks unique to international tax.
- Use structured questions covering background, activities, history, future plans, and pain points.
- Leverage the information gathered to inform value-based or fixed-fee pricing models, moving beyond simple hourly rates where appropriate.
- Consider how you present complex international tax packages – clarity is key for client buy-in.
By investing time in a thorough discovery process and using the insights gained to inform your pricing and service delivery, you position your firm for greater profitability and stronger client relationships in 2025. Modern tools, whether comprehensive proposal software or specialized pricing presentation tools like PricingLink (https://pricinglink.com), can help streamline the post-discovery process and enhance the client experience.