Peer firms & acquisitions
CPA firms, EAs, tax practices and bookkeepers anywhere in the U.S. can work with YCL: you keep the client relationship, we handle complex cross-border work and busy-season volume behind the scenes, and you use our client portal and e-signature free while we work together. If you are thinking about retiring, slowing down or succession, we can talk confidentially about an acquisition or transition.
Platforms, nonprofits, cross-border providers and firms outside the U.S.: see Partner program
Why YCL
Streamlined filings (SFOP / SDOP), 5471 / 5472, 3520 / 3520-A, 8621 PFIC, 8938 / FBAR, 8854 expatriation, 1040-NR and dual status, FIRPTA and BE-13 are everyday work for us.
A licensed CPA reviews every return. Who signs as preparer and who answers to the client is written into the agreement, under Circular 230 and state rules.
Use the YCL client portal and SignLucid e-signature free while we work together, instead of TaxDome and DocuSign subscriptions: about $10,000 a year at 1,000 clients.
Teams in North Carolina and Shanghai hand work across time zones, so we can take overflow before April 15, September 15 and October 15.
A written non-solicitation clause; in white-label work we never contact your clients and the work goes out under your name.
Client files move only through encrypted portal links, never e-mail attachments, managed under IRS Pub 4557 and the FTC Safeguards Rule. We sign an NDA before we start.
Ways to work together
You win the work, keep the client and quote the fee; we prepare it behind the scenes and it goes out under your name.
Foreign assets, foreign gifts, foreign companies, expatriation: keep the client and hand us the technical part, or meet the client together.
Send us the returns your team cannot fit before a deadline, priced per return, back to you on an agreed schedule and standard.
Clients who need someone in person go to a partner firm nearby; we send you clients in your state, you send us clients on the East Coast and in the South (North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and more).
Both names shown together: local partner firms, joint seminars and co-branded materials, for firms building a region or a client segment together.
Your clients upload documents, follow progress, sign and pay in the YCL client portal, in English or Chinese, on a phone or computer.
Thinking about retiring, slowing down or succession: sell outright, transition in stages, or stay on as an adviser.
Software cost
For a five-person firm with 1,000 clients, each signing about 2.5 documents a year (engagement letter, 8879, state forms or other authorisations):
| Item | Typical cost a year | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Client portal / workflow | ~$5,000 | TaxDome Pro list price about $1,000 per user a year × 5 |
| E-signature subscription | ~$2,700 | DocuSign Business Pro about $45 per user a month (annual) × 5, about 100 envelopes per user a year, ~500 in all |
| Extra envelopes | ~$2,000–3,000 | About 2,500 signings; ~2,000 extra envelopes bought in packs, estimated at $1–1.50 each |
| Total | ~$9,700–10,700 a year | |
| With YCL | $0 | The YCL client portal and SignLucid e-signature are free while we work together; seats and limits are set in the agreement |
Based on TaxDome and DocuSign 2026 published annual list prices; both change their prices and offer multi-year discounts, and DocuSign quotes extra envelopes on request. Your actual cost is whatever they quote you.
Acquisitions · succession · mergers
YCL is talking with CPA firms, EA practices and bookkeepers across the U.S. about acquisitions and mergers. What matters to us is that clients move over smoothly, service stays at the same level and your staff are looked after, not just buying a client list.
Clients, staff and brand together; the owner can stay on for a while to help the handover.
Over 1–3 tax seasons: serve clients together in the first year, then hand over; the owner can stay on as an adviser with a revenue share.
Part or all of the client list, for firms that are closing or changing direction.
Keep your brand or join YCL, on one set of systems and one back office.
How peers work with us
Illustrative scenarios showing how the models work; not specific clients.
Partners on both coasts: the local firm meets West Coast clients in person, East Coast clients come to YCL, YCL prepares the complex cross-border work, and fees are shared as agreed.
In season it sends 5471, 3520 and delinquent FBAR work to YCL and keeps doing ordinary 1040s; the client relationship stays with the practice.
It keeps the monthly books and sends year-end 1120-S and 1065 returns to YCL to prepare and sign; documents come in through the YCL portal and 8879s are signed in SignLucid.
It starts on the free YCL portal and e-signature instead of buying subscriptions, and spends the savings on marketing.
Three weeks before October 15 it sends 30 extended returns to YCL, priced per return, back on schedule for review.
A two-season transition: serve clients together in year one, hand over in year two, and stay on as an adviser with a revenue share.
A client gets an IRS notice or audit about foreign assets; YCL works out the plan and drafts the response with the firm.
How it works
Whatever the agreement says: you can sign as preparer with YCL preparing behind the scenes, or a YCL CPA can sign. Both firms follow Circular 230 and state rules, and responsibility and insurance are written into the agreement.
Not in white-label or overflow work; it goes out under your name. In co-service work you decide whether we meet the client together. The agreement has a mutual non-solicitation clause.
Per return or per engagement, well below our retail fees, with annual terms for volume. The price list is sent after an NDA and is not published.
Yes, while we work together. Seats, client numbers and signing limits are set in the agreement; the data belongs to you and your clients.
Yes. Federal returns are the same everywhere and we prepare returns for many states; anything that depends on state licensing is arranged in the agreement. We work mostly remotely.
Yes, throughout. We sign an NDA before any information is exchanged and contact none of your clients or staff before signing.
Monthly or quarterly, with a written statement of every engagement, paid by Zelle or ACH.
Yes. See the Partner program page for how firms abroad hand us the U.S. part of their clients’ work.
Apply as a peer firm
We reply within two business days to set up a 20–30 minute video call. Acquisition and succession enquiries are confidential.
Send us the complex cases and the busy-season overflow, and keep your focus on your clients.
