Before we meet
Are we the right firm for you?
Valley Oak is a fractional family office. Planning leads, compliance follows — which makes us a genuinely poor fit for anyone who just needs a return typed up in April, and a very good fit for owners and families who want the whole picture coordinated.
Eight questions, about two minutes. We'd rather tell you now than three meetings from now.
- If it's a fit, we'll take a few details and our team follows up to get the meeting booked — a person, not an auto-reply.
- If it isn't, we'll say so — and tell you what to look for in a firm that does fit. No pitch.
- Nothing here is shared outside the firm.
Good fit
This is exactly the kind of situation we're built for.
Based on what you've told us, there's real planning work available here — and enough moving parts that having tax, investments and the plan under one roof will pay for itself.
Tell us how to reach you and we'll set up a discovery meeting: your present position, your forecast, and the opportunities we spot in it.
Start with the Academy
You're close — but the Academy is the better first step.
There's real planning opportunity in what you described, but not yet enough moving parts to justify a full engagement — or you'd rather learn the moves yourself first. Either one, we built the Academy for exactly this.
It's the same playbook we run for clients, taught by the people who run it. When your situation outgrows it, you'll already know what to ask us.
Valley Oak Academy
Courses on entity choice, proactive tax strategy, wealth transfer, and the four most important financial questions.
Situation changed — a sale, a new entity, a windfall? Come back through this page and we'll take another look.
A better match elsewhere
Honestly? You'd be overpaying for us.
Valley Oak is built around ongoing planning engagements, and everything we do is priced that way. For what you described, that would mean paying for coordination you don't need yet.
We'd rather tell you that now, and send you off knowing what to look for in a firm that does this work well and prices it appropriately.
VIDEO COMING SOON · 90 SEC
A NOTE FROM MATT RZEPKA, CPA, CFP®
Owner · Chief Wealth Strategist
Thanks for being straight with us on those questions. Based on your answers, we're probably not the right firm for you right now, and I'd rather tell you that up front than sell you something you don't need.
Our clients pay for ongoing planning that runs all year. If your situation is simpler than that, you'd be paying for a lot of coordination you won't use. That isn't a knock on you. It just means a different kind of firm will serve you better.
Whoever you end up hiring, here's what I'd look for.
Credentials you can check. A CPA, an Enrolled Agent, or a CFP®. All three are licensed and accountable, and you can look them up.
A fee you understand before work starts. Get it in writing. If someone can't explain how they're paid, keep looking.
Someone who asks about your year, not just your documents. Even a simple return goes better when the preparer asks what changed.
A real person who answers in the summer. If you can only reach them in March, that tells you something.
Advice that matches your size. Be careful with anyone pitching complicated strategies to a simple situation.
If your life changes, whether that's starting a business, selling one, or getting an inheritance, come back and take this again. We'd love to talk then.
Want to learn this side of things yourself? Valley Oak Academy is open to everyone.