Member Benefits Guide

ACPConnect – Your Members Only Portal

Explore what’s available to you on ACPConnect including links to community discussion forums, the Members Only Library, and Quick Links to the most referenced resources.

Communities

All members are automatically subscribed to the Member2Member and Board Community Café communities. Member2Member is reserved exclusively for member conversations and Q&A and is the best way to access the ACP Brain Trust. Board Community Café is where you’ll find the latest announcements and reminders about ACP events and upcoming webinars, the Financial Focus newsletter, information on our newest ACP members, and more.

Members Only Library

Find what you are looking for in the Members Only Library – an accumulation of knowledge and expertise from more than a quarter century of ACP history.

ACP Committees

ACP relies on member volunteers to get things done! From training new members to planning the annual conference, our awesome volunteers are key to ACP’s success. Getting involved in the ACP community is also a “win” for those who step up – volunteering is a great way to connect with your colleagues, develop long-lasting peer-to-peer relationships, and help to direct the work of the ACP organization. Take a look at the opportunities available and sign up for a committee today!

Quick Links

Find the most referenced resources and documents in a flash with Quick Links (bottom right on ACPConnect home page):

Annual Conference and Events

ACP events include (but are not limited to!) the Annual Conference, advisor retreats, the ACP Breakroom, and monthly discussion and social calls for G2 members. Just click on “Events” from the ACPConnect main navigation bar to see what’s coming up.

ACP is all about the process of managing a tax-focused, comprehensive financial planning practice.

Take advantage of these member-designed resources:

• ACP Success Program – fourteen training modules and supplemental documents (including the Advisors Desk Reference and Client Binder)
• Practice Life Cycle Matrix – a benchmarking resource for your firm as you grow
• Business Continuity ToolKit – tools and resources to help members prepare their practice for an unplanned interruption due to short- or long-term disability, permanent disability, or unexpected death
• Best Practices for Successful Use of Mind Maps – a simple diagram designed to translate information into a visual picture and is used to illustrate and track client goals
• ACP Best Practices – the top nine best practices for efficiency and profitability
• Investment Policy Statement (template) – a template designed to establish a clear understanding between the advisors and clients of investment objectives and policies
• Continuing Education – upcoming live and recorded webinar content

Attract clients with ACP’s help!

• Resources available through ACP’s partnership with Impact Communications:
  • Virtual Training modules – Focusing on Owned Marketing Elements, these modules lay out a framework for consistently creating new business opportunities.
  • Modern Advisor Marketing webinars – On the fourth Thursday of each month at 2 p.m. ET (with some exceptions for holidays), Impact Communications leads these group coaching webinars that cover branding, marketing, PR, social media, content creation, and more.
  • Media Spokesperson opportunity – Become an ACP media spokesperson for your chance to gain media exposure for your firm and the ACP organization. Contact info@acplanners.org if you’d like to sign up!
• Client Referral Spreadsheet – As the name implies, give or receive client referrals from fellow ACP advisors.
• Financial Focus Newsletter – This is a quarterly consumer-facing newsletter you can brand and distribute to your clients.
• Successful Marketing Manual (part of the ACP Success Program), Corporate Identity Package, and Sell Sheets
• Certified Member Digital Signatures (two versions available)
• Thought leadership – ACP white papers:
  • Tax Alpha: How to Add Measurable Value with Tax-Focused Financial Planning
  • The Financial Planner’s Retainer: A Reflection of Real Value
  • The Holistic Financial Plan
• Blog aggregation service – Let ACP help you amplify your voice by promoting your blog through ACP’s social media channels.

• The ACP Pyramid is a core financial planning and client education tool that ACP members use to develop, analyze, and track net worth.
• The ACP Toolkit includes the following: Bond Ladder, Client Fee Calculator with Cost/Benefit Analysis, Wealth Management Fee Calculator, Retirement Analyzer, and W-2 Calculator. There are also basic calculators included within the Toolkit for convenience: Cash Flow Worksheet, Loan Calculator, Life Insurance Needs Calculator, Life Insurance Policy Analyzer, Mortgage/Investment Analyzer, and Savings Calculator.
• Planning for the Long Term, a recent addition to the ACP Toolkit, walks advisors through planning long term care with their clients — this tool is a first-in-class resource for assessing your client needs and planning for the future.
• Bond Ladder Prices are available to help you lay out a bond purchasing plan that minimizes client interest-rate risk and provides the liquidity to cover client retirement expenses.
• Use the Roth Conversion Tool to make sense of Roth IRA conversions.
• Investment Discussion Group is an ACP member community that meets quarterly.
• Returns Since 1926 Spreadsheet — This Excel worksheet, provided by member advisor Brian Shea, allows the user to calculate historical returns for various portfolio allocations and is based on a database of SBBI investment returns plus international stocks.
• Advance Financial Directive For Cognitive Decline helps to address this issue in the financial planning process.

The ACP Technology Resource Hub includes software comparisons, the ACP Approach to Technology guide, and member technology survey results. 

Take advantage of your members-only discounts and vendor resource partnerships.

Are you a new Certified member?

Have you taken advantage of your exclusive new member benefits?

• Mentor Match Up
• Concierge Services
• Business Coaching
• Compliance Consultation
• Free First Year Conference Registration
• Visiting Advisor Program *
• New Advisor, Best Practices webinar series *
• Goals and Values form *

*These benefits are also available to all members and new Associate members. Contact ACP for details.