How This Firm Turns Complex Tax Strategies into Real-Dollar Wins for Business Owners with RightCapital

Thomas Marki, CPA CEPA®, built his practice around a clear niche: the small business owner. He co-leads AXIOM Founders Family Office Inc., a Scottsdale, Arizona firm that helps entrepreneurs plan for growth, exit, and legacy. Since adopting RightCapital, AXIOM has been able to translate complex tax, estate, and charitable strategies into visuals that even the most analytical clients can grasp in minutes.

At a glance

Challenge: Helping small business owners see the whole picture

Most of AXIOM's clients are first-generation entrepreneurs, what Thomas affectionately calls "salt of the earth" business owners. They've taken risks, built something meaningful, and reached a level of success where they can outsource some of the complexity.

"They took a chance on the American success story, they tried to run a business, and now they've gotten to a level of success where they realize they're kind of in over their heads. They have a tax person, maybe an estate attorney, maybe an investment banker, but they're not talking to each other, they're not working as a team."

These clients often have 70–80% of their net worth tied up in their business. They're charitably inclined, busy, and need a coordinated, planning-first approach that goes far beyond investment management.

To serve them well, Thomas needed software that could:

• Aggregate the full picture, including business value, real estate, and outside accounts
• Model complex strategies such as Roth conversions, donor-advised funds, charitable remainder trusts, and cash balance plans
• Translate spreadsheets into visuals that resonate with even the most analytical clients
• Stress-test plans for recessions, longevity, healthcare costs, and changes to tax burdens
• Engage clients between meetings with a dynamic plan they could revisit on their own

Solution: RightCapital as the visual backbone of a planning-first practice

Thomas started his career with yellow pads and HP-12C calculators, moved to Excel spreadsheets, briefly tried eMoney, and eventually landed on RightCapital after seeing it consistently rated as a top platform by industry voices like Michael Kitces.

"When I saw RightCapital, I thought, ‘this is a no-brainer.’ The ease of use, for me as an advisor and for clients, was the difference."

A Snapshot putting client goals front and center

AXIOM's discovery process produces a personalized mind map of each client's goals, values, and family priorities. Those goals get loaded into a text box in the RightCapital Snapshot feature, a personalized plan summary, sometimes called a “one-page plan.” This ensures that goals are visible every time a client logs into RightCapital:

"Every time a client opens up Snapshot, they see what we're trying to accomplish. These goals, in the most efficient manner, with the least amount of risk."

Cash flow modeling as the heart of the plan

For Thomas, the cash flows are where everything comes together.

"I love the cash flow modeling. Income is what pays for your goals, your taxes, your utility bills. People get stuck on the balance sheet, but cash flow is king. And being able to show clients they're still going to have this cash-flow at age 90, 95, 100? That's powerful."

Donor-advised fund and charitable strategy modeling

AXIOM works with many charitably inclined clients, and RightCapital's flexibility makes it easy to demonstrate the impact of strategies such as donor-advised funds on their tax picture in real time.

"We had a very charitable client donating $100,000 a year. He had highly appreciated stock he wasn't emotionally attached to and a high tax year. So we proposed donating $300,000 of stock to a donor-advised fund, three years of giving in one year. His lifestyle wouldn’t change one bit, but he’d get a huge tax break. RightCapital let me show him the savings on the tax page with just a toggle, and that’s a win-win for everybody."

Estate planning and the trust flowchart

The estate module has become a centerpiece of client conversations.

"We show clients with $10 million that in 20 or 30 years, they could have $30, $40, $50 million. Then we walk through the trust options on the right side of the module and it sets the stage for charitable planning, gifting, and legacy work."

The business module: planning around the largest asset

For business-owner clients, AXIOM pairs RightCapital's business module with a business valuation software.

"On the Snapshot, I can show them, ‘Your business is worth $25 million, your other assets are $3 or $4 million. Now let's plan how we're going to exit and what we do afterwards.’"

RightCapital’s business module also opens up entity-structure conversations.

"Should you be an S Corp, a C Corp, an LLC? A 1202 election can save $10 million in capital gains. The business module gives me a place to have those conversations and show the impact."

Stress testing for the long-term view

AXIOM builds every plan with strong considerations of potential impacts of recessions, inflation, longevity, and healthcare costs.

"When COVID hit, our clients' success percentage might have dropped from 85% to 80%. It didn't go to zero, because we'd planned for it. Showing clients we've already stress-tested their plan is one of the most reassuring things we do."

Winning prospects in a single meeting

Sometimes RightCapital is the closer.

"A prospect came in for a Friday afternoon meeting, half asleep, mind elsewhere. The moment I pulled up RightCapital, he woke up. He said, 'Did you design this? This is incredible.' He became a client based on that meeting."

And it's just as effective when other professionals struggle to communicate.

"We had a client looking at a $15 million CRAT and donor-advised fund combination. The Excel models from the outside team made his eyes glaze over. I went into RightCapital and in less than 20 minutes showed him both strategies, side by side, with real numbers. The visuals were so much more impactful."

Engaging the next generation with RightExpress

To bring adult children of clients into the planning process, AXIOM uses RightExpress, RightCapital’s prospecting tool, in which advisors can create a simple plan in a few minutes and convert to a full plan later on.

"Our clients are often the first generation to break through. They want to teach their kids, but they don't know how. We started using RightExpress for that next generation. They log in, we meet once or twice a year, and we help with student loans, debt, the basics."

A tech stack that works together

RightCapital integrates seamlessly with AXIOM's CRM and custodian. RightCapital’s secure Vault has also become an important feature.

"Our clients are super busy and don't always know where their documents are. We use the Vault to organize their trust certificates, estate documents, all of it. If they're at the bank and need to grab a trust certificate, they pull it up in the app. Saving clients time is a tremendous value."

Support that surprises

"With the Support Team chat box, I get a response in minutes. I throw unusual things their way and they always follow up. The team, training, and webinars are tremendous."

RightCapital’s #1-rated live support team is available via chat, email, phone, or scheduled calls for deeper plan reviews.

Results: A practice built on visuals, trust, and real tax savings

Thomas's advice to fellow advisors

For advisors weighing whether to add or switch planning software, Thomas's answer is simple.

"It's a no-brainer. So many advisors are talking about Roth conversions right now. Well, you can show a Roth conversion in RightCapital in five minutes."

His broader message:

"Financial planning is a craft and an art form. You have to keep working at it. RightCapital is an incredible tool, but the real value is everything you bring around it."

Ready to deliver planning-first advice like Thomas? Request a RightCapital demo and gain access to a 14-day free trial.

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