More detail,
when you want it.
Read the Decision Memo client guide, review an illustrative sample work product, and get direct answers before deciding whether Phænix is the right fit.
Understand the engagement.
Then see the finished work.
The guide explains the offer, scope, process, deliverable, timing, and fees. The illustrative sample shows how a real estate question becomes a documented recommendation and action plan.
What the engagement includes
The updated guide explains the six common questions, six analysis areas, six deliverables, four-step process, Standard and Extended scope levels, timing, fees, boundaries, and client fit.
See the artifact itself
This nine-page illustrative Memo shows a property-specific rental-loss decision, the facts reviewed, classification and participation findings, evidence limits, alternative outcomes, recommendation, filing route, and records checklist.
Positions We Will
Not Recommend.
Good tax advice includes knowing when to say no. These are examples of positions Phænix will not recommend when the facts, timing, or records do not support them.
Unsupported nonpassive rental losses
Claiming rental losses as nonpassive without facts that support the activity classification and required participation.
Rebuilt or inflated time logs
Creating participation logs after the fact when they are not supported by credible calendars, messages, vendor records, or other evidence.
Unreconciled cost segregation
Using a cost-segregation study without reconciling purchase basis, land value, placed-in-service date, and the depreciation schedule.
Ineligible accelerated depreciation
Claiming bonus or accelerated depreciation without confirming the property, ownership, use, timing, and applicable-year rules.
Personal use treated as rental activity
Calling personal-use days or personal expenses business or rental activity when the underlying facts say otherwise.
A 1031 exchange after it is too late
Claiming a 1031 exchange after the sale is complete or when the required identification or exchange deadlines cannot be met.
An entity used only to manufacture a deduction
Using an entity or election when the legal ownership, agreements, and actual operations do not match the proposed tax treatment.
A position built on inaccurate records
Filing a return position that depends on missing, contradictory, or knowingly inaccurate information.
This list is not exhaustive. Every conclusion depends on the full facts, complete records, timing, and current law. No firm can promise an “audit-proof” result.
Straight answers
before you start.
If your question is specific to a property, transaction, tax position, or deadline, the Readiness Intake is the best place to give us the facts.
- The Memo compares realistic alternatives, models the consequences, states the assumptions and risks, and gives you a written CPA recommendation and action plan before a live real estate decision becomes final.
- Phænix works with high-income real estate investors across long-term rentals, short-term rentals, multifamily and commercial properties, acquisitions, dispositions, exchanges, depreciation decisions, loss planning, and ownership structures.
- Your current CPA can remain in place. Phænix shares information or coordinates with them only when you authorize it. A transition happens only if you choose a broader year-round relationship.
- The right arrangement depends on the number of properties, quality of the current books, and complexity of the tax positions. Bookkeeping is normally part of the year-round package rather than a stand-alone service.
- Tax-return preparation, amended returns, bookkeeping cleanup, and implementation are not included in a Decision Memo unless specifically added to the scope. Phænix does not offer low-cost, stand-alone return preparation.
- The Standard Decision Memo is $4,500. The Extended Decision Memo is $8,500 when the scope spans multiple entities, states, properties, transactions, or linked questions. Year-round advisory relationships begin at $18,000 annually.
- After the required records are complete and accepted, the signed engagement sets a delivery date. If Phænix misses that date, the focused engagement fee is waived in full. If we omit an item you provided from the published records list and agreed scope, we correct it at no charge. These commitments cover timing and scope - not a tax outcome - and are governed by the signed engagement terms.
- Your conclusion depends on the facts, records, tax profile, law, and timing. Estimates are clearly labeled and are not promised outcomes. If the records do not support a position, we will say so plainly.
- We respond within one business day. If the issue appears to fit, we invite you to a 20-minute call to confirm the question, deadline, records, and correct engagement. If the work is not a fit, we tell you before you purchase anything and, when possible, point you toward a useful next step.
- Thanh “Jason” Huynh, CPA, reviews and signs Phænix advisory work. His California Board of Accountancy license number is 113840, and his real estate–related tax work spans $12.4M+ in property value.
Meet the people
behind the written answer.
See who applies the CPA judgment, carries out the financial work, and guides the client relationship.
Meet the Phænix Team→