Blouin & Company Services
We provide highly personalized financial planning and management services to successful individuals and their families. We recognize that today most successful people are faced with many family and career commitments that leave them with very little time to properly manage and control their personal finances. We bring expertise and control to personal finances so that our clients have peace of mind regarding their financial future. We also relieve our clients from much of the burden of day-to-day personal record keeping, so that they have more time to focus on other personal and professional pursuits. We function as a “family office” or “personal CFO” to the high net worth clients that we service. We understand that each client has a very unique set of needs for their own personal finances. We tailor our services to meet those needs. We find that most successful people already have a number of advisors, including; attorneys, investment manager, tax accountant, financial planner, estate planner, insurance agent and others. We often take on the role of “quarterback” for our clients whereby we will coordinate the relationship with their other valued advisors to help ensure that their financial goals are attained.
Our Services
Overview
The following is a summary of the services we provide:Initial Evaluation and Recommendations – We will perform an initial review of your current financial situation and make recommendations for improvement. Through an initial interview session with the client we are able to gain a better understanding of the financial systems that are currently in place, and how those may be improved.
Financial Systems and Reporting – After reviewing your current financial situation we will make recommendations on how to streamline and better control your finances. Often times we find that clients have various entities (personal/family, trusts, limited partnerships, etc.) that require separate record keeping for both management and income tax purposes. We can help to set up and maintain each entities financial records to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting as well as appropriate income tax reporting.
Quarterly Financial Reporting - Each quarter we prepare financial statements that provide a clear and concise report of all your financial activity. These reports could include a Statement of Net Worth, a Statement of Income and Expenses, and a Statement of Cash Flows. If budgeting is a priority, a budget would be established and the quarterly financial report would provide a comparison of budgeted vs. actual results.
Budgeting - If desired, we would help to prepare a three to five-year financial budget. The budget would include all anticipated income and expenses, as well as a targeted savings goal. The quarterly financial reports would compare actual results against the budget, in order to help ensure that your desired financial goals are being attained.
Income Tax Planning and Compliance - We will work with you to ensure that your overall financial structure is set up in the most tax efficient manner possible. As a result of our involvement with you throughout the year we are in a position to help maximize your deductions as well as facilitate accurate and timely quarterly income tax payments. We will prepare your federal and state income tax returns, or alternatively we can work with your current tax accountant.
Cash Management - We help facilitate the movement of funds in and out of your operating and investment accounts, in order to maximize your investment income and provide the necessary daily operating funds.
Bill Paying - We can arrange to handle your monthly bill processing from our offices. We will review and pay each bill when it becomes due and provide you with copies of the paid bills or monthly payment summaries. Alternatively, we can review all bills received, process the checks and send them to you for signature.
Investment - We work closely with your investment managers and can help evaluate your portfolio from an overall standpoint. We are not registered investment advisors and accordingly will not provide specific investment advice. We will help you to understand the overall performance of your portfolio and will reflect your investment performance in the quarterly financial reports we prepare for you.
Asset Purchases - We help evaluate and facilitate our client's major asset purchases including real estate, businesses, vehicles, etc. We help to secure financing, evaluate lease vs. purchase options, coordinate with brokers, attorneys, banking officials and others. Due to the volume of business we bring to some of these service providers and vendors, we are able to leverage these relationships to the benefit of our clients.
Debt Refinancing and Consolidation - We will work directly with financial institutions to refinance and consolidate debt arrangements, if necessary. We find that many wealthy individuals often do not have the time or desire to refinance debt arrangements and take advantage of low interest rates during periods when they decline. We can take care of this process for you so that you are always taking advantage of the lowest rates available.
Insurance - We are not licensed insurance agents and do not sell insurance products. We will work closely with your insurance agent to make sure that that all appropriate risks are properly covered. We will review all of your current policies for appropriateness and make recommendations for additional coverage if considered necessary. We will work with you to secure all appropriate insurance coverage at competitive rates.
Estate Planning - We will work with your estate planning attorney to ensure that your plan is appropriate given your current financial situation. Our involvement and knowledge of your financial situation will enable us to identify, in a timely manner, changes that may be necessary to your plan. We can help facilitate annual gifting programs and work to ensure that trusts are properly funded.
Payroll - We are set up to administer payrolls for any employees that you may have, such as household employees. We handle all the payroll processing, direct deposits and all necessary tax withholding, remittance and reporting. We can also assist in setting up benefits for those employees, such as health, dental and life insurance.
Executives
In addition to all of the services listed in the Overview section we assist with the implementation and execution the following specific wealth management services to our executive clients and their families:- Investment Oversight & Review
- Annual Gifting Programs
- Deferred Compensation Plans
- Stock Option Monitoring
- Employee Benefit Plans - Household Employees
- Household Employee Payroll Processing
- Commercial Real Estate Advisory, Accounting & Financing
- Coordination of all other Advisors
- Charitable Giving Programs
- Foundation Setup and Management
- Insider Trading Compliance
- Private Aircraft Administration
- Negotiations and Dispute Resolution
- Notary Services
- Relocation Assistance
Athletes
In addition to all of the services listed in the Overview section we provide the following specific services to our professional athlete clients:Income Monitoring and Oversight - We will monitor income from the professional athlete's contract, endorsement deals, appearance fees and other sources to ensure that it is received in a timely manner and in accordance with the contract terms.
Tax Planning & Return Preparation - A professional athlete's tax situation can be particularly complex given the stringent state tax filing requirements. Many professional athletes must file in every state in which they play. We help our athlete clients plan the most effective overall tax strategy given their particular tax situation and we prepare all required Federal and State and City tax returns. Some states now allow for composite tax returns to be filed. We will evaluate whether filing a composite return is advantageous for the client and if so we will coordinate the filing of that return with the team.
Benefits & Payroll Administration - We will work closely with the professional team's front office and league administrators to ensure that the athlete is taking full advantage of the benefit packages being offered; including: health & dental insurance, payroll withholdings, retirement plans, severance arrangements, and others.
Relocation Assistance - We work closely with our athlete clients that may be relocating due to a team trade or otherwise. We assist the athlete and their family with buying and selling homes, establishing mortgage financing, setting up household vendor contracts, utility setup and moving company coordination.
Risk Management - We work closely with the clients insurance agents to help the client assess potential risks and ensure that those risks are appropriately insured. Such insurances coverage may include: property & casualty coverage, umbrella liability insurance, life & disability insurance and health insurance.
Bill Paying - We are set up to handle the day-to-day bill paying for our clients. This service can often be of great value to our clients that travel often for personal or business reasons, and this is a particularly good fit for our professional athlete clients. Our clients have the peace of mind of knowing that all of their important bills are being paid timely while they concentrate on their professional or personal pursuits. This service is of even greater value to many of our clients today as the importance of credit score increases.
Credit Score Monitoring - We assist our clients with the monitoring and improvement of their overall credit scores. By handling the client's bill paying we often have the opportunity to improve the clients credit scores substantially. In addition, if our clients have negative information that is hurting their credit scores we can often work with the credit reporting companies to reduce or eliminate the impact of that information.
Entertainment
In addition to the general services that are outlined in the Overview section of the Services page there are also the following specific business management services that we provide to clients in the entertainment industry, including: music clients; radio and television broadcasters; and actors & actresses.Control and Monitor Income – We will oversee and monitor all of the entertainer’s income to ensure that all income is properly received in a timely manner and in accordance with the contract terms. The entertainer’s income generally would include: contract income; movie & television fees; touring income; residuals; merchandising income; and endorsement deals.
Business Structuring – We will assist the client in determining what is the best overall structure for their business activities; taking into consideration risk/liability management and income tax efficiency. Once the best structure is determined we put the plan into action by setting up either the appropriate corporation (S-corp, LLC or C-corp.), partnership or sole proprietorship.
Tour Accounting – For those musicians who tour, we work closely with their tour managers to ensure that all touring activity gets properly incorporated into the business’ accounting records. We set up systems to help tour managers track financial activities while on the road and we facilitate getting touring income from the road and deposited into the proper bank accounts.
Risk Management – We will help our entertainment clients assess their overall risks and in connection with their insurance agents determine the appropriate insurance coverage that is required. Such coverage often includes: domestic and foreign general liability coverage; worker’s compensation insurance; equipment insurance; health/dental insurance; automobile/van insurance; and overall umbrella liability coverage.
Budgeting – We work closely with the artist to establish an overall business plan and budget. After preparing the budget we can monitor the artist’s actual income and expenses in relation to the budget on an ongoing basis. For our clients in the music industry such budgets often include: album/recording budgets; rehearsal budgets; and touring/tour support budgets.
Professional Unions – We work closely with AFTRA, SAG and any other related professional unions to ensure that the artist is taking full advantage of the benefits offered by these organizations, including: health and dental insurance plans, pension plans, etc.
Bill Paying – We are set up to pay all of the entertainer’s personal and business bills from our office, including payments to managers, booking agents, attorneys, independent contractors, and all other vendors. This service is of particularly great value to our touring clients who are on the road for much of the year. By paying our entertainment client’s bills we are often able to improve their credit scores dramatically.
Tax Return Preparation – We will prepare all necessary federal, state and local tax returns for our entertainment clients, including tax returns for their business’ and touring corporations.
Payroll Processing – We will administer payrolls for employees of our entertainment clients, including: personal assistants; household employees; tour managers; road crew; etc. We will ensure that all of the required tax withholdings, remittances and filings are handled in a timely manner.
Charities
The Charities/Foundations Division co-founders, Dave Blouin, CPA and Tina Cantu Esq., have extensive knowledge in setting up foundations and running all aspects of those organizations from idea inception through successful fundraising efforts, and quality granting and programing initiatives. Both Mr. Blouin and Ms. Cantu have extensive experience working with a number of successful boards of directors for non-profit organizations. They both serve on many non-profit boards as members and as officers. They currently are assisting in running the back office needs of several of their non-profit organizations.Mission Statement - The Charities/Foundations Division, of Blouin & Company, is designed to assist families, athletes, and celebrities in fulfilling their philanthropic dreams. We aim to assist them in obtaining their 501(c)(3) designation, identifying the type of philanthropic mission they wish to achieve, writing bylaws and articles of organization, finding board members, writing board charters and orientation manuals for the board and getting them started in their fundraising and granting efforts.
Goals and Objectives - Our goal is to enable each client foundation to be successful, and a leader in their respective areas of philanthropy. One of our objectives is to measure success by the ability to keep expense ratios low and granting of funds at a high level as per IRS guidelines. We substantiate this through yearly independent audits of our client foundations to determine their giving/expense ratios and strives to maintain those ratios at 80/20 or higher for all foundations.
Business Philosophy - Our business philosophy is that there are many families, businesses, athletes and celebrities who want to give back and yet are not necessarily equipped with the knowledge and skills to be able to do so. Setting up a charitable foundation requires many areas of expertise such as financial, legal and administrative. We strive to provide the guidance, knowledge, expertise and connections to help our clients fulfill their philanthropic dreams.
Products and Services
The company will assist clients in forming their charitable foundations. This will include the following:
Assisting in obtaining their 501(c)(3) non-profit status
- Completing and filing 501(c)(3) application
- Writing articles or organization
- Writing bylaws
- Defining mission statements
Setting up a working Board of Directors
- Designing and writing a board application
- Assist in reviewing applications of potential board members
- Determining number of board members to admit
- Assisting in interviewing potential board applicants
- Writing a new board manual
- Writing a board orientation manual
- Serving as board members as needed to assist the foundation to get up and running from a board perspective
- Identifying an executive committee and officers
- Training of board members in duties and responsibilities Teach duties and responsibilities of a non-profit board and executive committee
- Yearly evaluations of the functioning of the foundation with feedback
Financial Assistance
- Assist the foundation in identifying a cost structure for the foundation
- Teach foundation members the value of revenues and expenses ratios
- Help foundation to understand the state and federal requirements financially for a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity foundation
- Prepare and File Annual Solicitation Report
- Prepare and File Statement of Information/ Annual Report
- Prepare and File IRS Form 990 and STATE TAX Form
- 990 Tax Preparation
- Connect foundation with an audit company
- Day to day bookkeeping and record keeping services
- Bank Account setup, management and reconciliation’s
- Monthly cash flow recording and quarterly financial statements
- Collection of revenue and payment of all bills
Legal Assistance
- Assist in the 501(c)(3) process
- Assist in connecting foundation with an active non-profit legal entity
- Assist with policy and procedure questions regarding a non-profit foundation
- Continued support legally to charity for any chances in board structure going forward
Strategic Planning
- Creation of Mission Statement
- Planning process
- Goals and Objectives
- Future Planning
- Implementation
- Evaluation
Marketing
- Brochures
- Newsletters
- Business Cards
- Logos
- Branding
- Stationary
- Social Media
- Assist with connection to a marketing firm
Web Design/Database Management
- Assist the Charity in identifying a web vender
- Assisting with choices of a database
- Database Management
Grant Writing
- Assist the Charity in identifying available grants that might benefit their charity
- Assist the Charity in identifying a grant write who might be able to help wit the grant writing process
Fundraising
- Assist the Charity in identifying their goals for fundraising
- Assist the Charity in identifying those fundraising efforts that best meet their goals
- Assist the Charity in identifying an Event Company who can assist in fundraising efforts
- Set financial goals for the Charity for fundraising
Foundation Employees/HR Management
- Assist in identifying number of employees needed to carry out the mission of the foundation
- Writing policy and procedure manual for employees
- Training in federal and state requirements for employees
- Assist in screening potential applications of new employees
- Assist in the interviewing process of potential new employees
- Assist in the training of new employees
- Management of Personnel files
- Payroll processing
Event Planning
- Assist in connecting foundation with an event planner
- Assist as needed in planning events
- Assist in training of staff to plan events
Miscellaneous
- Provide and/or assist with financial services as needed
- Make connections to an financial audit company as needed
- Provide legal services or assist in making connections to a legal firm
- Assist in connections to event planners