Professional Certification Program
The Certified Tax and Business Advisor
A certification and professional community for tax, financial, and business advisors who are ready to move beyond compliance and into the kind of coordinated planning most clients have never been offered.
About the Program
Built for the gap between compliance and strategy.
Most tax and financial professionals are technically competent. What the market is missing is advisors who are trained, credentialed, and positioned to offer proactive tax planning as a distinct, high-value service. The Certified Tax and Business Advisor program was built to close that gap through structured training, a recognized designation, and an active professional community.
What Most Advisors Do
Compliance is where the work stops.
Most tax and financial professionals are trained to file accurately, reduce obvious exposure, and keep clients current. That work matters. But it does not always open the planning conversations that can materially change outcomes and even legacy. CTBA was built for professionals ready to move beyond compliance and into more proactive planning.
What A CTBA Does
Strategy is where the value expands
A CTBA is trained to identify proactive planning opportunities, position them clearly, and bring clients into a more strategic conversation around structure, tax, and long-term decision-making. The result is a client relationship that moves beyond accurate filing and into planning that can materially improve outcomes.
Who Should Apply
Designed for professionals who serve clients at meaningful financial complexity.
The CTBA program is built for tax and financial professionals who already have a client base and want to add proactive planning to what they offer. If you are doing solid compliance work but watching clients leave money on the table because no one is doing the planning, this program is for you.
CPAs & Enrolled Agents
Want to move beyond the return and into proactive planning conversations clients can actually feel.
Financial Advisors
Need a stronger tax-planning layer around wealth, risk, retirement, and long-term decision-making.
Insurance Professionals
Want to bring more strategic tax value into client conversations instead of stopping at product fit.
Business & Real Estate Advisors
Work with high-income or business-owner clients who need more than accurate compliance and reactive advice.
The Curriculum
A line-by-line look at where the real planning opportunities live.
The training is built around a detailed examination of Form 1040, teaching participants how to read a tax return not just as a compliance document, but as a map of missed planning opportunities across the client relationship.
01
Business Entities and Structures
02
Executive Compensation Design
03
Employee Benefits and Plan Optimization
04
Retirement Plan Strategy
05
Real Estate Operations and Tax Treatment
06
Charitable Giving Strategies
07
Investment Portfolio Positioning
08
Exit Strategies
The Designation
A credential that starts conversations compliance designations can’t.
The tax profession is full of credentials. Most of them signal competence in compliance. The CTBA designation signals something different: that the advisor holding it has been trained specifically in proactive tax planning, understands the difference between filing correctly and planning strategically, and belongs to a community of professionals committed to that distinction.
What CTBA signals
This is not just a mark of technical competence. It is a visible signal that the advisor carrying it has been trained to think beyond the return.
When a client sees CTBA on a business card, website, or email signature, it opens a different kind of conversation. Not just whether the work will be filed correctly, but whether the advisor is equipped to identify planning opportunities, structure better decisions earlier, and guide the client into a more strategic relationship.
About the Instructor
Ed Lyon built this program after spending three decades watching advisors leave planning opportunities unclaimed.
Ed Lyon is the Chief Tax Strategist at Excel Empire and one of the most recognized voices in proactive tax planning. A licensed attorney, prolific author, and nationally known educator, Ed founded the Tax Master Network and created TaxCoach Software, now Tax Architect AI, to help advisors move beyond compliance and into planning that can materially improve client outcomes. He partnered with Excel Empire to help build the Certified Tax and Business Advisor program so advisors could learn a more structured, market-facing approach to proactive tax strategy and apply it with greater confidence.
→ 500+ broadcast appearances across CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and other national media outlets.
→ Author of nearly a dozen books on tax strategy, planning, and advisor communication.
→ Publisher of two weekly tax columns read by more than 100,000 tax professionals and clients.
As Seen On
After the Training
The designation is the beginning, not the finish line.
The tax code changes. Client situations get more complex. The CTBA community exists to make sure advisors are not left to navigate that alone after the certification is complete.
Weekly Excelerator Calls
Ongoing technical sessions every Friday covering planning concepts, tax developments, and the practical questions CTBA members are facing in real time.
Annual Masterminds
Two mastermind sessions each year where members sharpen ideas, share what is working, and develop stronger planning and client communication strategies.
National Advisor Community
A professional network of advisors across the country who are building more strategic, proactive tax planning practices together.
Get Started
The right advisors will know this is for them.
The Certified Tax and Business Advisor program is not built for every tax or financial professional. It is built for those who believe their clients deserve more than compliance and are ready to build the skills, positioning, and community to deliver something more valuable.
*Applications are reviewed to ensure the program is the right fit.