Who We Are
Tax-First Wealth Management
We do not guess. We review the documents, propose, and implement. Total Wealth Tax Advisory is a CPA and tax advisory firm working in coordination with Total Wealth Services, LLC — an SEC-registered investment adviser — so that your tax strategy and your investment decisions are made together, not in separate rooms.
Two Firms. One Relationship.
CPA advisory and investment management — coordinated under one roof
Most clients work with a CPA and an investment adviser who have never spoken. We built this differently: the tax team and the wealth team share a cadence, share the documents, and make recommendations in light of each other's work.
Total Wealth Tax Advisory
Our CPA firm. Full service — tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, CFO support — but the focus is proactive tax advisory throughout the year.
- Proactive, year-round tax advisory
- Federal and state tax preparation (individual + entity)
- Bookkeeping, payroll, and accounting
- Fractional CFO support for growing businesses
- IRS and state notice response
Total Wealth Services, LLC
Our investment firm — a registered investment adviser, with client assets custodied at Schwab. Financial planning is the cornerstone of the practice.
- Financial and retirement planning
- Tax-managed investment strategies
- Portfolio and asset-location coordination
- Client assets custodied at Schwab
- Coordinated with the CPA team on every engagement
Why this matters: A Roth conversion, business sale, real estate exchange, or equity liquidity event has both a tax dimension and an investment dimension. When those are evaluated together — not handed off between two separate advisers — the advice can be more complete. Whether a strategy applies depends on your specific facts, timing, and documentation.
How We Work
Review. Propose. Implement.
We do not guess. Every engagement begins with your actual documents and ends with a live, quarterly-cadence plan — not a once-a-year filing.
Review the documents
Every engagement begins with your actual returns, statements, and entity documents — not assumptions. We do not guess. We review the documents, propose, and implement.
Propose a plan
We come back with a clear assessment: which strategies may apply to your situation, what the coordination between your tax and investment picture looks like, and what we'd do first.
Implement on a quarterly cadence
We do not disappear until March. The plan stays live — quarterly check-ins, projection updates, and proactive moves before year-end. Worst case, we break the news in November. Best case, we change the outcome.
File with full support
When it is time to file, every position is documented, every strategy is implemented, and every number reconciles to the plan. No surprises, no scrambles.
No hourly billing
Call us when a decision comes up. Our engagements are structured so you are never watching the clock during an important conversation.
Proactive quarterly cadence
We meet quarterly — projections, strategy review, and planning adjustments. Worst case, we break the news in November. Best case, we change the outcome.
Our Team
The principals behind your engagement
Every client works directly with credentialed professionals — not handed off to junior staff. Tax advisory, preparation, and wealth management are led by the same team throughout the relationship.
Brandon Berman
CPA, CFP®
Founder & Principal Advisor
Brandon is a CPA and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional who leads the firm's tax advisory practice. He built Total Wealth Tax Advisory around a simple idea: tax decisions and investment decisions should not be made in a vacuum. His approach is document-first and proactive — review the actual return and statements, propose a plan, then implement it on a quarterly cadence so clients know where they stand well before year-end.
Joseph Gutierrez
CPA, PFS
CPA & Tax Advisor
Joseph is a CPA and Personal Financial Specialist who works alongside Brandon on tax preparation and advisory engagements. He focuses on accurate, defensible reporting for complex situations — brokerage and K-1 income, real estate, and multi-entity business owners — and on translating the plan into clean implementation.
Niko Giannakopoulos
MBA
Wealth Advisor
Niko coordinates the planning relationship on the wealth-management side, helping clients connect their tax strategy to broader financial decisions — cash flow, retirement, equity compensation, and major transactions. He keeps the client experience clear and the process moving from first conversation through proposal.
Our Values
Operating principles, not aspirational statements
These are the beliefs that show up in how we advise, what we recommend, and what we tell clients when a strategy does not apply.
Document-first
We start with your actual documents — not a ballpark conversation. This keeps advice precise and honest about what is and is not applicable to your situation.
Coordinated, not siloed
Tax decisions and investment decisions that are made in separate rooms cost money. We coordinate both — so a Roth conversion, a business sale, or an equity event is evaluated with the full picture in view.
Honest about non-fits
Not every strategy applies to every client. We evaluate what fits your specific facts, timing, and documentation — and we are direct when something does not.
No hourly billing
You should be able to call us when a decision comes up — not avoid the conversation because a clock is running. Our engagements are structured so access is never a question.
“We do not guess. We review the documents, propose, and implement.”
— The principle behind every engagement at Total Wealth Tax
Our Platform
Best-in-class tools, rigorously applied
We work on the same infrastructure used by the largest advisory firms — configured and integrated so client data is accurate, secure, and always accessible.
Investment assets are custodied at Schwab. Tax work is prepared on Thomson Reuters UltraTax. Client documents are uploaded and shared via Onvio. Financial planning runs on RightCapital. Portfolio reporting and CRM on Advyzon.
Where We Work
Westlake Village office. Nationwide service.
Our office is in the Conejo Valley — 4165 E Thousand Oaks Blvd, STE #355, Westlake Village, CA 91362. We serve clients locally in Ventura County and the greater Los Angeles area, and remotely across the country. Whether you prefer in-person meetings, Zoom, or fully remote, the process and the team are the same.
Start with a discovery call
A 20-minute call. We will review your situation, tell you what we would evaluate, and be straightforward if there is not a clear fit.
- Speak directly with a CPA or Wealth Advisor
- Bring your most recent return — we will tell you what we see
- Available in-person, by phone, or over Zoom
- No commitment required
Tax-first. Coordinated. Document-driven.
We serve Westlake Village, the Conejo Valley, and clients nationwide — year-round, not just at tax time.