Where Growth
Takes Root

For years, the partners at Payne Nickles & Company, a long-established accounting firm with two offices in Sandusky and Norwalk, OH, noticed a gap they couldn’t ignore. Their tax clients, many of whom trusted them with every financial detail, were often receiving inconsistent or incomplete advice from outside advisors.

This created frustration for both the clients and the firm. CPAs had to manage the consequences of decisions they hadn’t advised on, while clients missed opportunities to align their tax and investment strategies.

The partners realized that adding wealth management services could strengthen client relationships and capture untapped growth. But they faced a challenge: they needed a trusted advisor to manage the practice, integrate it with the tax side, and do so without adding complexity for clients.

To fill that gap, four partners established PN Financial Services, LLC, a separate entity focused on wealth management but closely connected to the accounting practice through shared ownership and referrals.

They brought on Rachael Futo Maschari for her strong background in sales, leadership, and client service, which made her a natural fit for building relationships and managing growth. Though she wasn’t licensed when she joined, she earned her credential soon after and immediately focused on intentionally connecting the two sides, wealth management and tax, so clients could receive coordinated advice without extra effort or confusion.

A core part of Rachael’s success has been knowing when to leverage specialized expertise. With support from Cetera’s growth consultants, product specialists, and operational teams, she can bring in the right support at the right time, whether it’s a complex 401(k) structure, annuity comparison, or estate planning scenario.

“If you focus on building strong relationships, you surround yourself with people who help you succeed,” says Rachael.

This integrated model created the conditions for rapid, scalable growth, and helped Rachael build a practice that feels like a natural extension of the firm’s long-standing client relationships.

In just four and a half years, PN Financial Services has turned this integrated approach into measurable growth:

• 6x increase in assets under administration since Rachael joined the firm
• Roughly 99% of new business originating from tax-side relationships
• Higher client retention and referral rates, as coordination replaced fragmentation
• Scalable growth achieved without significant increases in overhead, thanks to internal collaboration and Cetera support teams

The collaboration between PN Financial, Payne Nickles, and Cetera created a process where clients receive high-quality advice, CPAs can focus on core work, and the advisory business can scale efficiently.

• Turn coordination into a growth engine. The 6x growth PN Financial Services achieved came from a structured process connecting clients between the tax and wealth sides. Rachael worked with CPAs to flag opportunities, provided simple talking points for introductions, and followed up promptly with clients. This clear coordination built trust, simplified client engagement, and created a reliable stream of new opportunities without relying on cold outreach.
• Build a repeatable referral system. Rachael worked with CPAs to identify what an ideal wealth client looks like, such as those facing major life transitions, managing multiple accounts, or needing coordinated tax and investment planning. She also created simple talking points and materials CPAs could use in meetings. This made it easy for CPAs to recognize and introduce the right clients, keeping referrals natural, consistent, and scalable.
• Create a shared client-service workflow. To avoid confusion, Rachael established a clear handoff process. When a CPA identified an opportunity, they introduced the client, set expectations, and stayed involved in major decisions. Clients experienced one coordinated team instead of two disconnected experts.
• Leverage specialized support. Rachael brought in Cetera’s growth consultants, advanced planning experts, and other specialists to handle areas outside her expertise. This allowed her to deliver high-quality advice, expand the scope of her services, and scale faster without increasing internal overhead.
• Use tax-season conversations as a natural trigger. Because Payne Nickles already had deep insight into each client’s finances, money was already part of the conversation. Rachael built a process to follow up shortly after tax prep, when clients were focused on financial decisions, to coordinate tax and investment planning efficiently.