Interactive Advisory Software has been signing deals with CPA firms like Dixon Hughes Goodman to help them build up their wealth management practices.

In October, IAS announced that Dixon Hughes Goodman had selected the company’s Solution 360° technology for its Dixon Hughes Goodman Wealth Advisors subsidiary. The Marietta, Ga.-based company has a number of other firms using its software, including Cherry Bekaert & Holland. The software combines financial planning, portfolio management and rebalancing features.

“We are seeing a significant amount of growth in the industry,” IAS CEO John Philpott told me in an interview last Wednesday. “Our pipeline of CPA firms has grown in excess of 30 percent this year. As CPA forms start to set up these wealth management practices, they are able to capitalize on the deep relationship their clients have with their CPA in terms of wealth management.”

He noted that CPA firms can advise clients on the tax implications on efforts to rebalance a financial portfolio by selling off assets. “You need to focus on the tax side of the equation because that has a significant impact,” said Philpott.

His company’s cloud-based Software as a Service, or SaaS, application offers a “holistic view” of financial plans and tax strategies, he said.

Philpott expects to see significant growth in the years ahead, and he predicted that the number of CPAs who are getting designations related to wealth management and financial planning would more than triple over the next 10 to 15 years. “We are seeing a significant trend and drive,” he said. “CPAs need to make sure they have good coordination to position themselves.”