The Ideal Taxpayer Profile (ITP) Lead Finder

Describe the kind of client you want in plain English. An AI agent turns it into a sharp profile, goes and finds real prospects who match, and logs them to your CRM (or Notion). You review and reach out.

No spreadsheet, no code, no list to bring. You describe who your best future client looks like. The agent does the looking.

Want it to just run? This workflow ships as a skill: lead-finder. Invoke /lead-finder [your ITP] in Claude Code or a Claude.ai Project and it runs every step below with its own web and CRM tools. This page is the explainer and the per-CRM setup behind it.

New idea, borrowed from sales: the best firms do not market to "everyone." They define an Ideal Customer Profile and aim everything at it. For us it is an Ideal Taxpayer Profile, the specific kind of taxpayer or business you are best at serving and most want more of. Get the ITP right and the sourcing, the message, and the close all get easier.

Read GUARDRAILS.md first. This runs on public information about prospects, not client data, so the §7216 exposure is low. The rules that do apply (public-data-only, privacy for individuals, CAN-SPAM, your state board's advertising rules, and you-are-the-sender) are in The rules below.

How it works (three steps, all in plain language)

Step 1, describe your ideal taxpayer

Answer a short set of plain-English questions (the worksheet in itp-and-sourcing.md). For example:

• "Solo business owners who just incorporated, under $250k revenue, in Georgia, who still do their own books and are about to feel the pain."
• "Restaurants and contractors, $1M to $5M, in metro Augusta, on the wrong entity type for their income."
• "Tech employees with equity (RSUs or options) in the Atlanta area who are about to have a surprise tax year."

You do not need to know the perfect wording. The agent sharpens it for you.

Step 2, the agent builds your ITP and sources matching prospects

The agent turns your description into a structured profile (who they are, the signal that means they need you, where to find them, and who is NOT a fit), then searches public sources for real organizations that match. For each prospect it returns:

• the name, and one line on why they fit your ITP,
• the public signal it found (and where it is visible),
• a source link so you can verify it yourself,
• the public way to reach them (website contact, public listing, or "connect on LinkedIn" for individuals).

It never invents a prospect, a fact, or a contact. If it cannot verify something, it says so.

Step 3, it logs them to your CRM or Notion

The agent writes each verified prospect into your pipeline as a new lead, with the fit, the signal, the source, and a status of "to review." It connects to your CRM through an MCP link (the secure bridge between your AI tool and your CRM). The workflow file has one-time setup and a logging prompt for Notion, HubSpot, and Airtable, plus a CSV fallback for practice-management tools (TaxDome, Canopy, Karbon, Keap) that do not offer an agent connection yet.

Then you do the part only you can do: review the list, decide who is worth your time, and reach out in your own voice.

The rules

This is a safe first use of AI because the sourcing runs on public information. Two kinds of rules apply: how you handle the prospect data, and how you solicit once you have the list. Each is documented with primary-source cites in REGULATORY-FOUNDATION.md.

Handling the prospect data

• Public sources only. Directories, maps, public registries, company websites, news, public filings. If a fact is not publicly verifiable, it does not go in your pipeline.
• Individuals get gentler treatment than businesses. For people-based profiles (an employee, an equity holder), source the public signal and connect the human way (LinkedIn, a referral, a public event). Do not harvest private personal emails or buy data-broker lists, that is where privacy rules and your professional reputation get exposed.
• Confidentiality is a client duty, not a prospect duty. A prospect found in public data is not your client, so the AICPA Confidentiality Rule (ET §1.700.001), §7216, and your state confidentiality rule do not bind the sourcing. They attach the moment a prospect becomes, or already is, a client. Keep prospects in a list separate from clients.
• No fabricated anything. Every prospect, signal, and contact must trace to a real public source you can open. The agent is told to leave a gap rather than fill it with a guess.

Soliciting once you have the list (the part most people under-think)

• Circular 230 §10.30 governs your outreach. If you practice before the IRS, a cold email is a solicitation: no false, fraudulent, coercive, misleading, or deceptive claim about any IRS matter, stop contacting anyone who says they do not want to be solicited, and keep a copy of each solicitation plus the recipient list for at least 36 months.
• AICPA Advertising and Solicitation Rule (ET §1.600.001). No advertising or solicitation that is false, misleading, or deceptive, and no coercion, over-reaching, or harassing conduct. Your claims must be substantiable, which is exactly why the outreach leaves a [PROOF] gap instead of inventing a result.
• CAN-SPAM, when you email. Any cold commercial email needs a real physical mailing address, a working opt-out, an honest subject line, and prompt honoring of opt-outs.
• TCPA, when you call or text. Phone calls and texts are stricter than email and often need prior consent. The Contact path can lead here, do not assume email rules cover a call.

• Your state board's advertising rules. They vary and usually mirror the above. Verify against your board before a campaign.

• You are the sender and the reviewer of record. The agent finds and logs. You decide and reach out. Nothing goes to a prospect without you.

What's in this folder

Built from a real CPA outreach pipeline, redesigned so you start from who you want, not from a list you have to find first.