Financial Prep Partner™Ask Kelly First™Ask Kelly

Clarity before commitment

Prepare First.
Decide With Confidence.

Financial Prep Partner™ helps business owners, property owners, importers, and employers organize the facts, documents, and questions that matter—before they sign, file, respond, or pay.

Find Your Starting Point Meet Kelly

Know more. Ask better questions. Make better decisions.

01
Start hereChoose Your Topic
02
Get organizedGather the Basics
03
Move forwardKnow What to Ask
Business Owners
Property Owners
Importers
Employers

A smarter first move

Before you sign, file, respond, or pay—prepare.

Financial decisions get expensive when you begin with the wrong question, incomplete records, or a provider you are not ready to evaluate.

Financial Prep Partner™ gives you a clear place to begin. Learn the basics, organize what matters, and arrive at the next conversation ready to participate—not just nod along.

Choose your starting point

A growing wheelhouse of prep lanes.

The Tariff & Duty Refund Prep Kit is available now. Our additional preparation books are currently under construction and will be released as they are completed.

Available now: Tariff & Duty Refund Prep Kit

All other Financial Prep Partner™ books shown below are under construction and coming soon.

01Available now

For importers

Tariff & Duty Refund Prep

Organize carrier invoices, entry details, payment records, and the questions to ask before you follow up about a possible refund.

View the Tariff Prep Kit
02Under construction

For property owners

Cost Segregation Prep

A plain-English reality check to help you decide whether cost segregation is worth discussing with your CPA or a qualified provider.

Prep book coming soon
03Under construction

For business owners

ERTC Audit Review

A focused 30-minute Zoom strategy session for owners facing an ERTC audit request or worried about gaps in their documentation.

Prep book coming soon
04Under construction

For employers

Section 125 + Wellness Prep

Clear education to help employers understand the questions, documents, and provider details to review before making a decision.

Prep book coming soon
05Under construction

For innovative businesses

R&D Prep

Organize project notes, payroll details, contractor records, and the questions to ask before you discuss R&D credits with your CPA or a qualified provider.

Prep book coming soon
06Under construction

For owners and borrowers

Mortgage / Lending Prep

A plain-English prep lane to help business owners and property owners organize income records, property details, entity information, and lender questions before a financing conversation.

Prep book coming soon
07Under construction

For employers

Employer Self-Insurance Prep

Clear education to help employers review census details, claims history, contribution questions, and provider options before discussing self-insurance or alternative health plan structures.

Prep book coming soon

How it works

You do not need every answer. You need the right next step.

Our process meets you where you are and helps you become better prepared before a high-stakes conversation.

  1. 01

    Tell us what you are facing

    Start with the decision, notice, opportunity, or question in front of you.

  2. 02

    Organize the useful basics

    Use a prep kit, readiness review, or focused session to identify the records that matter.

  3. 03

    Have a better conversation

    Move forward with clearer questions for your CPA, attorney, broker, agency, or provider.

For service providers

Turn your service into a custom prep book campaign.

Does your company offer a valuable service that prospective clients struggle to understand?

Financial Prep Partner™ researches your industry and develops a customized, plain-English prep book that helps prospective clients understand the service, organize relevant information, and prepare better questions before speaking with your team.

Apply for a Custom Prep Book Campaign

A custom campaign may include

  • Industry and service research
  • A professionally developed prep book
  • Customer education materials
  • A dedicated preparation lane
  • Marketing and outreach content
  • A structured prospect-intake process

Campaigns are accepted selectively. Scope, pricing, and business terms are negotiated privately with each provider.

Meet Kelly Sue Brown

The person in your corner before the important meeting.

Kelly Sue Brown is the founder of ERTC Audit Protection, LLC and the creator of Financial Prep Partner™ and Ask Kelly First™.

For more than two decades, Kelly worked in mortgage financing and real estate in Southern California. As a former licensed real estate and mortgage broker, she became the sole owner and operator of a six-location mortgage brokerage and helped clients navigate financing, real estate transactions, strict deadlines, detailed paperwork, and life-changing financial decisions.

Kelly later expanded that preparation-first experience into Employee Retention Credit education and documentation support. She completed specialized ERC training and performed quality-control reviews of more than 100 ERC claim files, focusing on eligibility substantiation and the records businesses may need to support their claims.

Today, people Ask Kelly First™ when they need help making sense of complicated information involving:

  • Mortgage and real estate loan documentation
  • ERC claims, IRS notices, and audit preparation
  • Cost-segregation preparation and professional referrals
  • Tariff, carrier, and customs documentation
  • Important financial and business decisions

Kelly’s role is not to replace a mortgage professional, CPA, enrolled agent, attorney, cost-segregation specialist, customs broker, or government agency.

Her role is to help you understand what you have, organize the paper trail, identify what may be missing, and prepare better questions before meeting with the appropriate professional.

Because better preparation leads to better conversations—and better decisions.

Ask Kelly First

Good to know

Clear boundaries build trust.

Do you replace my CPA, attorney, customs broker, or provider?

No. Financial Prep Partner helps you get organized, understand the basics in plain English, and prepare better questions before you meet with the licensed or specialized professional responsible for your situation.

Do you guarantee a refund, tax savings, or approval?

No. Financial Prep Partner™ does not guarantee a refund, savings, eligibility, financing, approval, or any other outcome. The goal is better preparation—not a promised result.

What if I am not sure which starting point fits?

That is exactly what Ask Kelly First™ is for. Send Kelly a short note about what you are facing, and she will help you identify the most sensible first step.

Ask better questions

Start with clarity. Then decide.

Know more. Ask better questions. Make better decisions—with a starting point built around preparation, not pressure.

Find My Starting Point