Advisory Methodology
Our Approach
Every mandate is different. The underlying discipline is consistent.
The work is senior-led throughout. The people who scope a mandate are the people who deliver it: there is no handover to a team you have not met. Technology built for the practice, and disciplined process design, free senior time for the parts of the work that genuinely require judgment.
Effective tax advice should be technically rigorous, commercially informed and capable of practical implementation. Three principles shape how the work is done.
Three Governing Principles
Standards We Hold Ourselves To
Diagnose before prescribing
Most tax advisory work fails not in the recommendation, but in the diagnosis. Structures evolve over time: through transactions, restructurings, regulatory change and operational drift: and the position on paper rarely matches the position in fact. Every mandate begins by establishing what is actually there: the entities, the flows, the substance, the documentation, the gap between intention and reality. The recommendation that follows is calibrated to that ground truth, not to an idealised version of it.
Sequence judgment, then implementation
Technology and process discipline can compress the cost of delivery substantially. They cannot compress the judgment that determines whether the work is right. Mandates are structured so that senior judgment is applied first: to scope, to the question that actually matters, and to the framework for the answer: and implementation, documentation and execution follow against that framework. This sequencing is the opposite of how leverage-driven models work, and it is deliberate. Where AI improves the implementation, it is used. Where the matter requires judgment, Michael does the work.
Build for the position under scrutiny, not on paper
Tax positions are tested where the stakes are highest: in front of a board or investment committee defending a decision; in a transaction warranty negotiation under deal pressure; in an IRAS enquiry or cross-jurisdiction reconciliation conducted with analytics-enabled tooling. Advice that reads well in a memo but cannot stand under that scrutiny is not advice: it is exposure. Positions are designed to be defensible where they will actually be tested, and documented to a standard that holds when challenged rather than when first written. That standard shapes how every mandate is scoped, sequenced and closed out.
Execution Standards
How this works in practice
Predictability in engagement, absolute clarity in delivery, and direct access to senior practitioners throughout.
- 01
Scope and pricing agreed upfront
Defined-scope diagnostics carry fixed pricing. Longer mandates are structured against milestones, with no commercial surprises.
- 02
Senior time is the default, not an upgrade
You engage Michael's judgment from day one, with implementation support structured around the needs of the mandate.
- 03
Coordination is named
Where Velten Advisors works with partner firms, the arrangement is explicit, scoped and accountable. There is no opaque sub-contracting.
- 04
Other advisers are colleagues, not competitors
On transactions and complex matters, Michael works alongside law firms, in-house tax teams and incumbent advisers as a single coordinated effort.
- 05
Accessible
Enquiries are answered personally, within two business days.
Discuss Your Mandate With Us
All enquiries are handled personally by Michael Velten and treated in confidence.