The best way to tell our story, is with another story…

Moneyball, the famous book by Michael Lewis turned Oscar winning film, tells the story of the scrappy small budget early-2000s Oakland A’s baseball team, who struggled to compete with the big spending New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.  In order to maximize what money they had, GM Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt) leaned heavily into the then-unproven world of “sabermetrics,” an analytical approach to understanding value in baseball pioneered by Bill James in the late 1970s.  Guided by his assistant GM Paul DePodesta (rechristened “Peter Brand” in the movie and played by Jonah Hill), Billy reshapes the Oakland A's and leads them to the all-time record for consecutive wins (before flaming out yet again in the playoffs).   

Moneyball is all about understanding what creates value and identifying those opportunities to exploit misunderstandings of value. 

Nearly every investor seeks those exploitable valuation disparities as part of their investment approach.  But for some reason, the revolution has not come to tax. 

Maybe it’s because not enough tax practitioners follow baseball?   Regardless, tax practitioners tend to lean heavily on traditional tax structures (like deferring seller rollover or not investing through pass-throughs), rather than putting in the hard work to understand the advantages and disadvantages of these structures and applying them in ways that maximize their clients’ after-tax returns.  

On base.

There’s a scene in the Moneyball movie where Billy Beane introduces Peter Brand to a room full of old school scouts and Billy explains to them that there’s a new focus — getting on base.  Every time one of the scouts questions Billy’s decision to pursue a player, he points at Pete for Pete to inform them why that player is valuable…    

He gets on base.

Do I care whether it’s a walk or hit?

You do not.

Our approach is that simple.

Why do we make recommendations? 

To save you money.

Do we care if it’s through revenue generation or tax savings? 

We do not.

At Acta, we want to be the Jonah Hill to your Brad Pitt.  Allow us to parse the analytics of taxation to get you the optimal return for your investment.  You don’t need to understand all of the whys and hows. You just need to understand the results. 

 
 

Meet the Founders 

James Whitmire

Managing Director

What can be said about James Whitmire that hasn’t already been said? Legendary tax practitioner, author, speaker, and educator, James is the tax advisor other tax advisors call when they can’t figure out a solution.

  • After graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law, James began his career on the mean streets of Washington DC working for EY’s National Tax Practice, before moving to Denver. The practice of tax in Denver afforded James the opportunity to be a tax generalist, working in diverse areas from tax credit monetization transactions to charitable remainder trust structures, to tax shelter litigation. This broad background allows James to see all sides of a transaction and the opportunities and pitfalls that may result from structural options.

    James has advised on thousands of merger and acquisition transactions for companies engaged in a variety of industries, including energy, real estate, consumer products, technology, manufacturing, retail, services, health care, chemical, logistics, and the food industry. He has advised private start-ups, public companies, private equity firms, and venture capital firms on many tax issues ranging from tax structuring, executive compensation structuring, as well as on many additional transaction tax issues. He has also assisted numerous clients with fund formation issues in the partnership context, assisting with structuring complex waterfalls and analyzing IRC Section 704(c) allocation tiers and methodology choices.

    James formed Acta in order to train the next generation of tax advisors to deliver creative and efficient tax solutions to clients. Acta’s practitioners are singularly focused on practical solutions to tax problems that arise in the context of M&A transactions.

    James is a co-author of the 4th Edition of the leading treatise on partnership taxation: Federal Taxation of Partnerships and Partners, as well as the author of the Partnership Formation volume of Thomson Reuters’ Tax Advisors Planning System, and a contributing author of Bittker & Eustice’s Federal Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders. James has also served as an adjunct professor for the University of Denver’s Graduate Tax Program, where he taught Partnership Taxation.

Sara Sharp

Director

Sara Sharp is a go-to advisor for those seeking quick and straightforward answers to complex questions. Known for her approachable and friendly nature, Sara's sharp mind (and name) sets her apart.

  • Sara prioritizes efficiency. She graduated undergraduate and law school a combined 1.5 years early and at the top of her class. She provides clients with reliable feedback quickly so they can make informed business decisions at each stage in their transaction process.

    As comfortable on a job site as she is in a high-rise, Sara has a wealth of business experience. Whether she's representing Fortune 100 companies in large-scale corporate financing or advising small market accounting practices in closely-held buyouts, she brings the same diligence and intensity to each deal. With over a decade representing businesses as a lawyer and nearly as many years in business herself, Sara draws from her experiences and connections to uncover holistic solutions in light of real-world circumstances. She is passionate about connecting like-minded people. No matter the industry or the enterprise value, she believes there is mutually beneficial transaction potential in every business.