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Actually, your wording bothers me a bit. Charging extra in such a situation is not, IMHO, "profiting from" the situation. It is compensating you for your extra work involved in rushing their return through.

After getting bank statements, recording the transaction info in Excel is much better than using accounting software, (such as QB or Peachtree). And anyone who can type can be quickly trained to enter the raw data into excel, even if they have no accounting knowledge. This can even be suggested to the client that they do this in order to keep their costs down. Account coding can be done after the fact by somene knowledgeable in accounting terminology, and the end result given back to the client for their approval and sign-off. Bank statements will provide check number, date cleared, and amount. Hopefully they are banking a bank which prvides check images with the statement. But if not, having the info in Excel allows you to group by transaction amount so you can detect patterns. Repetitive amounts can quickly be isolated (loan payments, rent, etc) and only a single check copy obtained to support multiple transactions. Having the ability to group and rearrange based on amount, date, payee, etc can greatly facilitate coding the transactions to the proper expense accounts, too. Utility companies can be asked to provide account transcripts, which will help identify payees for those checks. Same for insurance companies, major vendors, and suppiers as has aleady been noted. Personal bank statements of the owner(s) can yield a records of deposits which tie back to checks on the bank statement if there were withdrawals. This is important because clients often say they're not making money when in fact they are taking personal withdrawals. They equate not "enough money in the bank" with "not making any money", when in fact they are just withdrawing money to live on and not recognizing it as profit. How many times have we tld a sole proprietor that their personal withdrawals are profit nd they respond "but I have to have money to live on."

Yeah, I know it's a day early, but Governor LePage says I can start drinking at 6am St Patrick's Day, so I'll probably not be in any condition to post tomorrow. Guinness is like a breakfast all by itself anyway.

You can also fill out form 8821 for tax information authorization. This will enable the IRS to speak with you. You can fill out the 2848 but as you said you didn't prepare the return and your credentials are such that the form is almost useless anyway.

As I dig out from under this mountain of returns resulting from the ATX fiasco, I am hoping that my clients will forgive the extra time that it is taking for me to complete their returns. They are not expecting me to "discount" their returns because it has taken longer this year to turnaround. So if in the future, if any one of them ask me to expedite their return for some special reason, I will try my best to accomodate. Having said that, if someone new plunks something in front of me, I will need to consider those already patiently waiting in a long line. We just can't be all things, to all people, all the time. It is healthy to say no sometimes and turn clients away when necessary.

Hey, maybe I found the problem with ATX?

I had a colleague who charged an extra 50% for a rush job! I stay pretty firm with preparing returns in the order received and putting clients on extension after a certain date (which is earlier this year due to Congress...but I won't rant). But, when a client asks for a rush job and I comply, I do add a Rush Fee right on the invoice, and it varies depending on the amount of my work, how fast they need it, and the good old PITA factor. I've never added less than $50 or $100, and depending on how large their invoice would be without the Rush Fee, I've added some pretty large Rush Fees. I want them to feel some pain for their lateness and to reimburse me for my pain (even if it wasn't more work, just different timing, I have to field the phone calls from all my other clients, calm them down about not completing their returns yet). I've never gone as high as my colleague's 50%, but I have charged 10%, 20%, 25%, whatever feels right to me at the time. I want it to be big enough that it stands out on their bill.

a big sign behind my desk "Your failure to plan does not constitute an emergency on my part" generally i am pretty accomedating but not during a crunch week like 3/15 or 4/15

I had the same problem, and did not want to pay to block. So when I get a sales call or call for the previous user, I put it in my Contacts list under the name DNA [for do not answer] and I assigned it the Cricket ring, since my phone does not have a 'no ring' option. So if I hear the cricket chirp, I ignore those. My phone allows 7 or 8 numbers per person, so over time I've created several DNA contacts. Over time, most of them stop calling a number that never answers.

You bring back a lot of memories. I could have written every word you wrote. Remember when you applied for a SSN when you got your first job? I started teaching Accounting at ASU in '75 and I made it a point in my Tax classes to introduce the students to some of the basic forms. Of course, back then there were a lot fewer forms, too. But I'd give them a Sch C, for example, to solve a problem on. I did not want them to be like me, having gotten an M.B.A. in Accounting without ever seeing a single tax form.

Nothing to do but wait.

What Mr. Marx should do after tax season - 1). Fire half the sales and customer service staff - they are useless at this point. 2). Hire better computer programmers and fire the ones who did a lousy job this year. 3). Allow customers to send him e-mails and contact him directly about their concerns. No "undelivered" e-mail addresses. Be a man. Hear what your customers have to say. 4). Offer ATX customers at least a 50% early renewal discount for next year. 5). Appear on the ATX Home Page and have a "State of the ATX address" and explain how ATX screwed up, and what ATX intends to do about fixing the mess. Again, be a man. 6). Do an internal audit and determine who screwed up within the company. Once you find the guilty parties, fire them. In short, the new ATX president should be in the front of this issue - not hiding behind his desk. The CCH sissy boy stuff has got to go. By getting in front of this problem early, addressing all concerns, offering solutions, and firing the bums who messed up, the new ATX president could demonstrate something that we haven't seen in CCH for a while - Integrity.

Yes, I remember my first one. It is fresh in my mind. It was last year when the IRS forced us to efile.

Per IRS installment agreement: "When you pay your taxes after the due date, we charge a penalty of 0.5% (reduced to 0.25% on installment agreements) of the unpaid amount due per month, up to 25% of the amount due." A small concession, but installment agreements also do not show up on credit reports, and the interest rates are less than credit card financing. And taxpayer always has the option to pay off the balance early. I recommend that my clients negotiate for the lowest monthly payment possible, then pay as much as possible. I have one client who pays $25.00/month on a $10,000 balance due. He is in a hardship situation but not eligible for an offer-in-compromise.

I didn't think so either. 13 Years with ATX and ATX thinks like me. Well until ATX 2012. But only 2 days after I made the move I was using Drake like a pro as were my staff. Everyone happy again! But if Drake isn't your cup of tea there are other options as well. Others I keep in touch with have had similar experiences with ProSeries. Fear is not a reason to stay with a Loser.

Drake is not an answer for me. It is not suitable for my client base. ATX is the only software I've used in my practice. I've used others in jobs I've had alongside, but nothing that worked as well for me as ATX.