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ATX has a tab on the 1040 for explanation of signature. What I would do is this: Check the box for the spouse, the wife in this case, and from the drop down box choose "injury or disease prevents signing" and fill in the date it will be signed reason is: "(name of spouse) has been diagnosed with and is living in a full-care facility due to Alzheimer's disease and other physical ailments. Her cognitive and physical limitations prevents her from signing the 2013 tax returns." Because this explanation was designated as being for the spouse, ATX will put the father's name under a signature line on that page. Son should sign with his name and indicating POA. On pg 2 of the 1040, son signs for the father as having POA, and attach the POA. and on the spouse's line, enter "see explanation for no signature" I had this explanation attached to a couple's returns for many years because the husband was in a home for Alzheimer's patients. Wife signed that statement each year and it was never questioned. I did eventually start e-filing the return, but it was paper filed with the statement for a few years too.

I always enjoyed the time I spent with most of my clients, and once the practice grew to the point that our time was full, we ''fired' the ones we did not like. Sure that took a few years, but not all that long, because when you do spend a little time "yapping" with clients, often your referrals go up dramatically. At least that was my experience. And it builds a lot of loyalty when clients know YOU, rather than being just a name to them.

Why would anyone ever beat a dead horse?....and for God's sake, why would anyone expect to receive a donations statement for doing so?

Time for drone season to start. All us redneck types like hunting things that fly. Keep our shotgun skills honed!!

no, I wish my kids were that well trained.

I let my clients choose whether they want to drop off, e-mail, or make an appointment. Except for new clients. I insist new clients come in for an appointment so I can establish a relationship with them. Then, the following year, they can drop off or e-mail as they prefer. I prepare returns during appointments if the return is simple enough. That way I can get the 8879 signed and my fee collected all in one sitting. If the return is more complex, I go over the information with them, ask my questions, and answer their questions. Some clients like to sit and talk. I charge them for all my time. They don't mind because they value my time and attention. Some people just need someone to listen to them. I do not mind because I charge by the hour. I sit with my old-fashioned clients by day and e-mail with the young sophisticated ones by night. It works great. Over the years, I have built wonderful relationships with my clients. Lots of them want to hug me when they come and when they go. I have a yellow page listing but I don't otherwise advertise because I am too busy serving the new clients brought in by word of mouth. Before I finalize a return, I always give the client a call to discuss the results and any ideas I have for additional deductions. At that time I finalize any details such as where they want their refunds deposited or where to set their quarterly payments for next year. Then I print the return, bill it, and give it to my clerical staff for processing. The client gets a call from my staff when the return is ready to sign and pick up, unless they beat us to the punch. Most clients love getting that second phone call from my staff. I do not hand out returns. I stay back in my office when the client comes in to pick up the return. I have found that handing out returns is a big time waster, because some clients think that after their return is signed and the bill paid, is a perfect time to engage me in a half-hour-long conversation. The clients don't need me when they pick up because they already talked to me about the results of their tax return. There are no surprises. They are just as happy to chat with my staff about whose uncle is related to whose sister, etc, at that point. We also give them candy. I keep the candy bowl on the reception counter filled at all times.

It is important to spend time with our clients, as we offer other services in addition to tax prep - bookkeeping, QuickBooks setup and training, insurance and investments, payroll, credit card processing. Spending that time is part of the relationship building, leads to referrals as KC points out, and leads to greater engagements with our clients. Many have become friends and that little 30 minutes is something we all look forward to. For us, this business is about relationships; we are not merely processing transactions. That's our approach anyway!

I really don't mean to be beating a dead horse, however, after mucho info provided to a church in regard to what should appear on their donation statements, the following is what appears: "Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code requirements for substantiation for charitable contributions, no goods or services were provided in return for the Tax Deductible." No where in the actual donation statement where the Tithes, Offerings, Building/Media Fund totals were listed was there any mention of "Tax Deductible".....just the above statement at the bottom of the page. Good Grief, I'm ready to call it a season! Well, at least it was dated! Signatures of the "Pastors" was done beautifully in the "script" font within their word processor.

Cathy...it's an invoice they can't refuse! ;-)

You only have to report the part of the 1099Q that is taxable, if any.

Yardly, I hate to put it this way, but if that is really you in your picture, I'd pay you too!!!!!! I wouldn't want you to send your guys to my house to collect your money for sure!

So RITA has no problem accepting the General form? How about CCA? That would simplify things a lot. It would be even better if the general form would pick the residence and work cities from the W-2s, and the city tax rates, credit rates, and credit limits from a table. It's always annoyed me that the RITA form forces you to enter the W-2 information again. I guess ATX is trying to sell its city tax add-on software.

I like the drop down box for choosing the city this year. MUCH better than last year. I am using the generic 99% of the time. Even for RITA. Did I say that I hate the RITA forms?

Spot on Jack.....I actually like using the generic form better than trying to use the city-specific forms as I did in the past.....waiting for the forms to be released and constantly adjusting to a new form was maddening....almost all cities accept the generic, so generic it is. I do have to say, however, that the generic does not have a good way of calculating the percentage of unreimbursed employee expenses to deduct. City of Sidney allows a percentage based on unreimbursed employee expenses as a percentage of total Sch A deductions. with the generic form I need to complete that formula by hand on Sidney City printed tax form and then transfer the total to the generic form in ATX. I also then attach the page of the paper Sidney form that has my calculation to the generic to mail to Sidney....just so they know that I correctly arrived at my deduction.

New snack item: Gummy frikkin bananas nom, nom, nom, nom

I thought that feature was made only for you, but once again I am wrong.

Tim is a great guy, who has helped many of us with Canadian questions, over the years. You can feel totally comfortable referring your client to him for the Canadian return.

A new client that came abroad this year, I asked her is she could request some information from her prior accountant, and she said I rather you call him because I am afraid of him because of how he talks to people, my jaw dropped.

Margaret, while this snip is from the IRS pub 947 Practice before the IRS, it talks about POAs, perfecting non-tax POAs, and when the IRS will allow a non-tax POA representative to sign a form 2848 on behalf of a client. Maybe the part about perfecting a non-tax POA and the example at the bottom will help you figure out your situation. Here's that section: What Is a Power of Attorney? A power of attorney is your written authorization for an individual to act on your behalf. If the authorization is not limited, the individual generally can perform all acts that you can perform. The authority granted to a registered tax return preparer or an unenrolled preparer is limited. For information on the limits regarding registered tax return preparers, see Circular 230 §10.3(f). For information on the limits regarding unenrolled preparers, see Publication 470. Acts performed. Any representative, other than a registered tax return preparer or an unenrolled return preparer, can usually perform the following acts. Represent you before any office of the IRS. Sign an offer or a waiver of restriction on assessment or collection of a tax deficiency, or a waiver of notice of disallowance of claim for credit or refund. Sign a consent to extend the statutory time period for assessment or collection of a tax. Sign a closing agreement. Signing your return. The representative named under a power of attorney is not permitted to sign your income tax return unless: The signature is permitted under the Internal Revenue Code and the related regulations (see Regulations section 1.6012-1(a)(5)). You specifically authorize this in your power of attorney. For example, the regulation permits a representative to sign your return if you are unable to sign the return due to: Disease or injury. Continuous absence from the United States (including Puerto Rico) for a period of at least 60 days prior to the date required by law for filing the return. Other good cause if specific permission is requested of and granted by the IRS. When a return is signed by a representative, it must be accompanied by a power of attorney (or copy) authorizing the representative to sign the return. For more information, see the Form 2848 instructions. Limitation on substitution or delegation. A recognized representative can substitute or delegate authority under the power of attorney to another recognized representative only if the act is specifically authorized by you on the power of attorney. After a substitution has been made, only the newly recognized representative will be recognized as the taxpayer's representative. If a delegation of power has been made, both the original and the delegated representative will be recognized by the IRS to represent you. Disclosure of returns to a third party. Your representative cannot execute consents that will allow the IRS to disclose tax return or return information to a third party unless you specifically delegate this authority to your representative on line 5 of Form 2848. Incapacity or incompetency. A power of attorney is generally terminated if you become incapacitated or incompetent. The power of attorney can continue, however, in the case of your incapacity or incompetency if you authorize this on line 5 “Other” of the Form 2848 and if your non-IRS durable power of attorney meets all the requirements for acceptance by the IRS. See Non-IRS powers of attorney, later. When Is a Power of Attorney Required? Submit a power of attorney when you want to authorize an individual to represent you before the IRS, whether or not the representative performs any of the other acts cited earlier under What Is a Power of Attorney. A power of attorney is most often required when you want to authorize another individual to perform at least one of the following acts on your behalf. Represent you at a meeting with the IRS. Prepare and file a written response to the IRS. Form Required Use Form 2848 to appoint a recognized representative to act on your behalf before the IRS. Individuals recognized to practice before the IRS are listed under Part II, Declaration of Representative, of Form 2848. Your representative must complete that part of the form. Non-IRS powers of attorney. The IRS will accept a non-IRS power of attorney, but a completed Form 2848 must be attached in order for the power of attorney to be entered on the Centralized Authorization File (CAF) system. For more information, see Processing a non-IRS power of attorney, later. If you want to use a power of attorney document other than Form 2848, it must contain the following information. Your name and mailing address. Your social security number and/or employer identification number. Your employee plan number, if applicable. The name and mailing address of your representative(s). The types of tax involved. The federal tax form number. The specific year(s) or period(s) involved. For estate tax matters, the decedent's date of death. A clear expression of your intention concerning the scope of authority granted to your representative(s). Your signature and date. You also must attach to the non-IRS power of attorney a signed and dated statement made by your representative. This statement, which is referred to as the Declaration of Representative, is contained in Part II of Form 2848. The statement should read: I am not currently under suspension or disbarment from practice before the Internal Revenue Service or other practice of my profession by any other authority, I am aware of the regulations contained in Circular 230, I am authorized to represent the taxpayer(s) identified in the power of attorney, and I am an individual described in 26 CFR 601.502( b ) Required information missing. The IRS will not accept your non-IRS power of attorney if it does not contain all the information listed above. You can sign and submit a completed Form 2848 or a new non-IRS power of attorney that contains all the information. If you cannot sign an acceptable replacement document, your attorney-in-fact may be able to perfect (make acceptable to the IRS) your non-IRS power of attorney by using the procedure described next. Procedure for perfecting a non-IRS power of attorney. Under the following conditions, the attorney-in-fact named in your non-IRS power of attorney can sign a Form 2848 on your behalf. The original non-IRS power of attorney grants authority to handle federal tax matters (for example, general authority to perform any acts). The attorney-in-fact attaches a statement (signed under penalty of perjury) to the Form 2848 stating that the original non-IRS power of attorney is valid under the laws of the governing jurisdiction. Example. John Elm, a taxpayer, signs a non-IRS durable power of attorney that names his neighbor and CPA, Ed Larch, as his attorney-in-fact. The power of attorney grants Ed the authority to perform any and all acts on John's behalf. However, it does not list specific tax-related information such as types of tax or tax form numbers. Shortly after John signs the power of attorney, he is declared incompetent. Later, a federal tax matter arises concerning a prior year return filed by John. Ed attempts to represent John before the IRS but is rejected because the durable power of attorney does not contain required information. If Ed attaches a statement (signed under the penalty of perjury) that the durable power of attorney is valid under the laws of the governing jurisdiction, he can sign a completed Form 2848 and submit it on John's behalf. If Ed can practice before the IRS (see Who Can Practice Before the IRS, earlier), he can name himself as representative on Form 2848. Otherwise, he must name another individual who can practice before the IRS. Processing a non-IRS power of attorney. The IRS has a centralized computer database system called the CAF system. This system contains information on the authority of taxpayer representatives. Generally, when you submit a power of attorney document to the IRS, it is processed for inclusion on the CAF system. Entry of your power of attorney on the CAF system enables IRS personnel, who do not have a copy of your power of attorney, to verify the authority of your representative by accessing the CAF. It also enables the IRS to automatically send copies of notices and other IRS communications to your representative if you specify that your representative should receive those communications. You can have your non-IRS power of attorney entered on the CAF system by attaching it to a completed Form 2848 and submitting it to the IRS. Your signature is not required; however, your attorney-in-fact must sign the Declaration of Representative (see Part II of Form 2848).

I absolutely WILL NOT prepare a return while the client is present. They never stop talking, it is too hard to concentrate and too easy to miss something. On the other hand, I give them as much face to face time as they want. I want to know about them and they want to know about me. They come here to see me, not some gal in the back room plugging in numbers; or even my personal assistant. I know that many of you disagree with me, but this is just the way that I choose to run my business and it just grows and grows; all by word of mouth. As KC said, you learn eventually which ones to fire.

I really didn't have any problems switching between MS Office on PC & Open Office on Mac. In fact, while I was only using my old MS Office on PC, I'd get the occasional client spreadsheet that was saved as .xlsx. I would copy it to the Mac, open in Open Office & save back to .xls. Then copy it back to the PC. But I do completely understand about needing to do things in a hurry. The only comment I'll make is to make sure you are using the same date reference on each program. Back in the OLD days (1980s?) I would see dates change between Mac & PC spreadsheets. They used different starting dates for their numeric versions (1900 vs 1904?). When I was looking through the Open Office settings, I saw they give you a choice of 4 differnt starting dates. I have considered buying the home / student addition of Microsoft Office for my PC - it would do everything I need at a reasonable price. But Microsoft specifically says that it is not to be used by a business & I don't want to get in trouble with the Microsoft police. I realize that they would probably never know the difference, but, hey, we hear that same excuse from our tax clients. Just sayin'.

GUMMY FRIKKIN BANANAS?! Where?

Scary, but the discount offer is nice.

Thanks for the sing-along, Rita. After that video finished playing I watched the one of him putting makeup on his friend while he was blindfolded. It had me laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my cheeks.

I make 5-10 times as much working at home. I have cut back my hours working at the firm. In a couple more seasons, I will have a large enough personal practice to stop driving 26 miles one way to the firm 5 days a week.

Rita: You took my advice?? Without waiting for someone to verify it? I sure hope your computer doesn't act up in the next day or so - I'd be overwhelmed with guilt.

Have the client call SS....to see exactly how they have her last name. They may have what she thinks is her last name as her middle name.

I have a child of a client whose name is Anna Maria Gloria FXXXXXXXX AXXXXXXX. I have to file her as Gloria AXXXXXXX. So, one never knows what the rhyme or reason is. The first year, I had to play the "guessing game" with SSA.

The IRS matches the SSN with the first four letters of the last name. Truncation doesn't matter. What does matter is which of those three words is actually on her SS card as her last name.