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I encourage my regular clients to call me with questions and information about any major changes in their lives throughout the year. I don't want them coming in with surprises at the end of the year and issues that they should have asked for advice on before going forward. This works well for me. I am, however, going to have to do something about prospective NEW clients who are calling with a million questions and may just be scoping out the field. I have to start telling them that they must make an appointment to come in and see me during regular office hours. (One of the problems of OIH is that they think you are available all hours including Sundays).

I don't charge for questions, per se. When it gets to be an annoyance, I just raise the total fee. I have had two attorneys in my life. One would itemize those bills like crazy. The other just charged what he was gonna charge whenever he sent a bill. I liked the second one better, and paid him more. Go figure.

Am working now (post-trauma clean up only) with one firm that had the bookkeeper - who had a hidden drug problem - steal from them for several years. They let the person go and will not press charges because of concerns that *their* reputation will suffer for being known to have been stolen from. It is a concern, too! Rock. Hard place. Where does one stand? Lots of companies have rules - because of fear of litigation - where the ONLY reference they give is confirmation of dates of employment. They don't want to hire a slacker, fire them, tell a reference check they were let go for non-performance of duties - then end up being sued by the slacker as preventing them from getting a new job. Good employees lose, too, because if the only references given out are good ones, lack of a good one is tantamount to a bad reference. So they won't give any.

They're right.   Technically, Windows 10 is the same major version as Vista, part of the 6.x series.  So yeah, you could call it Windows 8.2.  Or Windows Vista 4.  Or Windows 6.4.   Microsoft hasn't used actual version numbers for the names of their operating system releases since Windows 3.11.  The name of Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 have been marketing driven--the numbers don't mean anything.

I think you manually have to enter the information to get the credit, it just doesn't compute on it's own, for example you will need to fill-in the wages/income and taxes paid per state.

With new or prospective clients, I always provide the first hour free. I put it on the invoice then back it out as a discount to show the value. I don't recall ever charging for occasional calls throughout the year, (usually get emails anyway) as I think my regular fees include that. I do now am trustee on 6 trusts, 4 for 4 more years, set up by a now deceased client. For these, I am keeping track of the calls and emails in 15 minute increments as 2 of the beneficiaries are creating many complications. But then, I will get paid from the income, they have no choice and they will no longer be clients in 4 more years. I am being scrupulously fair in documentation so they can see the invoices, though. And I do lump together multiple emails and calls over time to make the 15 minutes.

How about just doubling the fees? You will quickly find out who values your professional skills and who is just looking for the cheapest.

We had a client who had a bookkeeper and all we did was access the Quickbooks every quarter to clean the books up and do the financials, sales and payroll returns, etc. We started noticing funny stuff, mentioned it to the client, and the bookkeeper quit shortly after being questioned. We had another attorney office partnership where essentially the same thing happened. Turned out the bookkeeper (a different one from the first client) had been stealing from them for a couple of years. Then it turned out she had worked for four or five attorneys over the years and had been let go for the same reason. Common thread is that none of the business owners ever pressed charges. The bookkeepers just applied for other jobs and were hired because there were no black marks on their records. They were "clean" to apply for other jobs and keep up the thefts. We have hired a few people in our CPA firm who turned out not to be good workers (not thieves though). We never checked their references because we liked them and knew that in today's litigious society no former employer would ever say anything bad about them anyway. What is America coming to? People are not accountable anymore because no one will go through the trouble of having them make good for their misdeeds or dare say they're not model employees? Everyone gets a gold star.

I'll drink to that. The last few years we have been receiving our property tax bills two or three days before Christmas.

I've had clients tell me that "nothing spoils the Christmas spirit like getting reminded about taxes in Dec."

Trust no one and you won't be disappointed. Sorry, just a little jaded. As a CFO for a construction company, employee theft is a normal part of the business. Never leave anything in a place where it can be stolen. Tools and small equipment goes missing all the time. If you give these guys any opportunity to be dishonest, they will be. I know that is a broad generalization. But it comes from history and experience. Tom Hollister (soon to be Newark) CA

I have not only never attached a foreign return to show foreign tax withheld, I have never even SEEN a foreign return. IRS has never questioned. They must already know that in certain countries sale of real estate, for example, is automatically taxed at an obscene rate. And in some countries the tax is levied on the gross sales price, not net gain. Kind of like foreign dividends. Some countries tax them at 20 or 25%. Has anyone ever had the IRS object to what you put on the 1116?

November 6, 2014 By Mary Ellen Biery Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell was referring to environmental impacts when she sang, “Don’t it always seem to go/That you don’t know what you’ve got/Till it’s gone” in Big Yellow Taxi. But chances are, many accountants have the same thought after a client leaves the practice—especially someone who was with the firm for several years. After all, numerous studies show that attracting new clients costs a lot more than retaining existing ones. Studies have also revealed that the reason a client leaves may not be what accountants expected it to be. Many accountants believe pricing plays a bigger role in clients’ decisions than it actually does. So what are the top mistakes that accountants are making when it comes to retaining clients? Here are a few, along with some suggestions for preventing your firm from making them. Mistake #1: Believing that clients will ask for help when they want it. Accountants who expect clients to inquire about additional services or to seek advice on financial issues are not only missing out on cross-selling additional services, they are also putting client relationships at risk. Technology provider The Sleeter Group recently surveyed small and medium-sized businesses about why they left their accountant, and the top reason was because the accountant gave only reactive—rather than proactive—advice. Tip: When presenting financial statements or tax returns to a client, identify one or two open-ended questions to ask so that you can start the dialogue with clients about their business concerns and begin to offer proactive advice. It can be something like, “What was your biggest challenge last year?” or “Is there anything I can help you with in the year ahead?” Mistake #2: Assuming clients understand what accountants do. Sageworks chairman Brian Hamilton says many business owners don’t use their accountants to help manage their business because it doesn’t occur to them. “When they think of their accountant, they think of taxes,” he says. It may not occur to them that you can help them decide whether leasing or buying equipment makes better financial sense, or that you can help them identify ways to prevent fraud or speed up payments from customers. Hinge Research reported recently that two-thirds of buyers of accounting and financial services admitted they don’t know all of the services offered by sellers. At the same time, 44 percent of those buyers said they were interested in additional services. It’s up to you to educate your buyers. Tip: Include a list of all services your firm offers when you communicate with clients (presenting financials/returns, or when sending a thank-you note for recent business). Break the services down into language the client can understand rather than industry jargon, using examples where possible. Mistake #3: Assuming clients already know what to do to run their business better. Obviously, business clients aren’t stupid; they’re running businesses very successfully in many cases and have solid expertise in many aspects of operating the business. But many of them don’t know finance, and they may be so caught up in the day-to-day running of the business that it doesn’t occur to them that they can take simple steps to improve financial results. Many of them are also intimidated by their accountants because it can seem like they’re speaking a different language. Tip: Use plain-language reports and graphics to show a business client how their business is performing and to offer suggestions for improving financial performance.

The sale of a foreign asset is definitely reportable (Sch D if investment property, Form 4797 if income producing). Your client will get a foreign tax credit for the tax paid to India, but don't mislead him into thinking he'll get away with the full amount. First, if this was long-term capital gain property, he won't credit for more than the US would tax him (usually 15%, more in highest income brackets). India is going to tax him way more than that so kiss the excess goodbye (likely you will use the high-taxed column in the general category on F 1116). Then there's a reduction based on how much of your US income tax is attributable to the foreign income. Simplifying things a bit, if your foreign income was 10% of your total income, you can't get a credit for more than 10% of your total US tax. (There are worksheets for this so don't fret.) Unused credits can be carried back for one year or forward for 10 years. I just completed one of these for a couple who paid $40k in foreign tax on a $160k gain. Their foreign tax credit was in the neighborhood of $10k. And I couldn't arrive at any of these numbers until I converted francs into dollars! You have every right to charge A LOT.