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We raised our fees $20-25 last year, mostly to cover the ACA reporting. (Yea, a lot of people only needed a check in the box that they had health insurance all year, but it took us tons of hours in classes to learn the rules and how to handle them.) Some of our increase was due to the fact that some clients haven't had an increase in years. After reading these responses, I have no problem going up a bit more again this coming season. Today a client called who has an $800 return--multiple Sch Cs, Sch Es, K-1s. He said that his return seems to have gotten "simpler" over the years and wondered why we were still charging so much. Clearly this client does not place value on our services so Good Bye! Not one of the clients who experienced our increase last year complained.

PDFill.com $20.00 program that does so much. Encrypt, rename, fill-in, change to multiple doc's, a lot of things I do not use and do not know but they are there. I really like that I can give a client a password and should they forget or call me to un-lock ????? I can have then send the email PDF back and use my separate password --- instead of having to remember what I told them, theirs was. It is a small thing but when looking back (years, etc.) I only need to have my "main" password and not their individual one (did Imention choice of 40 or 128 encryption). Visit PDFill.com and review yourself : Create, Fill, Edit, Delete and Submit PDF Form Fields Type, Draw, Comment, Sign and Scan PDF Documents PDF Ink or PDF Annotator on Table PC Open, View, Edit and Save PDF files without Adobe Acrobat Good tax season and a GREAT Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I do the same as JMovichEA.

I raise mine every year, how much varies by client, but I find it easier to raise each year.

This reminds me of the true story of an elderly aunt of mine. All her life she said her final instructions should include a particular piece of music she wanted played at her funeral. Most of us laughed it off as just one of her many eccentricities. But sure enough, as they wheeled the casket out of the church, the organ struck up one of the loudest renditions of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah that I've ever heard. She would have been pleased to have flowers with that card attached.

There is much confusion about "data breach" and "e-mail hacking." Two totally different and unrelated issues. Yet everyone treats them as the same. I continue to use e-mail regularly. My largest problem is clients not checking their e-mail more than once a week.

I use Gruntworx organize (beautifully indexed pdf file) and trade (excel and csv files for trade data import - when there are more than a dozen or so to enter). I tried the populate but found it took just as long to double-check the entries (which are good but NOT perfect) as it took to just enter the info myself. Scan with *at least* 300dpi resolution; more if you can stand the extra scanning time (both my scanners bog *way* down bumping up to 400dpi but between 200 and 300 there is no noticeable extra time) and you will get less of the 6/8/3 problems. Although having documents not printed in 4-point font helps, too, and we have no control over that.

Keep your conspiracy theories out of our tax forum, Jack.

Hey, lets be reasonable. If we password protect it, it's probably as safe as mailing the client a paper copy is. They can be stolen too. Odds are, unless your client is extremely rich or famous, the chances of their pdf being hacked are not likely. Yes, it's possible, but it involves the hacker first getting access to the pdf file. Not likely for ordinary folk, unless it's an inside job. And WE should not have to feel responsible for that.

My SEHI increased by almost $1500 this year, my tax prep fees jumped, too. I always increase my prices. Always.

Eric is always looking for ways to make this a better forum. I saw this as an opportunity to show appreciation by clicking on the "Donations" button during this slow period of the year. Maybe others will take a similar view.