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We started using a Client Contact Sheet last year and so far it's working okay. If a client calls with a simple question--what should I put on my W4--I don't bother filling it out (standard answer: Single, Zero). For questions that take more time--what will my tax be if I sell this building, if I sell that business, if I gift the building--we fill out the sheet and file it in the current year electronic file cabinet. In addition to recording the query and response, there's a place on the sheet for how long it took and what the charge should be. We add it to the tax prep fee. Interestingly, about half of my clients who take up 15 minutes of my time on the phone or come in for a brief meeting tell ME to charge them. Do I have great clients or what? (At least half of them.)

Thanks for clarifying my comment. Yes, the point of suggesting a phone conference or a sit-down is to establish that it will be billable time. And, as you said, the "need" for further answers generally goes away once that idea gets on the table.

I always had issues with ATX and the late approval of the State forms. Once I left ATX, that problem has not existed. I am now with Drake and all the State forms I use are approved including NC which was notoriously late with ATX. So, I can speak for the last 9 years but prior to that it was an ATX problem.

The attached copy had a couple of typos in it that I have corrected. I will remove all information regarding this repair so it will be a blank document and have attached it to this reply. Blank Computer Repair Nondisclosure Agreement.docx

I use TW, too. Sometimes, the states used to be slow to get to us, but the last few years it's been fast. The two products ARE very different. It's like 2 completely separate businesses under the CCH umbrella. I could save money switching to ATX, but I have used TW since I was with Liberty 16 years ago. When I started my own business, I stuck with it because it was easy to learn. It is, I believe, the better fit for a one-woman-show. And as long as I have my extended office HERE, I get through the tax season pretty smoothly. TW does not have a professional board like this one. To discuss software, we have to go to their blog, which I hate. It is like going to a mall of different stores to find one pair of shoes, the ones with the bling. I can never find them. I come here and BAM, there's my shoes.

Yeah, I got that. But my question is about the software. I figured out the DNI and the deductions and distributions. I am struggling with how to show this on the K1 in the software. Thanks for the backup documentation. I know you don't use ATX anymore, darn it. I was hoping you could help me with the buttons and boxes and settings in the software to make this all come out the proper way on the 1099. Tom Newark, CA

Roberts would you be willing to share this spreadsheet? I do use excel quite a bit but do not have the experience to create this. Sounds like a better way to solve my problem.

No return to file.

AND that there will be a fee for that conference. I've found it amazing (not!) how many "problems" go poof! when I tell the client there will be a fee for researching the answer. Of course, if it sounds like tax planning, I push for the conference - but toomany times yeah, they're looking for someone else to ggogle it for them and then interpret the results. For free.

Social media, email, and texting are valuable resources for maintaining client communication, but only if used efficiently. The intent is to keep the client out of your office and off your telephone so you can get some work done. But if the time expended in answering client questions isn't already built into their fees, then anything beyond short, simple answers to basic questions needs to be handled appropriately. It is easy enough to reply that the question is too complex, additional info is needed, or the matter requires a phone conference or sit-down meeting to tease out all the variables. Otherwise you will find yourself in a quagmire.