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I always knew you were a smart one. Congratulations and good luck.

I don't have a house... but my fiancee does... plus a beach condo and their both paid for. Married poor the first time, won't make that mistake again.

Yes, I see this as the biggest problem I have in business. It's frustrating. I got 15 new clients this year, newcomers to the area, all with errors on their 2015 returns. Yes, all. Only one has received a letter, and her problem was a 1099-R that was left off the return. The 1099-R was missing from her paperwork, however, she did include a brokerage statement that showed it. I might have missed that one, too. The other errors were from carelessness or intentional fudging or lack of expertise. And you know what? They will never get a letter. It's easier to be careless, or fudge, or be inept. They can charge less because they "work" faster. And if they're REALLY into fudging, they can charge more. The honor system is tough on honorable people sometimes.

Maybe he needs a reminder that he works for you, and not the other way around. Try calling him at home on a Sunday afternoon with a planning question. Or after dinner. Several times over the course of a couple of weeks. He might get it, then.

$25

I cannot give out information about the client's return without signed permission from the client. And if they are going to get the client to give me permission, why not just ask the client what he paid me last year? There are legitimate reasons to ask - as Rich said, they might be deducting it on schedule A. Or maybe applying a portion of the fee to a schedule C, E or F as a deduction. But why don't they just ask the client if they need to know?

Check the Schedule A. Rich

I turned 70 last fall and plan to keep working as long as my health stays good, since I enjoy what I do. Most of my income comes from 9 monthly writeup/payroll/tax clients. The largest ones I also function as their contract controller/CFO. These are all clients, that I have had for many years, so it would be very difficult for me to sell my practice. Last year I did less than 70 tax returns, so I don't have any walkins. Occasionally I will get a new client due to an unsolicited referral. Financially, I am now in a comfortable place, now that I am on Medicare, plus I started receiving SS last year. It's a wonderful life, now that I am working about 20 hours a week.

I have had clients receive similar notices when the income from the 1099 was reported but not in the spot on the tax return the IRS expected it to be. Get a wage and income transcript to see if the income is reported in a box other than Box 7.

$24. But my house cost $99.13 a foot and yours cost $426.83, so I get that you have to charge more.

^^^ Good points from all, FYI I am on good terms with the ex-client, have their permission to answer any questions and provide any information necessarily for a smooth transition and I have been cooperating. I didn't give them a direct answer, I said it's hard to give an exact amount because it's been a while I haven't done work for them, and I also provided other services besides the preparation of the business tax return, but yes if they look at the accounting fees they can get an exact idea of what I billed that client for the year.

The people that don't hang around in the off-season don't know what they miss in educational opportunities on this board. I am getting really interested in this topic, and the one about donating the LLC interest. These are not things that I see everyday in my little rural practice.

I have a new answer to give clients when the price of their return goes up..... Dear Jack, Thank you for being a valued accountant partner. To support you in your work, I am reaching out to provide you with advance notification of two upcoming price changes that may affect you or your clients. 1. QuickBooks Online Plus 2. QuickBooks Desktop Payroll These price changes will enable us to invest in the further development of QuickBooks to meet the needs of accounting professionals and the business clients you serve.

Just some food for thought. Maybe we are bidding some of these prospects too low. I like to set my prices high enough that the prospects have an inkling that I value my services. If it is too high for that prospect, so be it. I can tell you that I have heard a word on the street that my fees are high. OK - but I can tell you straight up - and I have a boat load of clients to confirm it - that there must be value in what I provide at those "high" fees. I use to strive to not be the lowest price in town. Now I strive to be one of the most respectable and respected firms in town.

This is why I love you, Tom. Yes, I'm as good or better than whomever told him $185. But he couldn't tell that from a ten-minute conversation. None of them can. I didn't even get a chance to hug him. They don't know what they don't know. Maybe he went to Tammy's X-Treme Tax Returns and she put 60,000 miles on Form 2106 or totally missed a mutual fund sale, and he'll get audited, and I'll see him again... Thanks, I'm talking myself into not kicking myself, Tom.

Stop it. Just spending an hour with you would be worth $225. If he is too cheap to pay what you are worth, let him go. You offer more than just filling in the amounts, you offer your expertise, your time in the off season, a reliable professional to give good advice all year and planning for future years. If this guy can't see that, it is his loss. Tom Newark, CA

It isn't just the DIY software that people buy - I recall reading about one "preparer" who used the IRS free-file site for all her clients. She only did returns where people's income was low enough to qualify, and I am sure that almost all, if not all, of her clients got EITC. Her prices were very low, because she had no overhead. But regulating preparers will not stop people like her who don't sign returns as preparer.

Congress should require that every tax return that is efiled has a marker back to the original box S/N, and a requirement that the S/N is registered somehow. So that the "shake the box" bad guys can be tracked down. Even bogus registration info is still attached to a taxpayer that can be quizzed. I do not care if there is more preparer regulation, I am a CPA and past all that. All the regulation in the world does not make a difference to those that are outside the rules and stay there.... Rich

Our hobby is watching online soap operas...

..... Or..Vicious Attack.???