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Nope - not in this office - not anymore. Yes there was a time that I did exactly as you describe - but not now and not evermore.

I think we are just as guilty as them, a simple "sorry I'm late" usually solves the problem and we bite your tongue and do everything to "help" our client avoid penalties, don't you agree? Rant: FYI our clients will never respect us, never if we don't make them become accountable, some clients are okay with paying us a late fee, they don't have problem paying the IRS a late fee, however everything becomes okay and they are ready come in late next year. Sometimes letting go of clients is what the doctor ordered. Rant over!

RITAB Is this possibly from a selfie AFTER you gave a hug? Maybe on your way back to the "back 40"?

This industry in and of itself is stress just by definition. Finding ways to relieve that stress is paramount. Just as importantly is removing additional stress from it. Admittedly, I did not get that for the first 20 plus years I was in it. By the time it finally dawned on me, the doctor was implanting a piece of titanium in my chest so my heart would keep going thump, thump, thump. Barb, I applaud you. But I will be quick to point out that pets are a great stress reliever - their end of life issues notwithstanding. I get it. I buried my best friend, a German Shepherd named Flower, eons ago and said I would never put myself in that position again. It took me 25 years before my wife felt comfortable bringing Maggie (another German Shepherd) home as a pup. In hind sight, I deprived myself of shear joy for most of those 25 years. Oh, we have had dogs all along, but I had little attachments to them like I had with Flower or have with Maggie. But enough of that. As to stress relievers, this forum has to be right at the top. Rita, don't be too hard on that client. The grief associated with losing a parent causes the best of us to put off things that we don't want to deal with.

You are absolutely correct and I apologize for my tone there. She's actually a step-daughter and dropped off what she thought was everything in February and in a very chipper mood. On March 1, I scanned and emailed four forms from 2015 that I'm about 100% sure are missing in action for 2016. Circled the phone numbers of issuers. Went thru the whole thing again getting the extension and making a stab at the payment to make. Today I simply forwarded the March 1 email to her and explained FTF penalty and October 15. She didn't hear my fist pounding the "Enter" key. I ordered the discreet model for chickens. (DMC) I'm 100% sure the holdup is not grief, but I didn't explain all that and I know better, so fair enough.

This year I asked my chronically late filers to have their paperwork to me by Aug. 31st. Amazingly, most of them have complied. I have two clients who just seem never to be able to get it together until October and then it's a real struggle for me. I just fired one of them and am waiting for a return call from the other and I want them to go elsewhere too. Do you ever fire clients who habitually wait until the very last minute? There is no fee high enough to compensate for the grinding frustration. Or, maybe I'm just getting crankier in my old age....

Text from client: "This is really harsh & leaving us in huge limbo" The response I really want to send: "Better you than me"

Ugh. I just sent the kiss of death resignation email to the client. She texted me and I don't want to talk to her. I'm very busy working on a peer review, have another client that I do need to chase around and don't want to fire, and a bunch of other stuff. And, I'm tired and feel like crying. boo hoo

So I just *think* about doing all that, instead. It's most of the fun, less time, and no down-side.

I have sometimes thought that if I could be sure to get through to an actual person, I would at some point like to do that. And then just breathe and moan into the phone, like an old geezer having a spasm or something. Except I can't be sure to get a sleazebucket; I could get some poor schmuck taking a distasteful temporary job to keep from losing their house.

SaraEA, for a moment there I had a glimmer of hope. I have a landline! Alas, NoMoRobo doesn't work on the traditional copper wire lines like mine, only on VoIP, it seems. I deliberately kept my traditional landline despite being inundated by Cincinnati Bell to convert to Fioptics because no power means no phone. So long as I have my business, I keep the landline. I switched briefly a few years ago keeping my fax line as land and the power promptly went out. I switched back. So 833.217.3824 keep on coming. I am well over 30 now with 6 in one day recently. I've taken to occasionally answering then promptly hanging up just to avoid the message left on voice mail. It is really tiring, annoying and all those curse words you can imagine. Do you suppose if I do call back that number they will leave me alone? HAH!

Now this is a real life sad story:

I don't fire people for being late, but I don't pull out all the stops to do their returns on time either. I do understand every single opinion in this thread. I feel you I really do. I'm sending another reminder to the apparently very busy young lady handling her deceased father's final 1040. She has very nice business cards, but I think that's about the extent of her business acumen. I really thought the world of her daddy and recall what a sweet gentleman he was as I pound out this email with the help of the new equipment Abby introduced to us in "this could come in handy for certain clients". My goal is to scare the crap out of her, but if she doesn't take swift action, it's her inheritance she's wasting.

This has been a very stressful year. Tax season was awful. Fighting with Hubby to the point of tears and door slamming. I hate it when he cries. Then, our beloved dog Molly passed away at 14 years old from kidney failure. She was our last pet. I do not want any more pets. After she died, Hubby said let's go to La Jolla CA and just stay there until we feel better. It was a good idea. My stress level has gone down so much that I feel better than I have in years. There isn't any elderly pet to medicate and feed and pamper and worry about. Hubby and I can finally travel together, worry-free, and stay away as long as we like. I feel so much better that I'm looking for other ways to relieve stress and I'm looking at that every day. Dumping clients who are a continuing source of teeth grinding stress has been cathartic. I'd rather be poorer and happier than have that hard money that comes from dealing with them. Thanks for responding. I was feeling inadequate and weak for not being able to deal with these late returns.

Got mine ordered. Thanks. Whew. How long have we waited for THIS?

Diabetes