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I am probably not the only one who gets these calls, but this particular call has bothered me the most and I probably scared the potential client not to call again. Anyway this particular client called me at the beginning of the year and I always ask who referred you to me etc... but she didn’t want to tell me and finally gave me a name of someone I don’t know and told her we need to make an appointment. That was that, two days ago she calls back and starts asking me questions, stopped her in her tracks and asked who referred her to my office, again she gave me the around and asked why I needed to know (I take the the time and thank clients that refer someone to me), then I remember and told her, you had called me earlier this year and I never heard from you to make an appointment, I told her the deadline is this week and it would be impossible to get her in etc.... , she was more interested knowing how much I charge, I gave her a high amount and told her a charge X for a hour consultation and she responded saying that previous accountants (plural) have never charged for a consultation. Too cut the conversation short, I asked, have ever gone to a doctor, attorney or restaurant and not expect to pay, told I am sorry but I don’t give my experience for free and told her I have to get back to work and hung up. A tire kicker is someone who will drag the sales cycle on…and on…and on while hogging your time and resources without ever actually buying.

I've never said, "If you have to ask, you can't afford me." but I'd like to do that once before I fully retire.

I had one come in unannounced in March telling me his friend TimeSuck sent him, informing me it's a real simple return, and what would you charge blah, blah, blah. Ok. Let's think about this. You have been referred by a friend, you pop in like I'm the walmarts with 23 registers, two of which are manned, and you are really going to kick my tires? I looked it over and quoted an extra 100 for being rude and dropping TheWrongName. No regrets.

I had someone call yesterday saying he owned three rental properties and he really wanted to do his own returns but wanted to know how much I would charge to teach him how to do the depreciation. Say what? I was less than kind in my response which is unlike me but it finally hit me at 4:30 p.m. that the reason I was so grumpy was because I forgot to drink my morning coffee.

I've had my share of 'em too but the best story I ever heard was third-hand (both parties are now deceased). In the early eighties I worked for an accountant who had once worked under a CPA in a nearby large town. My boss (an honest and truthful man) told me he was an actual witness to this scene: A regular customer, grouchy and notorious for his chronic complaining, came in to pick up his return. The CPA quoted a reasonable fee. The patron promptly threw a fit, let out a string of curses, and roundly chewed them out for all manner of excessive charges, slipshod work, along with many outrageous slurs. My boss said the CPA simply sat there through the diatribe; then calmly stood up, picked up the return, tore it in half, then quarters, threw it down on the desk, and said: "Now, get your a$$ out of my office!" I've always wanted to do that.

I give price shoppers no time at all. The most I'll say is my fees start at $500 and go up from there. Or, $750, $1,000, or $2,500 depending on what he said before I stopped him (SE and does his own bookkeeping, for example). This year, I've told a couple to make extension payments on DirectPay and contact me after 15 July. Or, I've just said that I'm not taking new clients unless they are referred by one of my good clients. Tire kickers don't get more than 30 seconds of my time.

@RitaBI love you so hard. LOL

Well, I love you, too, and I didn't get the engagement with the tire kicker, which was the best part. I'm a terrible story teller.

Wash, rinse, repeat. Someone asks about my software, and it is clear they are simply looking to not pay a payroll service, and they have zero payroll experience or training. I inform no payroll software can make them qualified to manage a payroll. They reply their "friend" said it was easy. I suggest they ask their friend if they would be willing to teach them payroll processing rules, to which they answer "is that not what the software does?". I lose no sleep over these contacts, even the ones who pay first, then "need" to be refunded. I used to lose sleep with the grief I went through trying to keep these customers. Had one last week who paid first, asked for a refund when I would not setup their payroll for them and go over their reporting requirements. They then tried to reorder using a different name (same address though), as "their accountant" said they would teach them. I said no thanks, since they already ignored my request the second order be paid with a money order (to avoid a charge back), and that any such order would come with zero support for the first year (since they already had a refund because they were not competent to manage a payroll - IMO).

I lost track of how many times I "told her" in my post, sorry friends, just venting and you are my support and thank you to all.

There is a web service out there called thumbtack - people will remotely do your taxes for a very small amount of money. No clue how well it works for people but it's pretty much just a bunch of tire kickers looking for the lowest bid possible. I've never asked for a bid so I don't know what others are charging but it seems like if you are working remotely, you could make some money that way on the side. The problem is you might be doing a 1040 for $45 - no clue. But hey, that's a lot more money that you'd make per hour as the Intuit call center guy.

Are you one of those who are saying "I don't know anyone who's had COVID-19."? Well, now you can change that statement. I thought I'd share with my friends and colleagues on this forum my experience of the past few weeks. We haven't shared this information beyond a few family members and close friends - haven't even shared it within our church (for some unique reasons) This is a little long, and probably too much detail. On June 26 I awoke with a deep cough, slightly sore throat, and low grade fever around 99.1. The next day the fever persisted and I began feeling very tired. Got tested on June 28. The next few days were pretty bad with fever bouncing around and peaking at 102. Dry cough, little or no taste, and general malaise. Didn't get my results back until July 4, but to no one's surprise I was indeed positive. The listless life and fevers continue until the night of the 11th, when I awoke at 3 am in a sweat because the fever broke. The next day I felt much better but then fever began to rise to 102 at bedtime, and broke again around 3 am. On the 13th day I felt great, and by day 14 one wouldn't have known I'd ever been sick. Today is day 19 and I'm still regaining strength, but feel wonderful. Already had my follow-up test and I'm now negative. Next steps will be voluntarily testing for antibodies and possibly donating plasma at the Red Cross if they want it. My wife also tested positive, but she NEVER HAD A SINGLE SYMPTOM. My doctor wasn't all that surprised and just said "Yeah, she's an asymptomatic carrier. We see this all the time." I'm 72, with stable angina, overweight, and I have "reactive airways", which means I get bronchitis easily. So I just assumed if I got the Wuhan Coronavirus I'd wind up in a hospital, probably on a ventilator, and with a poor prognosis. By the grace of God, I escaped all those dire outcomes. It was very unpleasant and a little scary, but all in all not much more stressful than a bad case of bronchitis. Medications? Mucinex and an occasional use of my Albuterol inhaler. Took one Tyleonol each of the two nights my fever hit 102. Other than that, I trusted my immune system and my body's built-in furnace to kill the virus. As my doctor reminded me, I'm one of the 99% who recover from this, so there's that perspective. But I also have the perspective of a cherished church member who died in a hospital on a ventilator. So what do I conclude from those two extremes? None of this is to minimize the risks of this illness, nor to predict the course of the illness if you or someone else happens to get it. And if that happens and you want to ask me any questions I'll be glad to provide even more detail. So I urge everyone to continue to be careful, take precautions, and know that it can happen, but it isn't an automatic death sentence.

Thanks for that info. What you described just illustrates how varied the outcomes can be, even among different age groups. I’m very interested in the antibody story as things move forward. I think there’s lots of speculation among the scientists based on something other than the data. I’m convinced it isn’t enough to know antibodies are present. The actual value need to be tracked, but they don’t have enough data to establish a baseline or relevant range yet. By the way, I lost 13 lbs which I needed to lose, but that isn’t an endorsement of the COVID diet.

Even survivors may have damaged organs for life and experience subsequent problems. That's my biggest worry. Best wishes! https://www.vox.com/2020/5/8/21251899/coronavirus-long-term-effects-symptoms

I really glad you recovered. My neighbor who lives across the street from me who is in her late 60s came down with covid 19 at the beginning of March. Her doctor told her that she wasn't quite sick enough to be in the hospital. She told me that it was by far the sickest she had ever been. She had very similar symptoms to yours, however it took her 5 weeks to recover.

I am glad you have recovered. My cousins family had the virus in April (?) and their experience was very like yours. Three in the family, no one deathly ill, wife tested positive, husband's test messed up and could not be tested and he never re-tested, and daughter never tested.

Thank you for sharing John. Tom Modesto, CA

Not as slow as I thought it might be given the last minute rush. I can't believe how many of my clients, given 3 extra months, still have had trouble getting their act together. It's truly annoying, I have to say.

Obliquely related, but this past week we have been INUNDATED not with tire-kickers but with goggle listings type calls. I've learned most of them come through Caller ID showing a town rather than a name, and that answering lets them know the number is live. I've started instead using the speakerphone and humming "Scotland the Brave" or some other tune. The algorithms don't know what to do. Eventually the calls slow down. But I am seriously sick and tired of them this week.

Yes, firsthand I know of 3 friends that had it for sure and others suspected. The first is in her early 80s and is a cancer survivor. She is in independent living and is sure the communal living was the source. She started on a Thurs with nondescript symptoms of being unwell that progressed over the weekend, and then had to call 911 on Monday. Spent a week in the hospital on large doses of oxygen, steroids, and antibiotics. She ended up with some sort of heart complications that will require medication for the remainder of her life. She considers herself very lucky to not have ended up on a ventilator at her age or worse. Next is a friend and former coworker of my husband, age 60 and otherwise healthy. His job is inventory control and delivery of Rx meds to one nursing home. He was there the day of their first positive case and said they didn't show much concern. He was incredibly sick for weeks with the coughing, high fevers, very shallow and difficult breathing. He should have gone to the hospital to at least be checked out but was too terrified because of the stories of patients on ventilators. We were incredibly worried because he wouldn't go and knew that he probably should have been on oxygen and steroids at a minimum. He has recovered and is extremely angry over how that nursing home had no procedures in place and were lacking in their response. He should not have been allowed in there at all! To put it in perspective, the facility that my mom was in went immediately on lockdown the day Delaware had its first positive, and that was the day she was released, and I feel lucky that I got her out in time! Facility that friend does meds for had about 450 residents at the time of their first positive case and, within a short amount of time, 125 of them had died because of the virus. An otherwise healthy friend from Los Angeles also had it early on and it left her with tinnutis and vertigo so bad she's had to give up driving and is even fearful of activities like walking her dogs for fear of falling and injuring herself. Some of the lingering after effects weren't known at the time she was sick, so doctors don't know for sure if her current issues were caused by the inflammation from the virus, but I suspect that is the case because it started right after she was so sick. We have some mutual friends from the same area that have said they believe they had it in early February before it was believed to be there, and they'd tested negative for flu, and so they say that whatever it was, it was horrible and like nothing they'd had before. I think the virus was in our area earlier than was first thought too because my brother and wife had something horrible about a week before Delaware announced its first case, but they didn't go get checked because they didn't think it was here yet and assumed it was flu. Who knows?! They've said the exact same thing that other online friends have said about it, that the coughing is like nothing they've ever had before, and haven't ever been sick like that. I can say that if my brother said he was laid up on the sofa being sick for more than two weeks, it must have been really bad. He was still sick but got back to some level of activity. Husband was tested prior to his last biopsy and was negative. His followup was this week and his nurse said 2 of her neighbors, an older couple, both died from it. I'm still only going to the grocery once every 2-3 weeks, and other than that, the only people I have contact with are husband and my mom.

Thank goodness you've recovered, John! A dear friend now tests negative, but her three-month illness with two hospital stays plus hospice left her weak. She's still in hospice but in her own room now instead of a Covid room. They do NOT expect her to get any better or ever return home. A 19-year-old died in my tiny town, as did an infant, and several men and women my age who, as you say, were not expected to have good outcomes. A strong firefighter recovered after months from the first symptoms, but tells us he has heart and kidney (? liver?) and cognitive problems that will last his lifetime. A nurse in her 20's that I know in our local hospital recovered after two weeks and went back to work. Do NOT trust your antibodies. We don't have enough months/years of experience to see if antibodies = immunity and, if so, for how long. In fact, I also know a couple different people who are now struggling with their SECOND bout of Covid, both cases worse this time their their first time. Their doctors are unsure if they have a new case, or their old case lay dormant for some time and then resurfaced. Be grateful and be careful.

Darlene, I am so sorry for your loss. I'm very sorry that your family is not cooperating when this is a time that they should pull together.

I'm very sorry. Prayers for your mother and for you and for your family. Attended a funeral last Friday. Outdoors, graveside (urn for ashes), 25 maximum allowed (by invitation of the family only), masks, six feet apart (households could stand together), contact sheets. Family gave us food and water bottles as we left instead of a reception. I missed hugging, but it was surprisingly beautiful. It was also delayed until the family was ready to venture out (one daughter was streaming it on her phone for her brother and his immediate family in FL) and our church could host an outdoor service with restrictions. More difficult when your brothers are not cooperating and the priest is scared &/or under instructions from his diocese. Another friend had a Zoom memorial service and said it was surprisingly comforting. Praying that a service will give you all some peace in these troubled times.

Yes, that's a legitimate concern. Guess I'm going to be on high alert for any unusual symptoms anywhere in my body. I do happen to have a cardiologist appointment in 3 weeks. Going to lobby for a little more intensive testing. (I might even finally agree to that angiogram he keeps pushing.) But whatever the course in the future, it is what it is. I'm not losing any sleep over it. The thing I'm most curious about is whether there's any long-term immunity conferred, and whether it's limited. I'm gong to get weekly antibody tests, even if I have to pay, for at least the next 6-8 weeks. But plasma donations might come with free testing - haven't checked that out yet. If I wind up with immunity that would fit in with my plans to return to Myanmar and India on mission trips early next year, and frankly would have made it all worthwhile. I suspect those counties are going to be paying special attention to Americans at immigration - maybe even requiring documentation prior to departure.. (That's already happening in Europe)

Wouldn't that be lovely?

I am so sorry for your loss, and that your brothers are not being helpful in this time. One of the things that got me through losing both my parents within 10 months was that my brother and sister and I all got along and worked together on everything. I can't imagine if they had been difficult to deal with in addition to the grief. We still get along well and work together well, as long as my sister and I make no mention of politics. Your family is in my prayers, and if we can help or you need someone to listen while you vent, we are here for you. Blessings!

This is a tricky area. From Pub 970: "The scholarship or fellowship grant must be one that may qualify as a tax-free scholarship under the rules dis-cussed in chapter 1. Also, the scholarship or fellowship grant must be one that may (by its terms) be used for non-qualified expenses. Finally, the amount of the scholarship or fellowship grant that is applied to nonqualified expen-ses can't exceed the amount of the student's actual non-qualified expenses that are paid in the tax year." I have never been able to find the terms of a particular scholarship that might show it can be used for nontuition purposes. (I've actually looked on college websites.) I suspect most can't be. So you can't just say ok, the student got a scholarship but I'll make it taxable so the parents get a bigger credit. The scholarship must meet the conditions above.

LOVE your humor, @Possi!

My client has taken actual expenses for a car she leased the last 5 years. No depreciation, just lease payments and other actual expenses. In 2019, she bought the car. Am I allowed to take mileage now that she owns the car? She is a sole proprietor. I have looked online but can't find an article on changing ownership.

Yes, the two are totally separate transactions. She bought a car. The fact that it is the same car she was leasing is irrelevant.

Throw some candy out the door, bake a turkey, wrap a gift and be done. Hallelujah. done.

Thank you all.. She seemed to recover last Fri and Sat and then Sun got a call - well it was from a nurse having a really, really bad day and I was on the end of it!! and she went to Palliative care and was to die within hours - Well from sun to Fri - many amazing things happened!!! Her funeral is Fri, my brothers are verrry hard to work with or lack of work on their part especially the one ordering from out of state and I am not the executor!! Praying for the repose of her soul, for us! for unity, for peace and no Covid - having a service - North central WI - our county has 11 cases.. but the priest has sort of gone scared now.. I do not go anywhere - so if I am doing this carefully - he can! Most people and clients have been wonderful - will not be contacting a few for next year! Just finishing up a few 2016's of new clients that came in and slipped thru our system.. -picked up 4 new clients in last 10 days.. Should have franchised in last 6 years!!! Sort of old now and sort of old to keep doing this ... Any way!! Thank you all and yes - we all go through this so peace to all, Blessings!!