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When I upgraded last season, I assessed a technology charge and explained in my cover letter the upgrades were required by IRS for security purposes. The fee was modest and assessed to every client so covered the expense and I dropped it this year being considerate of several who are affected by the COVID stuff. It worked for me, your mileage may vary, and I am very happy with the upgrades.

Just bite the professional bullet, and replace all the W7 machines with W10 machines. It is almost 2021, like it or not. You will get very little, or no tech support from ATX for W7, and later versions, may not work properly. It is a cost of doing business. May require an increase in your fees. I bit the bullet last season, increased my fees 10%, and have had no complaints about my fees.

If I follow, your client is an heir. The value of the estate seems to have been set. Since then, the estate value has dropped. Your client likely needs legal counsel. If you client is an executor/administrator, they may be liable for not managing the estate in the best interests of the estate. If your client is simply an heir, they may want to pursue action against those managing the estate, even before settlement. With the given scenario, the estate's goodwill value drops daily, the longer the former employee has no "competition" for the existing clients (assuming as written, the remaining employees are not really competing). If the current value of the business is truly just sale of equipment, then whomever is allowing the business to continue accruing salary and other expenses is clearly not acting in the best interests of the estate. (Makes me wonder if the aunt is running the estate, as she is the only one who seems to be benefiting from the "business".) On the other hand, if the restructure was some form of the executor/admin "selling" the business, then there are a larger number of worms to deal with, especially if your client is one of or the only buyer. --- I would not touch any part of this estate process at all. I would refer to a probate/estate attorney, who also has probate/estate expert accountant/CPA/EA's on staff. If your client has already taken on former estate assets or liability in some form, then maybe deal with that on its face, but only if your client is accepting what they have done or allowed to be done, and is not interested in getting a second opinion (which seems not to be the case).

My thoughts are, first who was the executor for the estate, because this looks like a big mess with one legal misfire after another. Your client needs competent legal advice,because whoever the executor was sure didn't have any!

Better version Tax Office Cyber Security Plan-Fillable.pdf

I used Kofax (formerly Nuance) to make the Drake form fillable. Unfortunately it skipped some areas and one page entirely, so I had to create some fields by hand, and they look a little rougher than the fields created automatically. When enter the business name on page 1, it will link to all the other business name fields on the Acceptable Use Policy page. You might have to abbreviate the name for it to fit and be readable on the Acceptable Use Policy page. Let me know if you find any bugs or changes you'd like to see. Enjoy! Tax Office Cyber Security Plan-Fillable.pdf

Let's not get off track by delving into the whys and wherefores or by choosing up sides here because we aren't going to go there. We're all trying our best to get the work done and keep our clients happy while the IRS and every other business sorts out how best to continue operating under extenuating circumstances.

We were supposed to get refunds of the excess fees. But if you believe that, I have some magic beans I'd like to sell you.