Leaderboard

Actually, the return was too much for the auditor and the manager was at our last meeting. The manager knows about taxes and my clients situation and she didn't question the mileage and understood that the vans were not personal vehicles and was easier to deal with her. I am glad she came to the meeting and show the auditor how to conduct the interview. She was happy with what we showed her and we are moving along. Of course there were some items that will be taken out but she will be add some deductions that were not included.

I'm still deciding if I'm going to make the statement today or wait until he comes in next week to do it privately. I'm not a confrontational type of person (thus why this all bothers me so much). I'm having lunch with my dad today, I'll ask him as he's the smartest person I know. Thank you.

The NOL of the earliest year is used first until exhausted, and then the next most recent year, and so on. For your client, it sounds like the NOL from only the 2015 tax year will be used.

I remember you posting about this family. I would keep any explanations very short and to the point. Don't make any excuses or point any fingers. Just say you have decided to work by yourself and leave it at that. The more you say the longer the conversation will get. Good luck

Kind of. I surely do not want them to jump from current preparer to us, friends or not. We are trying to downsize and get away from these type of returns. And they know that we wouldn't take them on. Been a mentally and physically tiresome year and we are not getting younger. Need my Dr. to prescribe some Valium !!

eSign uses questions to verify ID. For my colleagues that use Verifyle, they create their own method and document it in Verifyle.

I use CCH's eSign and even my elderly clients manage. Those that do everything on their phone, can eSign on their phone or computer or tablet or... The price has gone up to $5 per a set of returns (H/W for IRS, CT, NY, & CA is $5; S with IRS & CT is $5). That's fine for me with a few complex returns and not a lot of simple returns (I have NO simple returns!). Anything to save me time. Little children don't have the financial footprint to pass the KB ID verification, but from HS through old age, my clients use it. Whatever program you choose for electronic signing will save you time collecting verified signatures.

I hear you about so many folks now using only their phone and texting. But signing electronically is a godsend, in my opinion. Very few of my clients ever had functional printers and no one had a scanner. I have been using Verifyle for about 3 years now for $9 per month, a very small price in my opinion. Clients and I upload and download in the secure portal and now I want all communication there and not in email. I cringe when someone sends bank info or worse via email even after being told about the risks. And Verifyle does have an app (everything has an app!). I have added the recommendation to have and use Adobe Scan for any documents that they do not already have in pdf form. I loathe jpeg uploads as they rarely are legible. The scans can and should be deleted on their phone after uploading. There are only a couple of clients that struggle with Verifyle but they struggle with anything computerized and with anything on the phone that isn't doom scrolling. Their 'kids' help them or they trek to my office. This also is not so bad as those folks tend to come early in the season before I'm really busy and bring gifts or take me to lunch. Breathe...

I had a client bring me some wine yesterday! I never get gifts. I'm so happy.

There are many different policies available on the marketplace. Some are HSA qualified, others are not. For 2022 the max deductible/out of pocket is 7,050 for single and 14,100 for family. Many times HSA is included in the plan name if it qualifies. Have them look on their insurance card to see about the name and deductible. If single and max out of pocket limit on the card is more than 7,050 then no HSA.

I have one this year that will be paying with the 9465 via direct debit. At the bottom you put how much they want to pay with the return on the installment on 04.18.2023.

Honestly, you wouldn't believe the drama this family is about if I told you (really it's just the wife and son). I'm just guessing but I'd say the sole purpose of this meeting is to show how important the son is and exert his authority (which he literally has none) and put his sister and the father in their place as he takes complete control. I posted it on here previously, he has an ivy league education and couldn't figure out why his father's gross income on his W2 didn't match his net paychecks and he made accusations about it. It's that level of idiocy, I called him out on it and now he's been slighted and needs to put me in my place. (the co-worker is OLD and doesn't actually work - he just likes being able to say he still works and collect a small check)

link: https://thebusyseason.com/blog/5-beers-that-should-exist-for-accountants For those who won't click, here are the names, without the other cute label notes: Last-Minute Lager Easy Returns Ale Screams of Perdition Porter Pointless Explanation Pilsner Stout Refusal The descriptions are very funny, as are the "on-label" comments.

Yes.

Why Are You Still Standing Here Wine Pick Up Your *Stuff* Sangria Oh, So YOU Have Been So Busy Frozen Peach Margarita * That last one wasn't too creative; I just want a Frozen Peach Margarita.

I would be drunk as a lord!

Have one before or after your corresponding customers!

That's what I do. I've gotten clients who either mail the form back, or drop it off in person, weeks after signing it. I put "Rec'd mm-dd-yy" on the top, sign it myself with that date, and then e-file usually the same day or certainly within the three days of receipt.

IIRC, within three days of receipt of the 8879. I do a go bit of "returns by mail" and clients that pick up, sign and return 8879 a week (or month) later. I note the received date on the 8879, or tape the envelope to the back.

Why don't you just let it go?

Thank you for your kind comments, but in this case it's simply a holdover from high school French class.

Having been raised in the hills of southwest Indiana and now living in rural Ohio, I had to look up pied-a-terre. I've always been impressed with Catherine's smarts...now even more so!

I don't mind preparing a CA nonresident return for myself, but paying $800 to register my LLC for more than I earn doesn't make business sense. Sorry to say goodbye to a good client.

NY uses the Convenience of the Employer rule, so unless his NYC employer requires him to be in CA (schmoozing with clients, training, brick & mortar job site, etc.) NYS & NYC consider his wages to be NY-sourced. If your client's in CA because he wants to be in the CA sunshine or whatever personal reason, his wages are NY-sourced as far as NY is concerned. CA looks at his work location (and where you, Catherine, and I and others here, deliver our work product). CA and NY are two aggressive states to work in, and they don't play nice together!

Won't find it here; I'll cut the client loose and have him find a CA practitioner. I'm trying to retire, after all.

I don't think so. As long as he is a resident of NYS and he files a CA NR return, the tax return product is delivered is his home state. At least that is how I read it now. CA could be lurking on this board trying to find new revenue sources. Tom Longview, TX

* by NOT talking to clients on the telephone. When they drop off, I talk to them as much as I need to. I have learned not to believe them when they say, "It's all there." I go thru the paperwork at drop off and that also saves time. For example, "I need the Bursar's statement, please."

I use my cell phone to text clients because it's convenient for ME. I also like getting answers in writing and send text messages to my email for documentation purposes. (No, most of my clients do not use email effectively.) I know to ignore all, and I do mean all, client calls to my cell phone, my greeting says hang up and call the office. I also know not to respond to text messages I get beyond office hours. I have saved many, many hours by NOT talking to clients. Thank you for the advice, but I can tell you, I do what works for ME.

Get a google voice number and give that out as your cell. Then when you get a text, it's already on your computer and you can print the text to a PDF for your records. And set Google Voice to just take messages in case your clients ever call your "cell."

I agree my needy clients pay more. They should. Last week I increased on invoice because a new client, who had told me he got text messaging, called me asking when they could come in and see what I had done with their [very special] tax return. I generally hate phone calls as they waste my time. I had texted him on March 16 that the return was ready, please come in at your convenience. He had made two trips to drop off, called before each one, my greeting plainly says come in at your convenience, and he likes to hear the sound of his own voice. At pick up, he lamented that according to my projection for next year, he not only does not need to make estimated tax payments, but he will get a $4,000 refund. "Oh, no, I really hate getting refunds." Me: "Well, that's on you, Chief, tell somebody to reduce withholding by $4,000." He kept talking. And talking. He now knows the tax brackets, has a copy of same, and that it is cutting your nose off to spite your face to pay 22% on a withdrawal you don't need because you don't like getting refunds. Notes in file in charge more next time. So anyway, Kathy, I'm probably at $285 federal, $50 state, provided the client didn't waste a lot of my time. We have a preparer here who plays that game with the invoice listing every form in the return, some not even in the return, with the big discount. I am getting several of her clients because she's making mistakes. The last one in here, the 2021 invoice was $325 marked down to $110. If the return was correct, $325 would have been fair. As it was, $110 was too much. Everything is relative; all returns, all clients, and all preparers are not created equal.

Yep. I'd say I spend twice the time on a new return as a returning client. Looking over prior year for carry overs and obvious errors, needing to type and double check for typos basic info, depreciation if applicable, among other things. After allowing for things like death my retention rate is almost always over 95%, so I guess I'm doing something right.

Interesting thread; at the other board where I participate, there would have been immediate warnings to not discuss pricing. That being said, there have been some great comments. I left Block "Premium" (now "Advisors") because I got tired of constant complaints from my clients about the pricing. I hated not doing a return the way I wanted because of how the client would be charged (for example $25 for a student loan entry that saved them $10). When I went out on my own, I was greatly influenced by that experience and wanted to offer my services at a fair price. It's meant that I have all the work I want and I can be very picky on whose return I do.

I guess I charge too little: probably close to $400-$450. If that "1 state" is Mass then $1000. (Mass is the most complicated state return I've ever done for a non-resident who made $6000 Mass income).

I am in California and semi retired this tax season. This year I eliminated my out of state tax returns and eliminated the procrastinators who wait until October as well as the clients that I just didn't want to interact with any more (high maintenance). Last year was difficult for me, so reducing the work load to a very manageable schedule is working out well. I am four years in remission from my cancer, but that nasty beast will come back in the future. Now my client base has been cut in half it will be easier in the future to close up plus I don't have the stress of getting the "I don't know...let me explain!" answer to a simple yes or no question. Simplifying one's life has a lot going for it!

I ran across this site years ago and find it quite interesting. I put in my town and Lion's Fairfield, CT. Her cost of living is close to double mine, so it make sense she should be charging double. https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/

Holy canoli...I'm apparently waaaay undercharging! I've actually had several clients tell me that. You'd think I'd get a clue! I think because I deal mostly with clergy and/or elderly folk, my fee structure is partly based on altruistic impulses. In fact, I generally do about 20% for free. It's too late to change this year but next year I think I'm gonna raise my fees more than the $2 or $3 dollars I 'jacked' 'em up this year

Not at all contradictory. Who says H&R is market rate? My fees are almost always higher than non licensed preparers. Among one person CPA offices such as myself and EA's, sometime my rates are higher and sometimes lower. Like I said, I charge what I feel is fair. Your comment of I think so little of myself and saying I'm stupid in the post Judy deleted says more about you than about me. Peace out.

Among the posters on this board we have a wide variation in skill levels from those who are just be beginning their careers to those who are winding down their careers. While you have a right to your opinion, I think your posts are excessively sarcastic and don't belong here. Perhaps you have had a really crappy day and you normally wouldn't have posted your comments?

Wait, wait, we get a chance to slow down and scale back, too, don't we? At 77, I'm ready for the raising rates to thin the herd but still make enough money to keep traveling - off to Papua New Guinea for scuba diving April 24-May 11. Stress relief writ large.

Many of my low income clients are extremely classy, kind and appreciative individuals.

What I decided to do was add a separate K1 with the business name depletion and used the same EIN as the company and put the depletion amount as a negative ordinary income. Hoping for the best.

Thats the main goal. To be happy and sleep at night. Sure Id love more money !!! But peace of mind is priceless. Plus we dont want to end up in the accounting department in hell !!!

I know that I am on the lower end of the spectrum. I agree mostly with Yardley CPA. I charges according to the circumstances. I know I am probably charging way too little, but you have to consider what the market will bear. In Central semi-rural Wisconsin, I don't have many high-class clients. I try to adjust fees yearly; some up and some down. I continue to tell my clients that this business is not all about money. They are first and foremost the most important presence in my office at any given time. I would never think of charging per form, per page or any other set method of pricing. I generally pull a number out of my head based on time and complexity; but I also consider the situation of the client. This might be wrong, but my clients are happy, I am happy and I sleep very well at night.

I've always charged what I feel is fair to both client and myself. My fees are generally well below the national average, definitely less than the H&R's. I don't aim to be the lowest cost, just what I think is fair. The per form fee ended up at $322 which I felt was high so I discounted it by $50. Their kids are aging out, so I spent several minutes with them explaining what credits they will be losing over the next few years. After all that he wanted to know what to do to lower my fee!