BTS

Encyro has served us well for a few years now.  Easy for clients to use, which is great.  Do not have to deal with calls asking "How do I use it",  And they offer "Digital Signing" of documents.  Very low fee for signatures !!!  Pennies per.    https://www.encyro.com/     Link to their digital signature info (8879 KBA) https://www.encyro.com/esign  

Almost over people !!!  Take a couple weeks off then finish the stragglers we filed extensions for.  Its been a trying year that has dragged on forever !!!  Been saying for years we need to cut back,  but this year solidifies we need to.  Tired and wore out as I imagine we all are.  Hope everyone has a fantastic summer !! 

Hartford.  Been with them for years.    https://www.thehartford.com/professional-liability-insurance/errors-omissions-insurance 

1 hour ago, Slippery Pencil said:

I'm pretty sure nothing has a 75 year class life.

I sure hope I do !!!  I know I have ate some stuff beyond its class life !! 

9 hours ago, Slippery Pencil said:

Do they list pinball machines?

No !!  But they do have Skee Ball machines !!   75 years !!!  Man I would love to have a Skee Ball machine !!!

No.  What's your issue's ?

Hmm  Never had a renter do a septic.  I know with farm land that drainage tiling goes for 15 years and qualifies for bonus.  But... Septic systems usually last way longer than 15 years.  Our is 40 years old.  Proseries has a nice drop down list with recommended depreciation rates.  And they list Septic as 27.5  

Just now, Medlin Software, Dennis said:

I'd rather a school do nearly anything else. Art, music, drama, choir, ethics, more math (not the calculations, the "is that close" common sense stuff), etc. Or even training in trades, or just how to check air/oil levels (or battery charge). One which is missed is how to compare prices at the grocery (the look for the unit price, not the price per package). I learned that in grade school.

Taught my daughters and son how to work on cars and use power tools to build things.  And everyday common sense.  Well they are still working on the common sense !!    

I can relate to kids not being able to sign in cursive.  Even some young adults in their early 20's cant.   Fortunately our school system has brought it back and my gkids are learning how to write in cursive. 

45 minutes ago, mcb39 said:

But, what happened to the one for the energy efficient shingles?

Too many people putting on new roofs !!    They cut out the one most used for credits.

7 minutes ago, ILLMAS said:

A check  

We quit taking checks.   Had more bounced checks during the covid shut down then 30+ years before that.  

Ours is the 1099-SA and 1099-INT's.   With the 1099-SA being number one.   Close third is the year end investment forms (1099-DIV, 1099B's).  With those, clients seem to forget to bring us "ALL" pages of those statements.  Always just the page showing showing interest and dividends.  Always missing the 1099B part.  And its always the same clients no matter how many times you remind them.  But the 1099-SA and INT are our most.

Like Jim mentions.  Use the link above to see if your client lives in a taxing school district.  If so file the SD100.  If not then there is no need to file the SD100.  The finder is very accurate. Had only one case where it was wrong.  To double check its accuracy one has to look at the county auditors site and look up the property details.  That will show the School District the home is in.  

As mentioned above if the taxpayer was "insolvent" then its not taxable.  Have your client do an asset vs liability work up to see if they were.  Proseries has an insolvency sheet built in we print off and give to clients in the same situation.

Wow, you guys have to change code in your paid program ?  Are we back in the old IRQ DMA days of early PC's     

Try Duckduckgo search engine and web browser for browsing the jungle.  

Well if Protection Plus used out of country employees, then that would be an issue for me.  As far as raising your fees if you do go with Protection Plus, I see no issue.  Its gonna cost you $10 per client if you implement it for all.   I assume there is added paperwork per client with adding Protection Plus.  So at least raise you overall fee $10 to cover it.  And to those who say you shouldn't raise your rates to cover it and to pay for your time spent on paperwork.   Good for you and maybe you should not charge for anything.   

We use www.yearli.com which is own by Greatland which use to be Nelco.  Lordy...getting old.  I remember efiling with dial up with Nelco.  What a long strange trip its been !!! 

2 hours ago, Lion EA said:

Had a call today with Kirstie (named after Kirstie Alley) at Protection Plus. I'm going to try it out this year. I have more complex returns but not a lot of returns; it's just me. Most of my businesses have faded away, so I'm down to one S-corporation going forward (and a couple trusts that they don't cover yet). $10 per return (and $75 for that biz return) is a very, very small price to pay to offload IRS and state letters.

Billing is monthly based on returns filed that month.

I have an onboarding call later this month, so will know exactly how it works then. But, if a client gets a letter, they can file a claim on the PP website or via telephone. I think I might open their PP client portal and upload their return, if they request. That request would include a 7216. And, then hope my client can upload their letter and deal with PP without me.

The only information PP gathers prior to a claim is how many 2023 returns are filed under my EIN.

Their ID theft restoration also applies to shareholders/partners, as well as the business return.

I'd be glad to share Kirstie's email with details to anyone who wants to know more. Or, Kirstie said to contact her:

Kirstie Hutchins
Territory Manager VT, NH, MA, CT, RI -- but she said anyone can contact her for info
Office: (866) 942-8348 ext. 3605
Direct: (336) 726-3605
Email:[email protected]
Website: www.taxprotectionplus.com

Good deal.  Thanks for the info.

But of course the cost will be passed on to the client.  If its $10 for every return you prepare, then raise your rates $20.  $10 to Protection Plus, $10 to you.  Let clients know all returns now include it and that will justify the increase.  Might be a win win situation.  Especially preparers who typically do 500 or more returns a year.  Extra $5000 in revenue and you no longer have to deal with letters.

Proseries offers it.  My issue is, will clients use it if needed.  Or will they just keep asking us to handle the issues when they arise ?  Guess I need to research how Protection Plus handles issues.  

One thing we never did was give out our cell numbers.  Have clients ask all the time.  We just say no, our cells are for personal calls.   But email is fine of course.  

16 hours ago, Medlin Software, Dennis said:

I learned long ago customers are not always right, and to stand one's ground morally and professionally. I refuse to license my software to someone who I can be certain has no business preparing anything for anyone.

I think there are more than a few here who agree with me, as we have seen threads about reducing or eliminating customer caused time sucks, like phone calls and drop ins.

I agree.  I built PC's for clients (and others) back in the 90's and 99% of our support calls regarding PC's were not PC related but wanting help with learning software we didn't supply.      We finally added a message stating "if this phone call is related to software not supplied by us then call them".   And that eliminated 99% of the time we spent on the phone.   Thank goodness PC's are now available at Walmart !!!  While I still build all of our PC's we do not do it for clients.   

 Our time suckage now is the following.  And I know many here have the same issue.  We have on our after hour answering system the following.  "If this message is tax related please state your name, best number, best time to call and the question".   What message do 99% leave ???  Call me back.  So you call back.  No one answers !!  You try to leave a message..  "sorry the voicemail box of the person you are contacting is full" !!!  Or,, you leave a voicemail,  stating "returning your phone call,.. if you call back and we are not available, please leave a detailed message about your question and a good time to call you".  And of course they call back after hours and leave this message.  "I see you called, call me back".  They see a missed call on their end and dont bother to listen to the message !!!  We now call back one time only.  Thats it, whether they answer or not.  They can call back during open hours.  Time suckage !!!  Sorry venting before the season starts 

You can also do them by hand.  

Open Office is a great "free" replacement for MS Office.  Been around for decades.  Since the ole MS Dos years.  Back then it was called StarOffice.  Man Im getting old !!!