Catherine

@Elrod - Love it!!!

I use CPaperless' "Signature Flow" which charges per-signature only. So the only fees I pay are when I actually use it. I have found it to be very easy to use.

Just venting. Lady I know from non-tax work came to me quite some time ago with a final 1040 and estate income return for her dad. They've been all done and about ready to print for a while, just waiting to know if they need K-1's for beneficiaries or if the estate held the income (not much, so not a huge deal). I got an email from her about two months ago saying she HAD K-1's from who-knows-where?! Said I needed to see them before finalizing - because this is NOT a tax person, for all I know she meant a 1099-R from an IRA distribution. Now there's a new email saying the sister - wants her accountant to review my work before they send anything in. I'm still waiting for K-1's - or whatever the bleeping forms were - before releasing anything! Can I dope slap her now? Give her a Rita hug? *Something*? Argh. Not the way I wanted to start my week. Thanks for letting me vent.

Even just since 2013 the paperwork burden has gotten substantially heavier. Good luck with that! A good broker can be a HUGE help.

Usually but not always. I had some clients years ago who had filed for divorce in early January. Separately, they each would have owed but together they got a sizable refund (weird situation in several regards). I knew them well enough that, when they started to squabble in front of me about who got what, I told them that without the other they each owed, so shut up and split it. Or take their papers elsewhere. They shut up and split the refund. Again, very odd circumstances.

It can still be dicey if there are kids and dependency exemption and child care and tuition involved. You can NOT do those returns without a chance of being caught - you can't, for example, TELL the second-to-come-in that the first already took the kids as dependents with a signed release that you now know the signature was cribbed. Because that is disclosing confidential information. So you're caught again. It could work if their lives are now totally separate (no kids, or kids long grown and gone). But scrutinize these cases with cynicism set at maximum - because one, the other, or both WILL throw you under the bus if there is a problem and they believe so doing will reinforce their personal stance.

Never, ever, EVER give info to a third party without a properly signed Section 7216 disclosure authorization. There are TIGTA rules on paper size, font and font size, wording, etc. But acceptable samples are available online. Without that letter, I won't even confirm to a third party that the client IS my client. But easiest by far is to give it all to the client; then it's their lookout. Yes, if it's extra work for you, get paid up front. If they do need you to send (you have a fax that will handle 50 pages and they don't, for example), get that signed letter first.

I have been pretty happy with iDrive. It will either backup continually *or* on a schedule that you set and control. It will even power down your machine when the backup ends so you can set it to start at your usual leaving time. Reasonably quick. I have retrieved files with no issue. They even now have a full disk image (cold-metal restore backup) option although I use Acronis and an external drive (that then comes home with me) for that purpose.

And so, another reason in my mind to avoid QB as much as possible. I refuse to use their payroll products.

My first job for a "big" company (Woolworth, as many here will remember it) we got our pay weekly in a pay envelope, hand-stamped with sections for gross and deductions, all filled in by hand. We had to sign for our envelope. $71.01/week, and I lived on that by myself and saved for college. Yikes.

I've been thinking I should update folks on my former client. After his last email, I refused to respond and had silence from him. Then, when he got back the blank checks we had mailed (from when we did paper-check payroll for him, which ended some years ago when we switched him to an online service with direct deposit), he emailed again asking if that meant we weren't doing payroll anymore - ignoring the part of my letter saying no interruption in payroll service. I responded back saying no, employee on direct deposit for years and we have no need for his checks. More silence . Hooray! And for Jerry @Medlin Software - I know your system does direct deposit. The guy's tiny bank was clueless and refused to work with us, plus the online folks directly debit the client's bank which means WE get paid every month instead of once or twice a year. Yours is still the easiest pr system I've ever used - and it *does* do household employee payroll if you sweet-talk it just right.

There are a bunch of us who have very similar lists. If we put those lists together end to end, there might be enough length to encircle the Capitol Building and prevent the legis-vermin from getting IN to cause more trouble for us! (I can dream can't I? )

The semi-weekly stuff is totally obnoxious. If you pay employees any time between Saturday and Tuesday (inclusive), the taxes must by paid by the Friday of that week. E.g., pay employees between Dec 31 and Jan 3, taxes are due by Jan 6. If you pay employees on Wednesday through Friday (also inclusive), the taxes must be paid by Wednesday of the following week. E.g., pay employees between Jan 4 and Jan 6, taxes are due by Jan 11. Either way, you get a maximum of a half-week between paychecks and tax payment due dates.

Exactly. On the one hand they claim they want us to save for our own retirement. On the other, they make the rules ever-changing and harder to follow. This would be a case of "poop or get off the pot" except they cannot decide which social end they really want to achieve - more taxation NOW or more taxation later; more retirement savings to lighten the socsec burden or less retirement savings that push more government control. And I will stop right there, lest I cross the line into "political" posting. No, I will say one more thing: all the legis-vermin in DC (and most of those in the state houses, as well) need a good spanking (except for those who would like it; they don't get spanked) and some hard lessons in economics. *And* get locked into a room with no calculator, lots of dull pencils, insufficient erasers, and NOT let out until they do their own taxes correctly. Mwa-hah-hah!

I resolve to do all I do for the glory of God. I resolve

I pretty much manage that one.

The neighbor's generator tests itself for fifteen minutes every Sunday morning at 9AM. We only really notice in the summer when windows are open; it's not disruptive or annoying at all.

Happy New Year! to EVERYONE here. I could NOT run my business without y'all.

No, dear. Your soul is safe. You may find at some time in the future that you have an uncontrollable sarcasm explosion, however! Holuhraun Volcano Iceland

I have that, too, on my home machine. It's pretty good, but won't take the Tic, Tie, and Calculate plug-in for Adobe that I use extensively at the office.

I agree. I rolled over all my settings and included an across-the-board price increase of 4%. Done.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Over the years, and for various reasons, I have had to send in several 941X's. To date, NOT ONE OF THEM has EVER been processed and acted upon. In each and every instance, the IRS eventually got ants in their pants over something else, tried to throw a hissy fit over something related to the 941-series, and ONLY after a Revenue Officer gets involved is anything ever settled. To a one, each and every RO to date has said that they do NOT know why the 941X's don't get processed, and that my clients' experiences are NOT rare.

Wonderful!! Beats the pants off the nanny payroll snafu I was battling much of today. Hysterical client calls in tears...and it got worse from there. I *think* we have it under control; Merry bleeping Christmas, though. Sheesh! This is what happens when clients do NOT listen to me.

...paid in advance!